Skip to content

Why VNote

VNote is a free and open source, Qt-based note-taking application that focuses on Markdown. It is more than an editor: it pairs a pleasant editing experience with powerful notes management, and runs natively on Linux, Windows, and macOS.

This page explains what makes VNote different and who it is for. If you just want to start taking notes, jump to Installation and the Quick Start.

What VNote is

VNote organizes your writing into notebooks. A notebook is simply a directory on your disk, and every note inside it is a plain text file — most often Markdown. There is no proprietary database and no hidden storage: what you see in the file system is exactly what VNote works with.

Because your notes are ordinary files, you stay in control. You can back them up, version them, edit them with another tool, or move them to a different computer, all without asking VNote for permission.

Why choose VNote

  • Own your data

    All notes are plain text on your local disk. One notebook is exactly one directory — no database, no lock-in. Sync anywhere with the service of your choice, or track a notebook with git.

  • Simple notes management

    Self-contained notebooks, infinite levels of folders, and plain notes. Organize with tags, quick access, and history; explore and edit external files directly.

  • Pleasant Markdown experience

    In-place and side-by-side live preview, syntax highlighting, an interactive outline, effective image management, math, and diagrams (PlantUML, Graphviz, Mermaid, and more).

  • Made for power users

    Vi mode, versatile shortcuts, tabs and window splits, fuzzy search and jump, plus deep customization through themes, styles, and behaviors.

Own your data

Privacy and longevity are the heart of VNote's design.

  • Plain text, on your machine. Notes live locally as Markdown and other text files. They remain readable decades from now, with or without VNote.
  • One notebook, one directory. There is no central database to corrupt or migrate. Copy the folder and you have copied the notebook.
  • Sync your way. Put a notebook in Dropbox, OneDrive, Nextcloud, or any folder-sync tool — or use per-notebook git for full version history. See Notebook Sync.
  • No lock-in. Because everything is standard files, you can leave VNote at any time and take your notes with you.

Simple, scalable notes management

VNote scales from a handful of notes to large, deeply nested knowledge bases.

A pleasant Markdown experience

Writing is where VNote spends most of its effort.

Built for power users

Who VNote is for

VNote is a good fit if you:

  • Want your notes to be plain files you own, not entries in someone else's cloud database.
  • Take a lot of Markdown notes and care about the editing experience.
  • Keep a large or long-lived knowledge base and need folders, tags, and search that scale.
  • Prefer to choose your own sync (folder sync or git) rather than a built-in account.
  • Enjoy keyboard-driven, customizable tools — especially if you like Vi.

You may prefer another tool if you need real-time multi-user collaboration or a fully managed, account-based cloud service — VNote focuses on local-first, single-user note-taking.

Next steps