Editor & organization
The markdown editor, groups → folders → notes → sections, templates, sticky notes, views and shortcuts — all of it.
01 / free
Everything essential is free
NoteFlow is local-first: your notes are plain .md files on your machine, and the whole product works without an account, a server or a subscription. This is the full app — not a trial tier.
The Brain
The semantic index, note graph and related sections run 100% locally — embeddings are computed on your machine, no cloud involved.
AI chat & agent
Bring your own model: run Ollama locally (no key, fully offline) or use your own API key from any of the 9 supported providers.
Encryption
Per-note AES-256-GCM encryption with your passphrase. No backdoor, no plan required.
GitHub Sync
Sync between devices through your own private GitHub repo. Free, self-managed, yours.
CLI
The companion CLI reads and edits the same notes from your terminal — and from your coding agents.
02 / ai
NoteFlow AI — the managed model Available now
The AI chat needs a language model. The free routes: run one locally with Ollama, or paste your own API key. NoteFlow AI is the third route, for people who don’t want to deal with either — a model managed by NoteFlow that just works the moment you subscribe.
- No Ollama to install, no third-party account, no API key to buy, store or rotate.
- A monthly token quota is included — 3M tokens per month by default.
- Monthly or annual subscription. Subscribe from inside the app: Settings → Account → Subscribe — checkout opens in your browser (handled by Lemon Squeezy, our merchant of record) and shows the price there.
- Once the payment goes through, NoteFlow AI activates itself as your provider — nothing to configure.
Curated models
openai/gpt-4o-miniopenai/gpt-4.1-minianthropic/claude-haiku-4.5google/gemini-2.5-flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-prominimax/minimax-m3
Advanced models — 6× quota
anthropic/claude-sonnet-5openai/gpt-5.2google/gemini-3.5-flash
All curated models support tool-calling (the agent), and all support vision (image attachments) except the two DeepSeek models, which are text-only. Advanced models draw from the monthly quota at 6× the rate — every token counts as six.
03 / cloud
NoteFlow Cloud — encrypted note sync Available now
NoteFlow Cloud is managed sync: hands-off, automatic sync between devices, with none of the push/pull friction of a git-based flow.
Your notes are encrypted in transit and at rest, and you choose the trust model: managed mode (the default — nothing to remember, sign in and it just syncs) or private end-to-end encryption (opt-in, unlocked with a passphrase plus recovery code, where not even the operator can read your notes).
- Automatic sync across devices — no manual pushes, no waiting on a git flow.
- Two encryption modes: managed by default (zero secrets to keep), or opt into strict E2EE where the keys never leave your devices.
- For people who don’t want to create and manage a GitHub repo just to sync notes.
04 / compare
Managed vs self-managed
Same capabilities, two ways to get them. Pick per capability — they mix freely, and switching is never locked.
| Capability | Managed (subscription) | Self-managed (free) |
|---|---|---|
| AI model | NoteFlow AI — curated models, zero setup, token quota included | Ollama locally (no key, offline) or your own API key from any of the 9 supported providers |
| Setup & upkeep | None — subscribe in-app and it activates itself | Install Ollama, or create a provider account and manage a key |
| Note sync | NoteFlow Cloud — automatic, encrypted sync (managed by default, or opt-in E2EE) | GitHub Sync with your own private repo |
| Everything else | Free for everyone — editor, the Brain, encryption, stickies, CLI | Same — no plan involved |
05 / privacy
Privacy with the managed AI
Subscribing to NoteFlow AI does not change the local-first architecture — the boundaries documented in How the AI works → privacy hold exactly the same.
The index never leaves
The semantic index — embeddings, graph, search — is built and stored 100% on your machine. Subscribing changes nothing about it.
Same data as with your own key
What travels to the NoteFlow proxy is exactly what would travel to any provider you use with your own key: your question plus the retrieved note fragments.
Hidden stays hidden
Sections marked Hide from AI and encrypted notes are excluded from the index, so they are never sent — to NoteFlow AI or to any other provider.
Independent subsystems
NoteFlow AI does not route through the notes cloud: the managed AI and NoteFlow Cloud are separate subsystems. Using one never implies the other.