Anytype is one of the most ambitious local-first projects in the category: open source, end-to-end encrypted, peer-to-peer synced, and structured around custom object types and relations — effectively a private version of Notion’s databases. It runs on macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android, free for personal use. Nolagmind is far narrower and flatter: plain .md files, one platform, no objects, no sync, no tiers.
Nolagmind vs Anytype at a glance
| Feature | Nolagmind | Anytype |
|---|---|---|
| Storage format | Plain .md files you can read without the app | A local-first encrypted object database — not raw Markdown files |
| Setup before first use | None — open a folder and write | Object types and relations are modelled by you |
| Desktop runtime | Tauri 2 with a Rust backend — a native WebKit window | Electron — a bundled Chromium runtime |
| Command palette | The search bar is the palette — 7 colon commands | Search, in a largely pointer-driven interface |
| Themes | 44 built in, 30 of them developer palettes | A small built-in set |
| Split panes | Up to 4 per workspace, each with its own history | Single view with sidebars |
| Price | Free. No paid tier exists | Free for personal use; Builder $99/yr for more storage and seats |
| Account required | No | No for local use; an identity key for sync |
| Graph view | Built in, with folder, tag, and note-type filters | Built in |
| Open source | No | Yes |
| Encrypted sync | None built in | End-to-end encrypted peer-to-peer sync, included free |
| Platforms | macOS on Apple Silicon | macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android |
What Anytype Does Well
Anytype is attempting something genuinely hard and largely pulling it off: Notion’s structural power without Notion’s server. Your data stays on your devices, encrypted end-to-end, synced peer-to-peer between machines you own, with no company holding the keys. It is open source, so the claim is auditable rather than promised.
The object model is real database thinking — custom types with relations between them, sets that query across your space, and collaborative shared spaces. The free tier is unusually generous for a product of this scope, and it covers five platforms including Linux and mobile.
On privacy architecture, Anytype does more than Nolagmind does. Nolagmind has no sync to encrypt because it has no sync.
Local-First Is Not the Same as Plain Files
This is the distinction that matters most, and it is easy to miss because both apps use the word local.
Anytype stores your notes on your device in its own encrypted object database. That is excellent for privacy and it is not the same as having files. You cannot open an Anytype note in TextEdit, grep the folder, diff it in Git, or point a static site generator at it. Reading your notes requires Anytype, or a future tool that understands Anytype’s format. Export exists, but export is a conversion.
Nolagmind writes .md files with YAML frontmatter into a folder you chose. The notes are readable by every text tool ever written, including ones that do not exist yet. There is no format to reverse-engineer if the app disappears, because the format is Markdown.
Local-first protects you from a company reading your notes. Plain files protect you from needing any particular program to read them yourself.
Objects, Relations, and the Modelling Tax
Anytype asks a question before you write: what kind of thing is this? Objects have types, types have relations, and getting value out of the system means designing a schema for your own life — deciding that a book has an author relation, that a meeting links to people, that a project has a status.
For people who enjoy that, it is powerful and the payoff is real. For a lot of people it is a second job. Structure you have to design up front is structure you maintain forever, and half-built schemas rot: you stop tagging things properly, the sets stop being accurate, and the database view becomes less trustworthy than a plain search.
Nolagmind has no object system at all. A note is a note. If you want structure, add frontmatter properties you define yourself and sort or filter by them from the search bar — but nothing requires it, and nothing degrades if you never do. The fallback is full-text search over every file, which needs no maintenance to stay correct.
The Simplest Thing That Works
Where Anytype adds a modelling layer, Nolagmind adds fixed tools that need no configuration:
- Mind maps and task boards as note types in the same vault, with a Task view collecting every board task into Overdue, Today, This week, and Later
- One bar (⌘O) that searches notes, greps inside contents with matching lines shown, filters tags with and / or, jumps to any setting by name, searches all 85 shortcuts, and switches vaults
- Slash commands you author in the editor and reuse per vault
- Wikilinks rewritten across the whole vault on rename, backlinks, and a filterable graph view
- Up to 4 split panes with independent history, and 44 themes that retint the macOS title bar
Who should use Anytype
- You want typed objects and relations — private, structured knowledge management
- You need Linux, Windows, Android, or iOS, or encrypted sync between your devices
- You want open-source software whose privacy claims you can audit
Who should use Nolagmind
- You want notes as plain Markdown files any program can read, not an encrypted database
- You do not want to model object types before you can take a note
- You want a native Mac window rather than a bundled browser runtime
- You want mind maps and task boards without designing a schema for them
- You want a keyboard-first interface rather than a pointer-driven one
Frequently asked
Is Nolagmind more private than Anytype?
They are private in different ways. Anytype encrypts your data end-to-end and syncs it peer-to-peer, so no company can read it. Nolagmind has no sync, no account, and no telemetry at all, so nothing ever leaves your Mac — but files on disk are protected only by your Mac’s own FileVault encryption.
Does Anytype store notes as Markdown files?
No. Anytype stores data locally in its own encrypted object database rather than as plain files you can browse in Finder. It offers export, but you cannot open an Anytype note directly in another editor the way you can with a Nolagmind .md file.
Can I move from Anytype to Nolagmind?
Yes, via Anytype’s Markdown export — the resulting files can be dropped into a folder and opened as a Nolagmind vault. Object types, relations, and sets have no equivalent in Nolagmind, so that structure does not carry across.
Is Anytype free?
Anytype is free for personal use with sync storage included, and a Builder plan at $99 a year adds more storage and additional editors on shared spaces. Nolagmind is free with no paid tier and no storage limits, since notes are files on your own disk.
Try Nolagmind instead
Nolagmind is free and takes about a minute to try. If it is not for you, your notes are already plain Markdown files — nothing to export, nothing to cancel.
Nolagmind is a Mac app. Copy the link and open it on your Mac to download.
Comparison based on publicly available information about Anytype as of August 2026. Pricing and features change; check the vendor for current details.