Use case · local files / privacy

A local markdown editor, with the cloud only when you choose

Looking for a local markdown editor with no cloud? Markd.ly is local where it counts: your documents are plain .md files in folders you choose, and nothing you write goes to our servers unless you send it there. It is not cloud-free, though. You sign in with a Bravely Account, and this page says exactly where the cloud comes in.

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Mac · Windows · Linux · iPhone & iPad · Android · one purchase, every platform · $19.99 one-time

Files on disk. That's the storage model.

Markd.ly reads and writes plain .md files where you keep them. There is no vault, no proprietary database and no “export to get your data out” step: your documents were always ordinary files. Open them in Markd.ly today, in any other editor tomorrow, in cat from a terminal next year. Your documents never depend on Markd.ly to exist.

An account for your purchase, not your documents

You sign in with a free Bravely Account to use Markd.ly, on every platform. The account is how one $19.99 purchase unlocks Markd.ly on Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad and Android. It carries your purchase. Your writing stays in your files unless you add a document to your cloud library.

Once you are signed in, Markd.ly works without a connection. Writing, saving, live preview, Mermaid diagrams and math all run on your device, and so do HTML and PDF export on the desktop. The app remembers your purchase on the device for up to 72 hours at a time. After that it asks you to reconnect so it can confirm the purchase, then carries on.

What leaves your device, and when

The cloud library, one document at a time
A document goes to your private cloud library only when you choose Add to Cloud, so you can open it on your other devices. Its cloud copy changes when you update it, and Remove from Cloud deletes it. Everything you never add stays on your disk.
Word, EPUB, LaTeX and slides on Mac and Windows
Those exports send the document's text to our conversion service, which converts it in memory, sends the file back and keeps nothing. The Linux app converts on your machine, and HTML and PDF export run on your machine on every desktop.
Encrypted documents never upload
On Mac, Windows and Linux you can lock a document with a passphrase (AES-256-GCM). The app will not add an encrypted file to the cloud library, and we never receive the passphrase. Once you unlock a document it is ordinary text again, so adding or exporting it sends that text.
Analytics and error reports
The apps send usage analytics, which you can turn off in Settings, plus setup records, error reports and diagnostic reports. They describe how the app is used and how it is working, not the text you write, though a file's name can appear in some of them. The Markd.ly privacy policy lists what each one contains and how to delete it.

The honest trade-off

An account and a regular check-in
Markd.ly needs a Bravely Account and a connection at least once every 72 hours. On a machine that never goes online, it will not stay unlocked, and an editor with no sign-in is the right tool there.
No automatic folder sync
The stable releases do not keep folders in sync between your devices. The cloud library moves one document at a time, when you choose.
No web app
There is no browser version. Markd.ly is a native app on each platform.
Not a backup service
The cloud library is for opening documents on your other devices, not for backups. Keep backing up your files the way you do now: Time Machine, a folder you control, version control.

Who this is for

People who want their writing as plain files on their own disk, with the cloud as a choice they make document by document. Writers who have been burned by an editor that locked their notes inside its own store.

It is not for air-gapped machines or setups that allow no network traffic at all: Markd.ly needs a sign-in, a check-in every 72 hours, and it sends analytics and error reports. If that rules it out, an offline-only editor is the correct pick.

Your writing, your disk. The cloud when you want it.

A native markdown editor for Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad and Android. One $19.99 purchase unlocks every platform, with no subscription.

Get Markd.ly See Markd.ly

A markdown editor without a subscription

Buy once, own it, no renewal.

An encrypted markdown editor

AES-256-GCM document encryption.