Mare

Notes that get out of your way, on Windows, Linux and macOS

Mare is a notes app for Windows, Linux and macOS. It's native and stupid fast: no Electron, no web view. Your notes are yours to keep. There's no lock-in and no account, and you sync with git, Google Drive or wherever you like.

Download MareFree for Windows, Linux and macOS.
Mare with the tag sidebar, the note list and a match-day note open in the editor
The same note on an iPad, with the note list beside it
The same note on an iPhone, filling the screen
The same app on iPad, iPhone and Android. Get it now.
  • The editor, with markdown styled as you type
    The editor, with markdown styled as you type
  • A table with dropdowns, checkboxes, dates and numbers
    A table with dropdowns, checkboxes, dates and numbers
  • Todos, lists, note links and callouts
    Todos, lists, note links and callouts
  • A locked note, encrypted until you unlock it
    A locked note, encrypted until you unlock it
  • The same note in the Dark theme
    The same note in the Dark theme

Stupid fast, and it stays that way

  • No browser inside

    Mare is written in Go and draws its own interface. There's no Electron and no web view, so there's no page to load before you can type.

  • Asleep until you type

    Mare redraws the window only when something changes. An open note you're not touching uses no CPU.

  • One file to run

    Fonts, icons and the editor come in one file. There's no runtime to install, no background service and no account.

A look around

The search panel with the query cup tie and two matching notes

Ctrl+K finds any note and shows where it matched.

A column can hold dropdowns, checkboxes, dates or numbers. How tables work

A kit order table. Sizes and teams show as coloured pills. One column has checkboxes, one has dates with an overdue date in red, and one has numbers with their sum underneath
The same note in the Dark theme

22 themes. Pick Dark and the whole app goes dark.

  • The formatting bar at the bottom of the page, under a table: headings, lists, quote, bold, italic, underline, strike, highlight, code, link, table, callout and attachment, with highlight switched on
    The formatting bar stays at the bottom of the page, one click away.
  • The guided tour: a handwritten sticky note with an arrow pointing at the new note button, and a checklist card titled A quick look around
    New here? A one-minute tour shows you around and ticks things off as you try them.
  • The same note in the Blossom theme
    Blossom
  • The same note in the Periwinkle theme
    Periwinkle
  • The same note in the Papyrus theme
    Papyrus
  • The same note in the Vampire theme
    Vampire

What it does

Live markdown
Mare styles headings, bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, highlight, code, links and tags as you type. The markdown markers stay hidden until you put the caret inside them. The formatting bar is at the bottom of the page.
Blocks
Nested lists that renumber automatically, todos, quotes, callouts, code blocks with syntax highlighting, footnotes and headings you can fold.
Tables with dropdowns, checkboxes, dates and numbers
A column can hold a dropdown, a checkbox, a date or a number. Choices show as coloured pills, and a number column shows its sum underneath. Sort the rows by any column. In the file, it's still a plain markdown table. Tables in the manual
Tags as folders
Type #tag or #nested/tag anywhere in a note. Mare builds the sidebar tree from your tags, so you file a note by typing a word. Drag tags into your own order and give each one an icon and a colour.
Links between notes
Type [[ to link to another note. Rename a note and every link to it updates. The note you came from stays beside the new one, so you can click back. The graph shows all your notes and the links between them.
Pictures and files
Drop or paste images and files into a note. You can resize and align images, wrap text around them, and put them side by side or in a table cell. Click an image to see it large.
Search, replace and commands
Ctrl+K finds notes, tags, themes and commands. You can change a setting from it without opening Settings. Ctrl+H replaces text in a note, one match at a time or all at once. One undo reverses all of them. Don't like a shortcut? Change it in Settings.
PDF export
Export any note as an A4 PDF. Add a front page and a clickable table of contents if you want them. Text stays selectable, and images, tables, code and diagrams are included.
Themes and type
Pick from 22 themes, light and dark, or let Mare follow your system. Set the text column to Narrow, Normal, Wide or Full. Choose your editor font, including OpenDyslexic.
Diagrams and previews
A mermaid code block renders as a diagram. Click it to edit the code. Put a web address on its own line and Mare can show it as a card with the page's title and image.
Several workspaces
Keep work, home and the club apart. Switch between workspaces at the edge of the sidebar. Each workspace has its own small flag.

Sync is built in, and you pick where

  • Google Drive, with nothing to set up

    Sign in with Google and Mare creates a folder for the workspace in your own Drive. Mare asks for the narrowest permission there is: it can only see the files it put there itself. One account holds any number of workspaces. On a second computer, sign in and pick one from the list.

  • Or your own storage

    Use a git remote, a folder on a USB stick or a network share, an SFTP server or an S3 bucket. For git, one button creates an SSH key for your computer and copies it, ready to paste into your git host.

  • Nothing in between

    There's no Mare account and no Mare server. Your notes go straight from your computer to the place you picked. Sign-in details stay in your computer's keychain.

  • Conflicts merge automatically

    That covers changes to different notes, and to different parts of one note. For pins, archive and trash, the newer change wins. An edit always beats a delete, so emptying the trash on one computer never deletes work from another.

  • Share a workspace

    Give someone access to the place the workspace syncs with and they can open it on any system. Mare keeps every sync, so you have a history to read and a way back if something goes wrong.

The privacy policy says exactly what Mare does with Google data.

Google Drive: sign in, then pick a workspace or name a new one.

The Google Drive sheet. It shows the signed-in account with a button to switch, three workspaces already in that Drive with the time each last changed, and a card for a new workspace with its name filled in

Three notes to sync, one button.

The sync panel listing three changed notes, with Get changes and Sync now buttons
An earlier version of a note compared with the current one, with removed lines in red, added lines in green and a list of versions

Red was removed, green was added.

Every sync keeps the old version

Each time you sync, Mare keeps the previous version of the note. You'll find them all under the clock tab in the info panel.

  • See what changed

    Pick a version to compare it with the note as it is now. Removed lines are red, added lines are green, and changed words are marked inside the line. You can also read the old version as it was.

  • Restore with one button

    One button brings the old version back. Undo reverses the restore.

  • Drag through time

    The timeline under the note has a mark for every earlier version. Drag along it to watch the note change.

  • One version per sync

    History has one entry per sync. If you never sync, there's no history.

Lock the notes that need it

Right-click any note and lock it. From then on Mare stores it encrypted, on your computer and everywhere it syncs to. The place you sync with only ever sees ciphertext.

  • One password per workspace

    Unlock one locked note and they all unlock until you lock again. Mare locks them again after 10 idle minutes, and always when the workspace closes. You can change the 10 minutes.

  • Still easy to find

    Titles and tags stay readable, so you can still find and file a locked note. The text doesn't. The note list shows a skeleton, and search only finds the text while the note is unlocked.

  • A way back in

    When you set the password, Mare shows a recovery code once. Keep it for the day you forget the password. The password itself is never stored anywhere.

  • What's encrypted, exactly

    The text of the note and its attachments. Mare uses Argon2id for the password and XChaCha20-Poly1305 for the contents. Titles, tags and file names stay readable on purpose.

The title stays readable. The text doesn't.

A locked note showing a padlock drawing, the note title, a password field with a hint and an Unlock button

Why we made Mare

Most notes apps ask you to give something up. Some lock you into one company's devices and one company's cloud, with no way to take your notes out. Others are a web page wrapped in a window, and feel heavy before you've typed a word.

We think a notes app can be powerful, free and light. Mare is free and native on Windows, Linux and macOS. It stays idle until you type and keeps your notes as plain files in a place you choose.

Download Mare

Free. One file per system, and no sign-up.

iPhone and iPadOn TestFlightAndroidAs an APK

Pick your system to see the stable and nightly builds.

Questions people ask

Is Mare free?
Yes. Mare is free to download and use on Windows, Linux and macOS. You don't need an account and there's no subscription.
Where are my notes stored?
In a folder on your own computer. Every note is one plain markdown file. Your pictures and files are in a folder next to them. A small database holds what a text file can't, such as pins. You can open the notes in any text editor, without Mare.
Does Mare work offline?
Yes. Your notes are on your own disk, so you can read, write and search without a connection. Mare goes online to sync, to check for an update and to load what you ask for from the web, such as a link preview.
How do I sync notes between computers?
Pick a place for the workspace to sync with: Google Drive, a git remote, a shared folder, an SFTP server or an S3 bucket. On the second computer, add the workspace from that same place. There's no Mare server in between.
Is there a Mare app for iPhone, iPad or Android?
Yes. Mare for iPhone and iPad is on TestFlight until it's in the App Store. Mare for Android is an APK until it's on Google Play. Both sync with the same workspaces as the desktop app. You'll find them under Download.
Can I lock a note with a password?
Yes. Right-click a note and lock it. Mare then stores its text and attachments encrypted, on your computer and everywhere the workspace syncs to. Titles and tags stay readable so you can still find the note.
What happens to my notes if I stop using Mare?
Nothing. They stay where they are, as markdown files in a folder that any editor can read. The one exception is locked notes. You need Mare and your password to open those.
Does Mare use Electron?
No. Mare is written in Go and draws its own interface. There's no Electron and no web view inside. That's why it starts fast and stays idle when you're not typing.

The manual has more. There's also a page each for Windows, Linux and macOS.

From the logbook

All logbook entries