Noughtpad vs Logseq
Logseq and Noughtpad both keep your notes on your own computer and both are free. The big difference is how you write: Logseq is an outliner, where every line is a block you can link and nest. Noughtpad is a page, where you write however you like.
The short version
- Choose Logseq if you think in bullet points, want to link blocks and pages by hand, like a daily journal page as your starting point, and want fully open-source software.
- Choose Noughtpad if you prefer writing in paragraphs on a blank page, and want the app to find connections and show how your ideas change, without making links yourself.
What Logseq does better
- Open source. Logseq is open source under the AGPL-3.0 licence, with a large community on GitHub.
- Outlines, links and queries. Block references, backlinks, a graph view, and queries over your notes.
- Plugins and themes. A plugin system with a growing collection. Noughtpad has none.
- Phone apps. Logseq has mobile apps. Noughtpad doesn't yet.
- Collaboration. Logseq is building real-time collaboration (in early testing). Noughtpad is for one person.
What Noughtpad does differently
- Pages, not bullets. Write paragraphs, lists or anything else. The file on disk is exactly what you typed.
- Plain Markdown files, one per note. Logseq's newer database version (in beta) stores notes in a database, with a read-only Markdown copy you can turn on. Its older file-based version uses Markdown files. Noughtpad is files only.
- Connections found for you. Related notes by meaning, with the passage that matched, and ideas over time.
- Search by meaning and chat built in, running on your computer by default.
Side by side
| Noughtpad | Logseq | |
|---|---|---|
| Writing style | Free-form pages | Outliner (blocks) |
| Storage | Markdown files | Markdown or Org files (file version); a database with optional read-only Markdown copy (database version, in beta) |
| Price | Free | Free; local features stay free |
| Sync | Google Drive sync (beta); planned as a paid add-on | Logseq Sync for supporters during its beta; part of a future subscription |
| Source code | Source available | Open source (AGPL-3.0) |
| Links | Suggested by meaning | Made by hand, with backlinks and graph |
| Phone apps | No (planned) | Yes |
| Plugins | No | Yes |
Prices and features of Logseq as listed on logseq.com, November 2026.
Try Noughtpad
It's free, it works without an account, and your notes stay plain Markdown files. If it isn't for you, the files open in any other Markdown app.
For Mac (Apple Silicon), Windows and Linux. No account needed.
More comparisons: all comparisons.