Smol Markdown notes
Smolpad is a tiny Markdown notes app for Mac, iPhone, and iPad. On the Mac it lives in the menu bar, one keystroke away: click the icon, write the thought down, and tear the panel off into a window when you want it to stay. Every note is a plain .md file in your own iCloud Drive, so your writing outlives the app you wrote it in.
# Your files are your own
Every note in Smolpad is a plain **Markdown** file. No database. No proprietary format. No export step. No lock‑in.
- Notes live in a folder you can see, in your own iCloud Drive
- Open them with any app, on any device, forever
- Delete Smolpad tomorrow and your notes are still just there
> The files you create should outlive the apps you create them with.
Inspired by Derek Sivers’ [Write plain text files](https://sive.rs/plaintext)
Smol, but mighty
Live Markdown styling
Headings, bold, lists, links, and code style as you type. Syntax stays visible but dimmed, and you can hide the markers entirely if you prefer it clean.
Pictures in your notes
Drag or paste a picture in and it sits in the text at its own size; drag a corner to resize it. Each one is saved as an ordinary image file next to the note, so it goes wherever the note goes.
Tags and an outline
Type a #tag anywhere in a note and filter the list by it. A long note can show an outline of its headings: tap or click one to jump straight there.
Always one keystroke away
On the Mac, Smolpad is a menubar app with a global hotkey. Tear the panel off into a floating window, or open notes in their own windows.
A note for every day
Turn on Daily note and Smolpad keeps one note per day, named by its date. A calendar in the note list opens any day, and on the Mac a shortcut of your own brings up today's note from anywhere.
Capture from anywhere
On the Mac, select text in any app and choose Add to Today's Note in Smolpad from the Services menu. On iPhone and iPad, press and hold the Smolpad icon and choose Save Clipboard to turn whatever you copied into a note.
Sync in the cloud
Your notes sync as plain text Markdown files through iCloud Drive or through Dropbox. pCloud and Google Drive are coming soon.
At home on iPhone & iPad
A formatting bar above the keyboard, folders and pins, search, and paste-a-link-get-Markdown. The same notes, everywhere.
Make it yours
Twenty-nine editor themes (separate ones for light and dark, if you like), seven editor fonts, seventeen app icons, and ten menu bar icons. Try a few.
Pricing
Free to try with no time limit. One purchase covers Mac, iPhone, and iPad.
Free
$0forever
Your first ten notes, on the house.
- Markdown that styles as you type
- Plain .md files in your iCloud
- iPhone and iPad apps included
- No time limit, no account
Pro Monthly
$1.49per month
For trying Pro on for size.
- Unlimited notes
- Twenty-nine editor themes
- Seventeen custom app icons to make it your own
- Dropbox sync
- Cancel anytime
Pro Yearly
$14.99per year
About two months free next to monthly.
- First week free for new subscribers
- Unlimited notes
- Twenty-nine editor themes
- Seventeen custom app icons to make it your own
- Dropbox sync
- Cancel anytime
Pro Lifetime
$29.99once
Pay once. Yours on every device.
- Unlimited notes
- Twenty-nine editor themes
- Seventeen custom app icons to make it your own
- Dropbox sync
- Every future Pro feature
- No subscription
Prices shown in USD; the App Store sets local prices. Upgrading happens inside the app.