Nodum vs Apple Notes
An Apple Notes alternative that works everywhere and links everything
Nodum is an open-source alternative to Apple Notes for people who need their notes outside the Apple ecosystem. Apple Notes is free, fast and deeply integrated, but Apple-only and closed. Nodum runs in any browser, stores plain markdown files, links notes with wikilinks, and renders the whole vault as a knowledge graph.
What Apple Notes is
Apple Notes is the built-in note app on iPhone, iPad and Mac: free, instant, well synced through iCloud, with folders, tags, scanning, handwriting and — since recent releases — links between notes. Its limits are its boundaries: it is Apple-only, closed, and its export is not designed for leaving.
Side by side
| Property | Apple Notes | Nodum |
|---|---|---|
| Licence | Proprietary, closed source | MIT — the whole stack, frontend and backend |
| Hosting | iCloud | Hosted at nodum.md, or self-hosted with one Docker Compose command |
| Your notes are | A proprietary local database synced through iCloud | Plain markdown files, exported as a folder-true zip whenever you ask |
| Linking | Links between notes and #tags; no wikilink syntax, no backlinks pane | [[wikilinks]], [[path/Note]], [[Note|alias]], ![[embeds]] — Obsidian syntax |
| Graph | No graph view | Global and local force-directed graph, GPU-rendered on WebGL2 |
| Pricing model | Free; storage counts against iCloud quota | Free and open source; self-host at your own infrastructure cost |
| Platforms | macOS, iOS, iPadOS, plus a limited iCloud web view | Any modern browser, desktop and mobile; installable as a PWA |
| Getting out | PDF per note, or copy-paste — no bulk markdown export | Vault zip of .md files, plus a REST API and an MCP server |
Where each one actually wins
The left-hand column is the honest part. If none of it applies to you, the switch is probably worth making; if several do, it probably is not.
What Apple Notes does better
- It is already there, it is instant, and it costs nothing.
- Handwriting, document scanning, Apple Pencil and system-wide share sheets.
- iCloud sync that simply works across Apple devices.
What Nodum does better
- It works on Windows, Linux, Android and every browser — not just Apple hardware.
- Markdown files with a real bulk export instead of per-note PDFs.
- Wikilinks, automatic backlinks and a knowledge graph.
- Open source, MIT licensed and self-hostable.
- Code blocks, KaTeX maths, Mermaid diagrams, tables and callouts.
So — switch, or stay?
Switch to Nodum if…
- You use a non-Apple machine for part of your day.
- You have more than a few hundred notes and want them linked.
- You want to be able to get all of it out at once.
Stay on Apple Notes if…
- You are all-Apple and your notes are short, visual, and mostly captured on a phone.
Apple Notes and Nodum: common questions
How do I export Apple Notes to markdown?
Apple Notes has no bulk markdown export. The usual routes are the Exporter app for macOS, an Apple Shortcuts automation, or exporting notes as PDFs and converting. Once you have a folder of .md files, zip it and import it into a Nodum vault.
Is there an Apple Notes alternative for Windows?
Nodum runs in any modern browser, so the same vault opens on Windows, Linux, macOS, Android and iOS with nothing installed. It is MIT licensed and can be self-hosted, and notes are plain markdown files rather than an iCloud-only database.
Before you move anything
Whatever you decide, run this once. It takes ten minutes and it is the difference between a migration and an incident.
- Export from Apple Notes first, and keep that export somewhere safe.
- Import a copy into a throwaway Nodum vault, not your main one.
- Open the graph and look for ghost nodes — those are links that did not resolve.
- Export the Nodum vault and diff it against what you put in.
- Only then delete anything.
Other comparisons
Every comparison is on the alternatives index, and the glossary defines the vocabulary these pages use.
Bring your Apple Notes notes with you.
Import a zip, look at the graph, export it again. Nothing about it is one-way.