Darkwrite
by Darkwrite · Offline, local-first notes app for macOS, open source under AGPLv3
BenchRank score
Screenshots of Darkwrite
Homepage
Overview
Darkwrite is a note-taking app for macOS that keeps all notes on the device, so it runs offline and needs no account. It provides an editor, a customisable interface, included or custom themes and fonts, PDF export with custom fonts and colours, and one-click backup into an archive that restores on another device. The source is public under AGPLv3.
- Best for
- macOS users who want a local, offline notebook with no account, no sync service and no AI features.
- Pricing
- No prices are shown; the site states the software is free and open source with no paywalls and no licence verification.
- Runs on
- macOSWindowsLinuxSelf-hosted
Strengths and trade-offs
Strengths
- Notes stored on the device; works offline with no account
- Free and open source under AGPLv3, with no ads or tracking
- One-click backup to an archive, restored on a new device
- Custom themes and fonts, plus PDF export with custom colours
Trade-offs
- Only a macOS download is offered; Flatpak support is only planned
- Sync and collaboration are on the roadmap, not available today
- User documentation is still listed as in development
- Small single-maintainer project, 250+ GitHub stars
How Darkwrite markets itself
A structured read of the promise, proof and page design on Darkwrite’s captured homepage.
Homepage capture
“Write without distractions.”
- Angle: Simplicity / ease
- Hero: Product screenshot
Pricing
Published plans and prices from Darkwrite’s own pricing page.
How this score is made up
Each dimension is scored out of 100 and combined into the headline score using fixed weights.
MCP support
Whether an agent can drive the product through the Model Context Protocol, and how much setup that takes.
API quality
Public API surface: machine-readable spec, official SDKs, documented auth, errors, rate limits and versioning.
Documentation
Publicly reachable docs — coverage, freshness, code samples and machine readability.
Agent friendliness
How readable the site is to an automated client: llms.txt, structured data, server-rendered content, crawler access.
Pricing transparency
Whether real prices are published, self-serve signup exists, and usage costs are knowable without a sales call.
Changelog
A public, dated record of what shipped and when — the clearest signal that a product is still alive.
Marketing site structure
Whether the site answers a buyer's questions: clear positioning, the pages that matter, and accessibility.
Page speed
How fast the site loads for real visitors: Chrome UX Report 75th-percentile LCP, INP and CLS, with a Lighthouse mobile run standing in where a site has too little traffic for field data.
Operational trust
Status page and incident history, security disclosure, compliance and data-processing documentation.
Measured, but not part of the score
Useful to know, but not a mark for or against the product — so these do not affect the ranking.
Openness
Source availability, self-hosting, data export and open standards. Scored and shown, but not part of the composite — paid SaaS is not worse for being paid SaaS.
Maintenance
Release cadence and repository activity. Scored and shown, but not part of the composite — it is only measurable for open repositories.
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Where this comes from
The Darkwrite pages BenchRank reads when it scores the product — its documentation, release notes, status and security pages, and its repository where there is one.
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Is this your product?
Claim Darkwrite to manage its profile. Claiming lets you suggest edits to the descriptive fields — it never changes scores or rankings.