BlockMD
Drag blocks around like in Notion. Your notes stay plain .md files, and every line you didn't edit is saved exactly as it was.
Free and open source · Windows and macOS
The file keeps its ===== heading, _italic_ and * bullets. When you move a block, its text is copied over unchanged.
Why use it
Most block editors store notes in their own database. Most Markdown editors are line-by-line text editors. BlockMD gives you blocks and keeps plain files.
Clean diffs
If you keep notes in git, moving a paragraph shows up as a move. BlockMD won't rewrite lines you never touched.
Slash menu and block menu
Type / to add a heading, list, to-do, quote, code block or callout. Click a block's handle to turn it into another type, duplicate it or delete it.
Callouts GitHub can read
Callouts are saved as > [!NOTE]. GitHub and Obsidian show them as callouts, and other apps show a normal quote.
A 2 MB installer
BlockMD is built with Tauri and uses the web view your system already has, so it downloads and opens quickly.
Open a file, save it without editing, and it stays byte-for-byte the same.
That includes BOMs, Windows line endings and a missing final newline. The test suite checks this on 14 real-world READMEs on Windows, macOS and Linux before every release.
How it compares
| Block editing | Plain .md files | Lightweight | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notion, AppFlowy, AFFiNE, SiYuan | Yes | No | No |
| Obsidian, Typora, MarkText | No | Yes | Partly |
| BlockMD | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Questions
Where are my notes stored?
Wherever you save them. BlockMD opens and saves ordinary .md files. There's no account, cloud or database, and it doesn't write any hidden block IDs into your files.
Is it free?
Yes. BlockMD is open source under the MIT license, and the source code is on GitHub.
Why does my computer warn me the first time I open it?
The installers aren't code-signed yet. On Windows, choose More info → Run anyway. On macOS, right-click the app and choose Open. You only need to do this once.
Is it ready for my real notes?
The saving engine is well tested, but the editor is still an early version. Keep a backup or use git for notes you care about, and please report anything odd.
Is there a Linux version?
Not yet. Windows and macOS come first, and Linux is planned.
What won't BlockMD do?
Anything that needs more than plain Markdown can store: links to blocks in other files, database views, synced blocks, real-time collaboration and cloud sync.