PLAIN TEXT.YOUR DISK.FOREVER.
Loam is a second brain that stores every note as a Markdown file in a folder you control. Open them in any editor. Grep them. Back them up. Outlive us. The app is the nice part; the files are the point.
Free for the first 1,000 files. macOS 14+, iOS 17+, or any browser.
$ ls -la ~/Notes | head
| -rw-r--r-- | you | 2.1K | Aug 30 22:14 | attention-residue.md |
| -rw-r--r-- | you | 4.7K | Aug 29 09:02 | deep-work-ch2.md |
| -rw-r--r-- | you | 812B | Aug 28 17:40 | 2026-08-28.md |
| -rw-r--r-- | you | 3.3K | Aug 27 08:11 | parkinsons-law.md |
| -rw-r--r-- | you | 1.9K | Aug 25 21:37 | zettelkasten.md |
| -rw-r--r-- | you | 6.0K | Aug 24 07:58 | q4-roadmap.md |
| 1,204 files · 6.2 MB · every one of them readable without us | ||||
That's the whole format. A folder, some Markdown, a little front matter for dates and links. If Loam disappeared tomorrow you would lose an app, not a decade of thinking.
| FEATURE | HOW IT WORKS | WHY IT MATTERS |
|---|---|---|
| Backlinks | [[wikilinks]] indexed on save | The note knows who cites it. |
| Daily note | YYYY-MM-DD.md, created when you open the day | Fleeting thoughts have an address. |
| Resurfacing | Related notes shown beside what you're typing | You reread what you would have forgotten. |
| Search | Full-text plus semantic, indexed on your machine | Find it by meaning when the words are gone. |
| Sync | End-to-end encrypted, optional | The same folder on every device. |
| Export | None | There is nothing to export. It's already files. |
NO EXPORT BUTTON. NOTHING TO EXPORT.
Every other notes app asks you to trust the company. Loam asks you to trust a folder. One of those has a good track record.
CHANGELOG (EXCERPT)
- 2026.08
- Semantic search runs on-device. No note leaves your disk to be indexed.
- 2026.06
- iPhone app. Same folder, smaller screen.
- 2026.03
- Git-friendly formatting: one sentence per line, stable front matter order.
- 2025.11
- First release. A folder of Markdown and an app that reads it.