--- title: "A Markdown editor for Mac that keeps plain local files, with no database" author: Pedro Thomaz source: https://coffeetext.app/blog/markdown-editor-mac-plain-local-files --- # A Markdown editor for Mac that keeps plain local files, with no database > Checked November 2026 against the official pages linked below. Coffee isn't affiliated with any of the other apps named here. Several do. [Obsidian](https://obsidian.md/help/data-storage) keeps notes as Markdown files in a folder it calls a vault. [Typora](https://support.typora.io/File-Management/) is a file-based editor that opens whatever folder you give it. [iA Writer](https://ia.net/writer/support/help/icloud) saves to a folder in iCloud Drive by default. Coffee keeps every note as one `.md` file in a folder you choose. Bear, by contrast, [keeps notes in a SQLite database](https://bear.app/faq/where-are-bears-notes-located/), and Ulysses [in its own library](https://ulysses.app/). A database isn't a bad thing, and many people love those apps. It's just a different deal, and it's worth knowing which one you're getting. ## Why plain files matter The case for plain files is mostly about the future. Software gets abandoned, prices change, and your needs move on. A folder of text files outlives all of that. - **You can leave whenever you like,** because any other editor can open them. - **Other tools can use them.** Git, a command line search, a script or an AI tool all work on files without asking the app's permission. - **Backup needs no thought.** Time Machine or any sync service treats notes like any other file. - **There's nothing to export,** because they're already in the format you'd export to. ## A five-minute test for any app Whatever an app's website says, this will tell you the truth, and you can run it during a trial: 1. Make a note with a heading, a list and an image. 2. Find it in Finder. If you can't, you've learned something. 3. Open that file in TextEdit. Is it readable Markdown, or is there other material mixed in? 4. Edit it in TextEdit and save. Does the app pick up the change, and what does it do about it? 5. Rename or move it in Finder, and see if the app copes. 6. Look at where the image went. Is it beside the note, or somewhere private? ## What "no database" means in Coffee I want to be exact about this, because the simple version isn't quite true. Your notes are ordinary files. One note is one file, and the file name is the note's title. Tags are in the front matter of the file, images go in an `attachments` folder, and templates are `.md` files in a `Templates` folder. Pick iCloud Drive, Documents or anywhere else. There's no proprietary format, and leaving costs nothing. But Coffee does keep some things outside your folder, in its Application Support folder on your Mac: | What | Where it lives | If you lose it | |---|---|---| | Search index | A SQLite file | Rebuilt from your notes | | Version history | Copies of the note, up to 100 for each | Earlier versions are gone. The note itself is fine | | Comments | Stored apart from the note, so the Markdown stays clean | Comments are gone, and don't travel with the file | | What you last read, for [reviewing changes](https://coffeetext.app/blog/review-claude-cursor-markdown-changes) | Copies of each note | Coffee starts comparing again from the next time you read it | So there is a small database, and it's a search index that can be thrown away. No note lives in it. The fair criticism is that comments and history don't move with the file. If you send someone a note, or open it in another app, or move to a new Mac without bringing that folder, they stay behind. The one exception to "any editor can open it" is a private note. When you lock a note with Touch ID, the file on disk is encrypted, and only Coffee can open it. Other apps have their own versions of this. Obsidian keeps settings in a hidden `.obsidian` folder in the vault, and [File recovery](https://obsidian.md/help/plugins/file-recovery) snapshots outside it. iA Writer keeps its search index on your device, and when you use [Authorship](https://ia.net/writer/support/editor/authorship), it stores that data at the end of the file itself, where other editors can see it. ## What you give up with plain files - **Sync is up to you.** Coffee doesn't sync anything. Put the folder in iCloud Drive or another synced folder and that service does the work. It's fine for one person across Macs. - **No editing together.** Coffee has no collaborative editing. A change from another person reaches you through Git or a synced folder, and then you can [review it](https://coffeetext.app/blog/review-claude-cursor-markdown-changes), but you can't both type in one note at once. - **No structured data.** A folder of files isn't a database with views and relations. If you want that, you want a different kind of app. - **Search has to be built separately.** That's why the index exists. In Coffee, it takes about 14 milliseconds across 5,000 notes in our tests. ## Questions ### Can I keep Coffee's notes in iCloud Drive? Yes. Coffee's library is a folder you choose, so it can be in iCloud Drive, Documents or anywhere else. Coffee itself has no sync service. ### What happens to my notes if I stop paying for Coffee? They're still files in your folder. You can open, read and export every note in Coffee after a subscription ends, but editing in Coffee stops. Any other editor can open and edit the files as usual. ### Can Coffee open my existing Markdown folder? Yes. Point it at the folder and your files stay as they are. It reads `.md`, `.markdown` and `.txt` files. One button in Settings also makes it the default app for those files in Finder. --- Written by Pedro Thomaz, who makes Coffee, a Markdown editor for the Mac on macOS 15 or later. It's free for 14 days with no card or account, then €3 a month, €29 a year, or €79 once with two years of updates. More at https://coffeetext.app/llms-full.txt