Desktop · Browser · Phone — the same notes, the same files
Markdown your team can write together.
Every note is a plain .md file in a folder you chose. Share a set of them and your team edits the same document at the same time, each person’s cursor on screen — then it is written back to disk as ordinary Markdown.
Personal notes never sync. Sharing is something you switch on, one workspace at a time.
The core idea
A folder of Markdown is the product.
Most team note tools keep your writing inside their own database and offer an export button you hope still works the day you need it. Cachet Notes has no inside. A note is a .md file with a few lines of frontmatter, sitting in a folder you picked, readable by anything you own.
A team wiki in somebody’s database
Your writing lives in a service. Getting it out is an export job, and what comes back is not quite what you wrote.
The day you want to leave is the day you find out how good the export was.
Cachet Notes
Your writing lives in MyVault/Projects/Roadmap.md. Open it in anything. The app is how you edit it, not where it is kept.
Rich mode parses that file in and writes the same Markdown back out — and only ever on an actual edit.
Four teams it was built for
Small teams who write things down, and would rather own the result than rent it.
Engineering
Design notes, decisions and runbooks beside the code, in the format the repository already speaks.
Consultancies
A workspace per client, guests from the client’s own organisation, and notes you can hand over as files at the end.
Research and writing
Links between notes, a graph, citations, footnotes and maths — with the draft still a file you can put under version control.
Anyone leaving a silo
An Obsidian or Notion export is a folder of Markdown. Import it, wikilinks and all, and carry on.
What is in it
Everything grouped by the job it does
Written for people who keep a vault open all day: keyboard-first, offline-first, and quiet about it.
Write
Three ways into the same fileRich, Split and Source
INCLUDEDCtrl+E cycles them, and the choice is remembered per note. Rich mode is a real WYSIWYG editor that reads the Markdown in and writes the same Markdown back out.
- Rich — formatting as you type, with a grouped toolbar for text, headings, lists, blocks and tables
- Split — source on the left, rendered preview on the right
- Source — raw Markdown with syntax colouring, and optional Vim keys
- Serialising runs only on a genuine edit, so opening a note or switching modes can never rewrite it
Markdown that reads the way you wrote it
INCLUDEDTables, task lists, callouts, highlights, footnotes and maths render in the preview and in Rich mode — and survive a Rich-mode edit byte for byte.
- Callouts with a type word, highlights with ==marks==, footnotes inserted as a pair
- KaTeX maths inline and on its own lines
- Fenced code with syntax colouring, loaded only when a note actually has code
- Mermaid diagrams render live under their source, and a syntax error shows inline instead of blanking the note
Daily notes and templates
INCLUDEDOne shortcut opens today’s note, created from your own template the first time you press it.
- Every note under Templates/ is a template, inserted at the caret from the palette
- Placeholders for the date, the time, the title and where the caret should land
- New note from template, and save the open note as one
- Paste or drop an image and it is stored in the vault by content hash and linked relatively
Find
Offline, instant, and built from the same pass that reads the vaultFull-text search that works with no connection
INCLUDEDTitles, bodies and tags, with a line of context per hit. The index is built when the vault opens and updated on every save, so it needs no server.
- path: and tag: narrow it, and a quoted phrase must appear verbatim
- Ctrl+O is the quick switcher: recent notes first, then any note by name or alias
- Ctrl+P is the command palette — every action in the app, with its shortcut
- Find and replace inside a note, with match case, whole word and regular expressions
The connections you already made
INCLUDEDBacklinks, outgoing links and unlinked mentions for the open note, each one click from becoming a real link.
- Links are ordinary relative Markdown, so the file still works outside the app
- Link to a heading or to a single block, and embed a note, a heading or a block inline
- Aliases in the frontmatter are matched by the picker, the switcher and unlinked mentions
- A graph of notes and links, with a Local view for the note you are in
Panes for the rest of it
INCLUDEDOutline, tags, tasks, properties, activity and history, all on the right, all remembered.
- Every open checkbox in the vault in one list; ticking one rewrites its file
- Frontmatter as a form, with tags as a list and your own keys as fields
- Bookmarks for notes, headings and saved searches, private to you even in a shared workspace
- Nested tags grouped under their parent, with counts
Work together
The part a folder of files cannot do on its ownLive co-editing
CACHET PROOpen a synced note in Rich mode and you join a session. Everyone types into one document and the edits merge character by character — there is nothing to conflict.
- Each person’s caret carries their name, with avatars in the note header and on its tabs
- Undo only ever undoes your own changes
- Offline edits keep going into your copy and are sent when you reconnect
- The file on disk and the server’s revision history both keep up with the live text
Comments and history
CACHET PROSelect text, leave a comment, and the thread follows that text as people edit around it.
- Reply and resolve; a thread whose text was deleted stays, listed with the words it was about
- Every revision with its author and time, a line diff, and a Restore that writes the old text as a new revision
- An activity feed of who changed what across the workspace
- Viewers read, commenters comment, editors edit, owners manage sharing
Workspaces that belong to someone
CACHET PROA workspace is a shared set of notes with its own members, its own folder on each device, and an organisation that owns it.
- Invite by email address with a role; the invitation only works for that address
- Guests from another organisation keep their own licence and their own badge
- A deleted workspace can be restored for 30 days, with an email to its owners saying how
- Every workspace keeps at least one owner, so it can never be orphaned
Everywhere, and still yours
One codebase, the same vault, no lock-in at either endDesktop, browser and phone
INCLUDEDA Windows desktop application that opens real folders on disk, and a web app that installs to a dock or a home screen and runs offline.
- Desktop: a folder tree, tabs, and split panes you arrange by dragging — the layout is restored on relaunch
- Browser: installable, with the app and the manual cached so it opens with no connection
- Phone: the same notes behind a drill-down layout, with search, the graph and swipe to delete
- Theme follows the system, or you pick one, remembered per device
Sync that does not lose things
IN WORKSPACESLocal-first. Every device keeps the whole vault and works offline; sync reconciles afterwards, a few seconds after a save and whenever the connection comes back.
- Two offline edits to one note are merged line by line
- Where a merge is impossible, your version is kept beside the server’s as a conflicted copy — nothing is discarded
- Renames and moves sync on their own, so they never collide with an edit
- Images ride along, fetched by hash on the devices that need them
In and out without a fight
INCLUDEDImport a folder of Markdown — an Obsidian or Notion export is exactly that — and [[wikilinks]] are converted to relative links as it comes in.
- Export the whole vault as a zip, every file as it sits on disk
- Any non-note file shows in the tree and opens with the system viewer
- On the desktop the folder is watched, so an edit made in another program appears within a second or two
- Your unsaved edit always wins over a change arriving from outside
Your files
Notes you can still read without us
Personal notes never leave the device — there is no switch that uploads them. Shared workspaces do live on our servers, because that is the only way other people can edit them, and we would rather tell you exactly what that means than imply otherwise.
Free for your own notes. Per seat for the shared ones.
A licence belongs to a person, on as many devices as they like, and only matters for workspaces. Anyone can read what you share with them without paying anything.
Free
$0 for your own notes
Personal notes on your device with every editor, search, linking and organising feature — and read-only access to any workspace somebody shares with you.
Open the appCachet Pro
$4 CAD per user, per month, billed annually *
Edit, comment and co-edit live in shared workspaces, and create workspaces of your own. CA$48 per user a year.
Start a free trialFourteen days free. Through the customer portal the first five licences in the trial cost nothing.
Cachet Pro, monthly
$5 CAD per user, per month, billed monthly
The same thing without the annual commitment. Change the number of licences whenever the team changes.
Start a free trial* Prices are in Canadian dollars and exclude tax. Added licences are charged for the rest of the current term, prorated; fewer licences take effect at renewal. Cancel and everyone keeps editing to the end of the paid period, after which shared workspaces become read-only — nothing is deleted, and subscribing again brings the licences back.
| What a licence changes | Free | Cachet Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Personal notes on your own device | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Rich, Split and Source editing | Yes | Yes |
| Search, links, graph, tasks and templates | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop app, installable web app and phone layout | Yes | Yes |
| Import a folder of Markdown, export the vault as a zip | Yes | Yes |
| Read a workspace shared with you | Yes | Yes |
| Edit and comment in a shared workspace | — | Yes |
| Live co-editing in Rich mode | — | Yes |
| Create and own workspaces | — | Yes |
| Version history | Read | Read and restore |
| Invite guests from another organisation | — | Yes |
| Restore a deleted workspace within 30 days | — | Yes |
| Devices per person | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Nothing to migrate into
Point it at a folder of Markdown you already have. That is the setup.
Nothing to migrate out of
Stop paying and your notes are still files in that folder, on every device that had them.
Readers never pay
Share a workspace with a client or a contractor and they can read it for nothing, forever.
Technical specifications
- Storage format
- Plain Markdown (.md), one file per note, with a small YAML frontmatter block carrying a stable id, created and updated times, tags and — once synced — a revision marker.
- Where notes live
- A folder you choose. Personal notes stay there and never sync. Each workspace gets its own folder on the device, managed by the app, so switching never copies notes between them.
- Attachments
- Images pasted or dropped are stored under _attachments by content hash and linked with an ordinary relative Markdown image. Other files up to 50 MB sync by hash; larger ones stay local.
- Desktop
- Windows 10 and Windows 11, 64-bit, with a folder tree, tabs and split panes. The macOS build comes from the same source and is not published yet.
- Browser
- Any current browser. Installable as a progressive web app; the application and the built-in manual are cached, so it opens and works with no connection.
- Phone
- The same app, installed from the browser to the home screen, with a drill-down layout: folders, full-text search with the same filters, the graph, the editor and swipe to delete. No tabs or split panes.
- Editing modes
- Rich (WYSIWYG), Split (source and live preview) and Source (raw Markdown with syntax colouring and optional Vim keys). Ctrl+E cycles; the choice is remembered per note, per device.
- Markdown supported
- CommonMark with tables and task lists, plus callouts, ==highlights==, footnotes, KaTeX maths inline and in blocks, Mermaid diagrams, and fenced code with syntax colouring.
- Linking
- Relative Markdown links, heading links, block links with ^id markers, frontmatter aliases, and note, heading and block embeds rendered inline. Backlinks, outgoing links and unlinked mentions are computed, not written into the file.
- Search
- Client-side full text over titles, bodies and tags, built when the vault opens and updated on every save. path: and tag: filters, quoted phrases, and results while you type. Works entirely offline.
- Sync
- Local-first. A few seconds after each save, every minute while idle, when the network returns, and when the server reports a change. A rejected push is merged line by line; what cannot be merged is kept beside the server’s copy as a conflicted copy.
- Live editing
- Rich mode joins a shared session: edits merge character by character, with each person’s named caret and presence. Source and Split edit freely while you are alone in a note and turn read-only while someone else is in it.
- Roles
- Viewer reads, Commenter also comments, Editor edits, Owner also manages sharing. Enforced on the server for every update, and anything above Viewer also needs a licence.
- Sign-in
- Single sign-on through your identity provider over OpenID Connect, or an email address and password, depending on how the deployment is configured. The desktop app signs in through your system browser.
- Licensing
- Per person, from their own organisation, valid on any number of their devices. Personal notes need no licence at all.
- Import and export
- Import any folder of Markdown, including Obsidian and Notion exports, converting [[wikilinks]] to relative links. Export the whole vault as a zip, every file as it is on disk.
- Retention
- A deleted workspace can be restored by its owners or an organisation admin for 30 days; after that it and its attachments are permanently deleted from the server. Copies already on devices are unaffected.
- Encryption
- Encrypted in transit. Notes in a shared workspace are not end-to-end encrypted: the server holds text it can read, which is what makes revision history, restore and live sessions possible. Per-note end-to-end encryption is on the roadmap.
Questions prospects actually ask
Where are my notes actually kept?
In a folder you picked, as .md files you can open in any editor. The app adds a few lines of YAML at the top of each one so it can follow the note across renames and devices. There is no database holding your writing hostage.
Do I need an account?
Not for your own notes. Signing in is what enables sync, sharing and licensing. Without it the app is a local Markdown editor and stays one.
Is it end-to-end encrypted?
No, not today. Notes travel over an encrypted connection, but our servers hold the text of a shared workspace in a form they can read — that is what makes revision history, diffs, restore and live co-editing work. Keep anything you are not willing to store on our servers in your personal vault, which never leaves your device. Per-note end-to-end encryption is designed and on the roadmap, where your vote moves it.
What happens if we stop paying?
Everyone keeps editing until the end of the period you paid for. After that, shared workspaces become read-only. Nothing is deleted — the notes, the members and their roles all stay, and subscribing again turns editing back on. Your personal notes are untouched throughout; they are files on your own disk.
Can two of us edit the same note at the same time?
Yes, in Rich mode, once the note has synced once. Edits merge character by character and each person’s cursor is on screen with their name, so there is nothing to resolve afterwards. Source and Split modes edit freely when you are alone in a note and go read-only while someone else is in it, because a whole-text edit cannot merge with someone typing.
Does Rich mode mangle my Markdown?
It parses the file in and writes the same Markdown back out, and it only serialises on an actual edit — opening a note or switching modes never rewrites it. Callouts, highlights, footnotes and maths are nodes that write back the exact text they were read from.
Can I move over from Obsidian or Notion?
Both export a folder of Markdown, which is what the importer takes. [[Wikilinks]] are converted to relative links as the folder comes in, resolved by file name, and anything it cannot resolve is left as plain text rather than silently broken.
Is there an App Store or Google Play app?
Not yet. On a phone you install the web app from the browser to your home screen and get the phone layout, offline and all. Store-distributed builds are on the roadmap.
Does a reader need a licence?
No. Without one, every shared workspace is read-only with a banner saying why, and you can still read every note and show up in presence. Only editing, commenting and creating workspaces need a licence, and it comes from your own organisation — not from whoever shared the workspace with you.
What if I delete a workspace by mistake?
Its owners and your organisation’s admins can restore it for 30 days, with the notes, the members, their roles and any open invitations. Its owners are emailed when it happens and reminded before the window closes. After 30 days it is permanently gone from the server.
Your notes are already Markdown
Point Cachet Notes at the folder, share the part that other people need, and keep the files.