Octarine vs. Craft
Like Craft's looks but not the lag? Octarine opens instantly, stores plain markdown files, and sticks to writing and organizing.
You'd trade Craft's polish and loading spinners for an app that opens and responds instantly.
You need highly designed documents with advanced layout controls or real-time collaboration for a team.
How They Compare
Strengths & Weaknesses
Octarine
- App Size: Under 30MB
- Launch Speed: Instant
- File Format: Plain markdown files
- A smaller ecosystem than Craft
- Focused on personal notes rather than every possible workflow
- Some Craft features do not have a direct equivalent
Craft
- Highly visual document layouts and presentation tools
- Mature real-time team collaboration
- Polished mobile and tablet experiences
- App Size: 200MB+
- Launch Speed: Few seconds wait
- File Format: Proprietary format
Summary
Craft makes sense if you need highly designed documents, advanced layout controls, or real-time team collaboration. Web publishing is available in both apps. For personal knowledge management, daily notes, and focused writing, Craft can be overkill.
If you only use a small part of Craft, you're paying in money and complexity for features you don't need. Octarine sticks to writing and connecting ideas, and it stays fast while doing it.
Craft Plus costs $96-120 per year, every year. Octarine is $79 once, which is less than a single year of Craft Plus, and after five years the difference is hundreds of dollars.
Methodology
Compared against Craft's official help center and pricing. Local-storage and offline claims distinguish External Locations from Craft's default cloud workflow.
Last reviewed: 2026-08-17
Switching from Craft to Octarine
Frequently Asked Questions
Start writing with Octarine.
A fast, private Markdown workspace for capturing ideas, shaping notes, and keeping your writing in files you control.