# Octarine vs Craft

Plain markdown files vs beautifully designed documents

Last reviewed: 2026-11-04
Web page: https://octarine.app/compare/craft

Craft and Octarine are both lovely places to write. The difference is who the writing is for.

Craft makes polished documents meant to be shared: rich layouts and cards, real-time collaboration, comments, and share links, with apps on macOS, iOS, Windows, Android, and the web. AI and semantic search come with every plan. Documents live in Craft's cloud by default; storing them in a local folder turns off sharing, comments, and version history.

Octarine is for notes you keep for yourself: plain markdown files by default, linked with backlinks and a graph, synced with Git or any folder service, and paid for once instead of by subscription.

- Moving from Craft: https://octarine.app/docs/importing/craft

## Comparison

"Yes", "No", and "Partly" are the status shown on the web page; any text after the colon is the note shown with it.

### Files

| Feature | Octarine | Craft |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Plain markdown files | Yes | Partly: Optional local folder; turns off sharing |
| Works offline | Yes: Everything, always | Yes: One-time setup on Windows, web, Android |

### Writing and organization

| Feature | Octarine | Craft |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Editor | WYSIWYG markdown | Block-based documents |
| Document design | Markdown formatting and themes | Rich layouts, cards, and styling |
| Links between notes | Yes | Yes |
| Graph view | Yes | No |
| Task management | Yes: Projects, list or board, cycles (Pro) | Yes: Today and Upcoming, schedules, deadlines, repeats |

- Task management: Tasks groups work into projects with statuses, priorities, labels, due dates, subtasks, saved filters, and optional cycles. Each task is a Markdown file in your workspace, and a checkbox in a note can become a task.

### Collaboration

| Feature | Octarine | Craft |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Real-time co-editing | No | Yes |
| Comments | Partly: On published notes | Yes |
| Share to the web | Yes: With reader comments | Yes: Share links |

### AI

| Feature | Octarine | Craft |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Built-in AI | Yes: Your own key or a local model (Pro) | Yes: Every plan, with usage quotas |

- Built-in AI: Ask Octarine searches, reads, and follows links across your notes to answer questions. The Writing Assistant edits inline. Indexing stays on your device.

### Platforms

| Feature | Octarine | Craft |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Desktop | macOS, Windows, Linux | macOS, Windows |
| iPhone and iPad | Partly: TestFlight for Pro users | Yes |
| Android | No | Yes |
| Web app | No | Yes |

### Plans

| Feature | Octarine | Craft |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free | Yes: Core features, no time limit | Partly: Up to 1,500 blocks |
| Paid | Pro $79 one-time | Plus $10 / month or $96 / year |

## Sources

Compared against Craft's help center, platform list, and plans page. USD prices come from Craft's help center because craft.do/pricing shows local currency.

- [Craft platforms](https://support.craft.do/en/introduction/platforms)
- [Craft plans and pricing](https://support.craft.do/en/account-and-subscription/subscription-plans/plans-and-pricing)
- [Craft External Locations](https://support.craft.do/en/account-and-subscription/storage-and-recovery/external-locations)
- [Craft pricing (features)](https://www.craft.do/pricing)
- [Craft Tasks](https://support.craft.do/en/plan-and-do/tasks)

Product names belong to their owners; no affiliation or endorsement is implied. Corrections: https://octarine.app/compare/craft has a "Suggest a correction" link.