How Octarine compares
Octarine is a markdown note-taking app. So are Obsidian, Notion, Bear, Typora, and a dozen others. Here's where Octarine sits among them.
What Octarine is
A lightweight (under 30MB) cross-platform (Mac, Windows and Linux) desktop app for working with markdown files in a folder. It opens fast, searches instantly, and doesn't require an account. The core product is free, with an optional one-time paid license to unlock advanced features and workflows.
There's no plugin system, no proprietary sync, no collaboration features. It's a tool for personal notes — research, journals, documentation, whatever you keep in plain text with images/videos.
What Octarine isn't
It's not a team workspace like Notion. It's not a knowledge graph like Roam. It's not extensible like Obsidian. If you need databases, real-time collaboration, or an ecosystem of community plugins, Octarine isn't trying to be that and would not be a good fit.
The tradeoffs I've made
Speed over features. Octarine is fast because it doesn't try to please everyone.
Simplicity over flexibility. There's no plugin API because I want the app to work well without requiring assembly. The downside is you can't customize it much beyond themes.
One-time purchase over subscription. You pay $60 and you're done. I don't see your notes, I don't run sync servers, I don't have recurring costs to cover. The tradeoff is that some features — like backing up notes or syncing amongst your devices — you bring your own (iCloud / Dropbox / Git).
Specific comparisons
Both Octarine and Obsidian function pretty similar to one another. We both work offline, around markdown notes stored in a folder on your device. Notes between the two are interchangeable, and you can't really go wrong with choosing either of the two.
Why go with Octarine
Lightweight compared to Obsidian (30MB vs 500MB). Design friendly and features are purpose-built for the app. The editor is truly WYSIWYG and doesn't try to do markdown + preview in the same pane, leading to a much relaxed and non-jumpy writing experience.
Why stick with Obsidian
Is heavily extensible thanks to the plugin ecosystem. You can essentially build/use existing plugins to transform how the app works. They also have mobile apps ready on the market right now. They also have no features locked behind paywalls, and provide a subscription for syncing + publishing vaults if need be.
Ready to get started?
Been using Octarine as my daily driver for the past few days and I'm impressed. Seriously considering jumping from Noteplan.