# Heynote

> Block-based scratchpad for developers on Mac, Windows and Linux

Heynote is a desktop scratchpad aimed at developers and power users. Each note is one long, persistent text buffer split into blocks, and every block has its own language for syntax highlighting and auto-formatting, or acts as a calculator. Buffers are plain .txt files in a folder on disk. The app is a free download for Mac, Windows and Linux, and its source code is public.

- **Category:** Note-Taking Apps
- **Made by:** Jonatan Heyman (since 2023)
- **Website:** https://heynote.com
- **Runs on:** macOS, Windows, Linux
- **Facts last checked:** Oct 9, 2026

## Pricing

Heynote is free to use.

- **Pricing model:** Free
- **Free plan:** Every build on the site is a direct download with no price, account or license key. There is no paid edition.
- **Free trial:** None listed.

| Plan | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Heynote | $0 | The full app as Mac Universal, Arm and Intel builds, a Windows installer, and an AppImage or Snap for Linux. |

Read from https://heynote.com/ on Oct 9, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Heynote before buying.

## Key features

- **Buffers divided into blocks:** A buffer is a persistent stretch of text split into blocks. One keystroke adds a block, and select-all picks the current block first, then the whole buffer.
- **A language for each block:** Each block has its own language, detected automatically or set by hand, with syntax highlighting for more than 30 languages and auto-formatting for JSON, JavaScript, HTML, CSS and Markdown.
- **Math blocks:** A math block works as a calculator pad with variables, functions and unit and currency conversion. It is built on Math.js expressions.
- **Multiple buffers:** Besides the default Scratch buffer you can create any number of buffers, open them in tabs, sort them into directories and search across them. Each one is a .txt file on disk.
- **Inline images with markup:** Images pasted or dropped into a buffer appear inline, can be resized and annotated with a freehand drawing tool, and copied back to the clipboard.
- **Keyboard control:** Default, Emacs-like or custom key bindings, a command palette, multi-cursor editing and an optional global hotkey that shows or hides the app.

## Good for

- Developers who need a holding place for JSON, logs and code snippets
- Quick calculations and unit conversions next to working notes
- People who want scratch notes kept as plain files on their own disk

## Worth knowing

- Desktop only: there is no mobile app, and the author says one is out of scope for now.
- No sync of its own. The docs suggest a file-syncing service such as Dropbox and warn that editing one buffer on two machines at once can cause conflicts.
- The Windows build is not code-signed, so Windows may show a warning when installing it.
- The code is under the MIT license with the Commons Clause, which does not allow selling the software.

**Tags:** Notes, Markdown, Calculator, Keyboard-first, Local-first

## Alternatives

- [Antinote](https://toolgpa.com/tools/antinote): Mac scratchpad for temporary notes, quick math and checklists. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/antinote-vs-heynote)
- [Tot](https://toolgpa.com/tools/tot): Seven-note text scratchpad for Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/heynote-vs-tot)
- [Drafts](https://toolgpa.com/tools/drafts): Quick-capture notes app for Apple devices with text actions. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/drafts-vs-heynote)
- [Inkdrop](https://toolgpa.com/tools/inkdrop): Markdown note app for developers with encrypted sync. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/heynote-vs-inkdrop)
- [Simplenote](https://toolgpa.com/tools/simplenote): Free plain-text notes that sync across every major platform. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/heynote-vs-simplenote)

## Sources

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 9, 2026:

- https://heynote.com/
- https://heynote.com/docs/
- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/heyman/heynote/main/README.md
- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/heyman/heynote/main/LICENSE
- https://api.github.com/repos/heyman/heynote/releases?per_page=100&page=2

Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/heynote
Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).