Linwood Butterfly

Contents

1. 01WelcomeWhat it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
2. 02What it costsEvery plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
3. 03What it doesIts main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
4. 04Where it standsIts grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
5. 05The alternativesThe tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
6. 06Quick answersThe questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
7. 07About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it

ToolGPA put this guide together from Linwood Butterfly’s own pages, its app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on Linwood Butterfly’s page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Oct 9, 2026.

1. 1

   Best for free handwritten notes on an endless canvas

   Butterfly is a free, open-source app for handwriting, sketching and marking up PDFs on an endless canvas, on Android, Windows, Mac, Linux and the web.

2. 2

   It is free

   Linwood Butterfly has no paid plan at all. The whole app is free and open source under the GNU AGPL-3.0 license on every platform; the project's own comparison table lists its cost as Free.

3. 3

   It runs on 5 platforms

   Web, Windows, macOS, Linux and Android.

4. 4

   Infinite canvas with editable elements

   Handwriting, shapes and imported media sit on an unbounded canvas, and each element can be moved, resized, recolored and reorganized after it is placed.

5. 5

   Pen and drawing tools

   Stroke width, color, smoothing and texture are adjustable, and the toolbox adds labels, shapes, polygons, tables, rulers, grids, stamps, a laser pointer and a presentation tool.

6. 6

   Import and export

   Imports PDFs, images, SVG, Markdown, Xournal++ files and OneNote sections. Exports to PDF, SVG, image and Xournal++, plus its own documented .bfly and .tbfly formats.

7. 7

   A 3.2 GPA, above 129 of 147

   That is against the other note-taking apps we grade, on value, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.

8. 8

   Keep it

   Linwood Butterfly is free, so making your own would save you nothing.

• Butterfly

  $0

  The full app for Android, Windows, macOS and Linux, a web app that installs for offline use, and a Docker image for hosting the web app yourself.

Read from butterfly.linwood.dev on Oct 9, 2026.

Infinite canvas with editable elements

Handwriting, shapes and imported media sit on an unbounded canvas, and each element can be moved, resized, recolored and reorganized after it is placed.

Pen and drawing tools

Stroke width, color, smoothing and texture are adjustable, and the toolbox adds labels, shapes, polygons, tables, rulers, grids, stamps, a laser pointer and a presentation tool.

Import and export

Imports PDFs, images, SVG, Markdown, Xournal++ files and OneNote sections. Exports to PDF, SVG, image and Xournal++, plus its own documented .bfly and .tbfly formats.

Templates and packs

Templates bundle backgrounds, tools, layers, areas and pages for new documents, and packs hold reusable stamps, palettes and styles that are available across documents.

Local storage with WebDAV sync

Notes are saved to a folder on the device. The native apps can add a WebDAV connection such as Nextcloud and mark remote files for offline editing.

Experimental collaboration

Behind an experiment flag, several people can edit one document at once through an end-to-end encrypted Swamp relay or a WebSocket server run on one participant's computer.

Linwood Butterfly's GPA of 3.2 is higher than 129 of the 147 other note-taking apps we grade, and level with 8.

It stands best on free plan and trial (A, above 100 of 147) and worst on features (C, above 2).

Linwood Butterfly has no paid plan.

On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. Nothing scores higher for less, though at least one tool matches that score at a lower price.

Part 05 · Alternatives

The alternatives

The tools it is most often weighed against, side by side

Xournal++, Rnote, Saber, Stylus Labs Write and Microsoft OneNote

The 5 tools Linwood Butterfly is most often weighed against, with where each one differs from it.

• 

  2.8GPA

  Xournal++

  Free

  Open-source handwriting notes and PDF annotation for desktop.

  • Only Linwood Butterfly lists a web app.
  • Only Linwood Butterfly lists an Android app.
  • Linwood Butterfly is self-hostable, according to its own site.

  Linwood Butterfly and Xournal++ compared in full
• 

  3.0GPA

  Rnote

  Free

  Open-source app for sketching and handwritten notes with a stylus.

  • Only Linwood Butterfly lists a web app.
  • Only Linwood Butterfly lists an Android app.
  • Linwood Butterfly is self-hostable, according to its own site.

  Linwood Butterfly and Rnote compared in full
• 

  3.0GPA

  Saber

  Free plan · from $5/mo

  Open-source handwritten notes app for phones, tablets and PCs.

  • Only Linwood Butterfly lists a web app.
  • Only Saber lists an iOS app.
  • Linwood Butterfly also covers whiteboard and templates.

  Linwood Butterfly and Saber compared in full
• 

  3.2GPA

  Stylus Labs Write

  Free plan · from $8.99 one-time

  Open-source handwriting word processor for desktop and mobile.

  • Only Linwood Butterfly lists a web app.
  • Only Stylus Labs Write lists an iOS app.
  • Linwood Butterfly is self-hostable, according to its own site.

  Linwood Butterfly and Stylus Labs Write compared in full
• 

  3.8GPA

  Microsoft OneNote

  Free plan · from $9.99/mo

  Microsoft's free digital notebook for typed, inked and audio notes.

  • Only Linwood Butterfly lists a Linux app.
  • Only Microsoft OneNote lists an iOS app.
  • Only Microsoft OneNote lists a browser extension.

  Linwood Butterfly and Microsoft OneNote compared in full

The short version of everything above, for when you only need the answer. Each one is told in full in its part of the guide.

ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.

Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.

• 3,189

  tools graded

• 94

  categories

• 426

  price changes on record

• 579

  apps priced in 12 countries