Hillnote
Summary
Most note-taking tools that add AI store your files in a database you can't read without them — and when the service goes down, your thinking goes with it. Hillnote runs AI locally, saves everything as plain markdown on your disk, and lets external agents like Claude Code or Codex read and edit your workspace directly.
The core workflow is a single markdown source shared across documents, databases, kanban boards, canvas, and slides — so there is no export step when switching views, and no proprietary schema blocking outside tools. Local models (Apple Intelligence, Ollama) handle inline edits and quick rephrasing without touching a server; auto-mode routes heavier requests to a frontier model. A built-in MCP server exposes your workspace to any MCP client over STDIO, so agents you already use can act on files without a custom integration. The wall appears at the collaboration layer — this is a single-user, file-first tool, and teams that need concurrent editing or shared permissions will find no native path to that here.
Bottom line: Pick Hillnote if you want a markdown-native workspace where your AI runs offline and your agents can edit the same files you do — but plan a different stack the moment your team needs more than one person writing to the same document at the same time.
Pricing Plans
Subscription- Free Tier
- Core editor, local AI, limited premium models, 100MB synced storage, collaboration on synced workspaces
Free
Core editor, local AI, limited premium models, 100MB sync
- Core editor desktop + mobile
- Local AI via Ollama + Apple Intelligence
- Limited premium model use
- 100MB synced storage
Plus
Publish, automate, bring your own keys
- Everything in Free
- 1GB synced storage
- Publish workspaces
- Custom domain
- Up to 3 routines
- Bring your own API key
Pro
For power users with frontier AI
- Everything in Plus
- 10GB synced storage
- Publish up to 6 workspaces
- Up to 5 routines
- 30× premium model usage
View full pricing on hillnote.com →
Pricing may have changed since last verified. Check the official site for current plans.
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Pros
Sign in to edit- Every file is stored as plain markdown on your local disk, which means you can open, search, and version-control your entire knowledge base with any editor — no vendor dependency standing between you and your own work.
- Local AI models handle inline edits and rephrasing on-device even without a network connection, so writing assistance does not stop when your internet does.
- Auto-mode routes between local and frontier models based on task weight, so you avoid paying frontier API costs for simple rewrites while still having that capacity available for heavier lifting.
- A built-in STDIO MCP server exposes your workspace to Claude Code, Codex, and any MCP client as plain files — no exports, no schema translation — so agents you already use can act on your notes without a custom integration layer.
- Sync is opt-in and can be turned off entirely, which means your files genuinely stay on your machine when you want them to, rather than syncing by default and requiring you to trust a vendor's data handling.
Cons
Sign in to edit- There is no concurrent editing or shared permissions model described anywhere in the vendor's documentation — a two-person team that needs to write to the same document simultaneously has no path forward here and will need to move to a tool like Notion or Obsidian Publish with a sync layer.
- The API surface is limited to the MCP pathway; there is no REST or webhook interface for programmatic access outside of agent tooling, which means teams trying to pipe Hillnote data into dashboards or external automations hit a dead end and typically resort to file-watching scripts on the markdown directory.
- Mac is the stated primary target (the download CTA is 'Download for Mac'), and while Windows, iOS, and Android are listed as sync targets, the maturity gap between platforms is not disclosed — teams standardized on Windows as a primary device are taking on unknown parity risk.
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About
- Platforms
- Mac, Windows, iOS, Android
- API Available
- No
- Self-Hosted
- Yes
- Last Updated
- 2026-07-16T12:34:44.422Z
Best For
Who it's for
- Users wanting local file ownership
- Markdown-based productivity workflows
- Privacy-focused note-taking with AI
- Developers and writers using agents
What it does well
- Local note-taking and knowledge management
- Creating documents, databases, kanban boards, and slides
- Offline AI-assisted writing and editing
- Agent-ready workspaces for external AI tools
Integrations
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Is Hillnote free?
- Hillnote has a permanent free tier alongside paid upgrades. You can keep using a baseline version indefinitely without paying.
- Is Hillnote open source?
- No — Hillnote is a closed-source tool. Source code is not publicly available.
- Can I self-host Hillnote?
- Yes. Hillnote supports self-hosting on your own infrastructure.
- What platforms does Hillnote support?
- Hillnote is available on: Mac, Windows, iOS, Android.
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Curated lists that include this category
Cloud-based productivity tools hold your notes hostage in proprietary databases — readable only through their interface, gone the moment you cancel. Hillnote takes the opposite position: every document, database, kanban board, canvas, and slide is stored as plain markdown on your local disk, readable by any text editor, and never dependent on a remote service to open. AI assistance runs on-device through Apple Intelligence or Ollama for inline edits and rephrasing, with auto-mode escalating to a frontier model when the task warrants it — all configurable, all without forcing a cloud round-trip for small tasks.
The differentiating feature is agent readiness baked into the file format itself. Because the workspace is plain markdown on disk, external agents — the vendor specifically names Claude Code, Cowork, Codex, and any MCP client — can read and edit your files directly without exports or proprietary APIs. A built-in STDIO MCP server exposes the workspace to those clients, and a CLI brings the same access inside Hillnote. This is not a bolt-on integration; it is a consequence of the file architecture.
Hillnote fits writers, developers, and privacy-focused individuals who want AI assistance without surrendering file ownership, and who already use or plan to use external agents on their workspace. It breaks as a team tool: the vendor describes no concurrent editing, no shared permissions model, and no collaborative workspace features. A solo practitioner building a personal knowledge base alongside agentic tools is the clear target; a product team looking to replace a shared wiki is not.
Sync across Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android is available and described as opt-in — files stay local unless you turn it on. The workspace can also be extended with HTML tools and npm packages, and published as a doc, blog, or site with a custom domain. The API is not exposed for external programmatic access outside the MCP pathway.