Open Source ghostwriter AlternativesText Editors & Note-taking Tools like ghostwriter

The best open source alternative to ghostwriter is Notesnook. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to ghostwriter and loads of them is open source so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source alternatives to ghostwriter are Zettlr, Trilium Notes, Pulsar Editor and MarkText.

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Alternatives list

  1. Notesnook icon
     209 likes

    Offers open-source, end-to-end encrypted notes with device-based privacy, cross-platform support, private vault, secure sync, offline access, markdown editor, exports to multiple formats, automatic backups, organizational tools, and strong encryption.

    372 Notesnook alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Google Chrome
    • Flathub
    • F-Droid
    • Software as a Service (SaaS)
    • Flatpak
    • Self-Hosted
     
  2. Zettlr icon
     263 likes

    Unified writing platform offering note-taking, easy citations with Zotero integration, LaTeX/Word templates, snippets, themes, dark modes, code highlighting, multi-language support, and knowledge management with Zettelkasten for seamless writing from notes to books.

    224 Zettlr alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • PortableApps.com
     
  3. Pulsar Editor icon
     49 likes

    A Community-led Hyper-Hackable Text Editor, built on Electron. and based on everything we love about our favorite editors.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Chrome OS
    • BSD
    • Electron
     
  4. MarkText icon
     121 likes

    Open-source Markdown editor on Mac, Windows, and Linux offering real-time preview, clean interface, and various themes. Supports math expressions, exports HTML/PDF, allows image pasting, and more.

    121 MarkText alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  5. FocusWriter icon
     214 likes

    Simple but configurable and themeable, distraction-free text editor for writers. Open-source and available across desktop platforms.

    105 FocusWriter alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • PortableApps.com
     
  6. Marknote icon
     29 likes

    Marknote lets you create rich text notes and easily organise them into notebooks. You can personalise your notebooks by choosing an icon and accent color for each one, making it easy to distinguish between them and keep your notes at your fingertips.

    123 Marknote alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    • Snapcraft
     
  7. Clean, native Markdown editor for macOS with syntax highlighting, real-time GitHub Flavored Markdown and Mermaid diagram preview, KaTeX math support, synchronized side-by-side editing, QuickLook integration, PDF export, format shortcuts, and no subscriptions.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
     
  8. Ferrite icon
     12 likes

    Fast, native text editor supporting Markdown, JSON, YAML, and TOML with live preview, syntax highlighting, Mermaid diagrams, CSV/TSV viewing, collapsible trees, Git integration, regex find/replace, customizable themes, zen mode, and multi-language support.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
     
  9. StackEdit icon
     91 likes

    Full-featured, open-source Markdown editor based on PageDown, the Markdown library used by Stack Overflow and the other Stack Exchange sites.

    87 StackEdit alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Chrome OS
    • Google Chrome
     
  10. novelWriter icon
     31 likes

    novelWriter is a Markdown-like text editor designed for writing novels and larger projects of many smaller plain text documents. It uses its own flavor of Markdown that supports a meta data syntax for comments, synopsis and cross-referencing between files.

    91 novelWriter alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Qt
    • Python
     
  11. marka.md icon
     12 likes

    A native macOS markdown editor specialized for AI context management. Live editor on the left (codemirror 6), rendered preview on the right (markdown-it + shiki + mermaid). Minimal Chrome, full catppuccin + matcha themes, macOS vibrancy, orange octopus mascot. ~10 MB bundle.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
     
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