Software that keeps
your words yours.
Ampersand is a native markdown editor for macOS, built for people who read the fine print. Plain files in a folder you own, private by default, and made to outlast the app that wrote them.
# What we believe
- Your words belong to you.
- Private by default, not by setting.
- Plain files outlive every app.
- Buy it once. Own it for good.
> A tool you can trust is a tool
> you can leave.A note should still
open in twenty years.
Most modern writing apps rent you your own words. Your notes sit in a proprietary database, behind a login, on someone else's server — and the day the company pivots or shuts down, your archive goes with it.
We wanted the opposite. Ampersand writes standard .md files to a folder you pick. There is no account to create and nothing to sync unless you want to. The app is a fast, native lens onto text that would still be perfectly readable without it.
- Plain markdown on disk, always
- Runs entirely on your Mac
- Free to walk away, nothing held hostage
Principles we won't
quietly trade away.
Every decision in Ampersand traces back to one of these. They are not marketing — they are the constraints we hold ourselves to.
Ownership
Your writing is yours. It lives in a folder you chose, as files you can read, move, and back up without asking anyone.
Privacy
Local-first by default. No account, and your notes never touch our servers. The only thing we count is an anonymous, opt-out daily install ping. AI is optional and bring-your-own-key.
Native craft
Built with Rust and Tauri for macOS. It opens instantly, stays fast in long documents, and feels like part of the system.
Longevity
Plain markdown outlives any app. If we disappeared tomorrow, every note you wrote would still open in anything else.
No lock-in
Nothing proprietary stands between you and your text. Import from anywhere, export everywhere, leave whenever.
No subscription
The editor is free forever. Pro is a one-time purchase, not a recurring bill for software you already have.
Native where it counts,
open everywhere else.
Ampersand is a block editor with a Notion-like feel — slash commands, drag-and-drop, tables that calculate, diagrams, math, and live calculations — but everything you type serializes straight back to markdown. There is no separate preview to toggle; what you see is what the file becomes.
AI is here when you want it and silent when you don't. Bring your own key for Claude or OpenAI, run Apple Intelligence or a local model through Ollama, or wire up a CLI agent — the choice, and the data, stay with you. The same care runs through export, version history, instant search, and per-note encryption with Touch ID.
We are a small, focused effort with a narrow remit: make the best home for plain-text writing on the Mac, and never build the thing that traps you inside it.
A promise, plainly
Write somewhere that
respects you.
The full editor is free forever. Download it, point it at a folder, and start writing in about two minutes.
Free to start · macOS 13+ · No account required