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Software · Office & notes

kanso

kanso is a note-taking program, available on Windows, macOS and Linux: Markdown support, offline use and end-to-end encryption.

  • Completely free
  • Windows, macOS and Linux
  • Open source
  • No account

Overview

kanso is a note-taking program, available on Windows, macOS and Linux.

Features described in its GitHub repository and on its official website: Markdown support, offline use, end-to-end encryption, voice input and commands, code completion.

Overview written by LicitPro from the documentation published by the authors and the cited sources; we have not tried the resource ourselves.

Excerpts that establish this information
  • “Kanso is a fast, local-first Markdown notes app for macOS, Windows and Linux.” — official website, 10 November 2026
  • “Kanso is a fast, local-first Markdown notes app for macOS, Windows and Linux.” — official website, 10 November 2026
  • “Kanso is a fast, local-first Markdown notes app for macOS, Windows and Linux.” — official website, 10 November 2026
  • “Your notes live on your computer and sync end-to-end encrypted.” — official website, 10 November 2026
  • “Writing • Brackets, quotes and Markdown marks pair as you type; lists and tasks continue on Return and indent with Tab; tables line up as you edit them. • Smart paste turns a pasted link into Markdown and keeps code…” — GitHub, 10 November 2026
  • “Linking • [[Wiki-links]] with autocomplete, backlinks with their context, unlinked mentions, and an outline of the note's headings beside the editor. • ⌘P finds notes by title and by heading.” — GitHub, 10 November 2026

At a glance

All of kanso is free: no feature is locked behind a paid plan, and its code is open.

Its licence (AGPL-3.0) is a copyleft open source licence: you may use, study, modify and redistribute it, including commercially; modified versions must keep the same licence.

Strengths

  • Open source code
  • No account needed
  • Commercial use allowed

Sources and checks

  • Facts collected from GitHub (credit card, account, source code, publisher, licence, free status, platforms, commercial use) —
  • Facts collected from Unspecified source (platforms) —
  • Last technical check: 7 November 2026
  • Listing written automatically from verified facts.

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