Folra, Typora and Obsidian

All three edit plain Markdown files and format them as you type. They differ in price, where they run and how much they do. Here is the difference, so you can pick the one that fits.

	Folra	Typora	Obsidian
Price	Free	$14.99 once, for up to 3 devices; 15-day trial	Free, for work too (an optional commercial license is $50 per user per year)
Paid services	None	None	Sync $4 and Publish $8 a month, billed yearly
Runs on	Mac (macOS 15 or later)	Mac, Windows, Linux	Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad, Android
Built with	Native: text is laid out by Apple's TextKit, not in a web page	A Mac app that edits in a web view (WKWebView)	Electron, which bundles its own Chromium browser
Mac download	7.3 MB	15.2 MB	235 MB
Your notes	Plain .md files in any folder	Plain .md files in any folder	Plain .md files in a folder (a vault), with its settings in a hidden .obsidian folder inside
Editing	Formats as you type; Markdown marks show only where the cursor is; ⌘/ for the source	Formats as you type; a source code mode	Live Preview formats as you type; also a source mode and a reading view
Links between notes	[[Wiki links]] with completion, and a backlinks list	Standard Markdown links to files and headings	[[Wiki links]], backlinks and a graph view
Math and diagrams	LaTeX and Mermaid	LaTeX (MathJax), Mermaid, flowchart.js and sequence diagrams	LaTeX (MathJax) and Mermaid
Export	PDF, HTML and print	PDF and HTML; Word, EPUB, LaTeX and more through Pandoc	PDF; other formats through community plugins
Extending	Two built-in themes; no plugins	Themes written in CSS	Thousands of community plugins and themes
Sync	Keep the folder in iCloud Drive or any synced folder	Keep the folder in any synced folder	Obsidian Sync, or any synced folder

Prices and features as each app's website lists them, checked October 2026: typora.io/, obsidian.md/pricing

Native, so it stays fast

Folra is written for the Mac with Apple's own frameworks. Text is laid out by TextKit, so input methods, dictation and the spelling checker work as in any Mac app. Long documents open with their first screens formatted, and the rest is formatted while you read.

0.35 s: to open a 3 MB note
< 1 ms: to move the cursor in a 10 MB note
15 MB: installed, for Apple silicon and Intel

Folra's own benchmarks, on a MacBook Pro with M1 Pro.

Choose Folra if

you write on a Mac and want a free app made for it, with nothing to set up;
you want links between notes and a backlinks list without plugins;
you write long documents with formulas, diagrams and tables, and want them to open quickly;
you'd like to press Space on a note in the Finder and see it formatted.

Choose Typora if

you also write on Windows or Linux;
you need Word, EPUB or LaTeX files out of your notes.

Choose Obsidian if

you want your notes on your phone;
you want plugins, a graph of your notes, or a paid sync and publishing service.

Trying Folra costs nothing

Folra opens the folder you already have. Point it at your Typora folder or your Obsidian vault: notes, images and [[links]] work as they are, Obsidian's [[note|alias]] and ![[image]] included, and its hidden .obsidian folder is left alone. Syntax that only a plugin understands, such as a Dataview query, shows as written. Nothing is converted, so you can go back any time.

Download for Mac

Typora and Obsidian are trademarks of their owners. Folra is not affiliated with them.