Try it at lithic.uk · Download
Lithic is a personal knowledge base for people who want their notes to outlast the app. Your wiki is a single .lith file on a disk you choose, or on a server you run. Nothing requires an account, a subscription or a connection.
A .lith is a plain-text file that holds many notes together, a bit like several Markdown files joined together into one. Each note keeps its own title and tags, and the whole file opens in Lithic on any device. Because it is text, you can read it, copy it, diff it, or hand it to an AI tool.
- Your notes are a file you own. Keep them on your laptop, a USB stick or your own server. Move them by copying the file.
- Portable by design. The app is one file that runs from a USB stick, over
file://, or on a machine that has never been online. Nothing needs installing. - Maintainable. A
.lithis text, so you can diff it, version it, and see exactly what changed. - Free and open source, forever. There is no paid tier and no plan to add one.
- Ready for AI to read. The Copy Story River button copies your current notes in one block, ready to paste into a chat-based AI tool. Lithic has no direct AI integration, and it will not add one.
- Built on TiddlyWiki. It runs on the TiddlyWiki engine and its plugin ecosystem, with a launcher, plugins and desktop builds added on top.
A .lith will not hold several gigabytes the way a database can, and that is the point. Keep notes wide: many small, focused topics, not one ball of everything. Smaller notes are easier for AI to read, easier to publish or share one piece at a time, and easier to cut out when they are no longer needed.
| Lithic | Obsidian | Logseq | Notion | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Where data lives | One .lith file you choose, or on your server |
A folder of Markdown files on your disk | A folder of Markdown or Org files on your disk | Notion's cloud servers |
| Offline use | Full app, no network needed | Full, local-first | Full, local-first | Limited offline access |
| Install step | None. The PWA runs in a browser and the desktop .exe runs as is |
Yes, app install | Yes, app install | None for the web app |
| Export format | .lith text, which you can read and diff |
Markdown files already | Markdown or Org files already | Markdown, CSV or PDF |
| Cost | Free, forever, open source | Free for personal use; paid sync and publish are optional | Free and open source; paid sync is optional | Free tier; paid plans |
The full Lithic experience, including offline use, works from the PWA or the desktop .exe with no install. A soft install only adds file associations and shortcuts as a convenience. It is never required.
Comparisons reflect each app's public documentation at the time of writing. Check their current plans before you decide.
- Browser: open lithic.uk or install it to your Home Screen on an iPhone or iPad.
- Desktop: Windows, Linux and macOS builds, with optional GitHub backup of your folder. Download them from the releases page.
- Android: a single APK, from the releases page.
- Self-hosted: run it on your own server with Docker, LXC or Railway.
- People who want to own their notes, and move them by copying a file.
- Anyone who keeps notes on a USB stick, or on a machine that is never online.
- People who want AI to read their notes without handing them to an AI company.
- Anyone who writes small, focused notes and wants to share or publish one piece at a time.
The full documentation starts at docs/contents.md. It covers where your data lives, backups and restores, each platform, instances, plugins, and how the launcher handles language.
Self-hosting instructions are in self-host.md.