A local-first, privacy-native desktop note-taking app — with AI writing assistance built in.
Your notes stay on your machine. No accounts, no cloud sync required, no data harvesting.
Bring your own AI key to unlock intelligent rewriting and summarization — or use it entirely offline.
Draftly is a cross-platform desktop application for writing and organizing notes. It's built for people who want a fast, focused writing environment that works offline and keeps their data private.
Notes are stored locally in a SQLite database — nothing is sent anywhere unless you explicitly choose to back up to Google Drive or use an AI feature.
Start from a structured template instead of a blank page. Draftly ships with seven built-in types:
| Template | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Plain Note | Freeform notes, ideas, anything |
| Meeting Notes | Attendees, agenda, action items |
| Release / Changelog | Version, features, bug fixes |
| Workflow / SOP | Steps, roles, checklists |
| Email Draft | Recipient, subject, body |
| Book Draft | Chapters, scenes, word count |
| Ledger | Rows, columns, structured data |
Select any text in the editor and use the AI toolbar to:
- Rewrite — rephrase your selection in a chosen tone: Professional, Casual, Formal, Friendly, Concise, or Creative
- Summarize — condense a block of text into a concise summary
Draftly supports four AI providers. Add your own API key in Settings → AI:
| Provider | Key format |
|---|---|
| Claude (Anthropic) | sk-ant-... |
| Gemini (Google) | AIza... |
| Grok (xAI) | xai-... |
| Groq | gsk_... |
If you configure more than one key, you can choose your preferred provider from the same settings panel. If no key is set, all AI features are simply hidden — Draftly works fully offline without them.
Five hand-crafted themes, each with a unique color palette and a light or dark mode:
| Theme | Mode | Accent |
|---|---|---|
| 🦊 Fox | Dark | Orange |
| 🐦⬛ Raven | Dark | Purple |
| 🦌 Moose | Dark | Brown |
| 🐧 Penguin | Light | Black |
| 🐻❄️ Polar Bear | Light | Blue |
Pin your most important notes to a dedicated Pinboard view for quick access.
Export any note to a formatted PDF file via a native save dialog.
Optionally back up and restore all your notes to your own Google Drive account. No third-party server is involved — the connection goes directly from your machine to Google's OAuth2 endpoint.
- Backup Now — uploads a snapshot of all notes
- Restore — browse past snapshots and import notes from any of them
- Adjustable font size (12–24 px) via Settings → Editor
- Rich text editing powered by Tiptap (bold, italic, lists, headings, and more)
- Full-text search across all notes in the sidebar
Draftly checks GitHub for newer releases on launch and shows an in-app banner when one is available — no background updater process.
Download the .deb package from the releases page and run:
sudo apt install ./draftly_VERSION_amd64.debDownload the binary that matches your Mac:
| Architecture | File |
|---|---|
| Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) | draftly-macos-arm64 |
| Intel | draftly-macos-amd64 |
Then make it executable and clear the quarantine flag:
chmod +x draftly-macos-*
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine draftly-macos-*
./draftly-macos-*Download draftly-windows-amd64.exe and run the installer.
Linux — download the new .deb and run the install command again:
sudo apt install ./draftly_NEW_VERSION_amd64.debmacOS — replace the existing binary with the new download.
Windows — run the new installer; it replaces the previous version automatically.
Draftly includes a free 3-day trial. After the trial period, a one-time license key is required. You can activate your license from the License page inside the app.
- All notes are stored locally in a SQLite database on your machine.
- AI features only send the specific text you select to the provider you configure, using your own API key.
- Google Drive backup is opt-in and uses your own Google account via OAuth2.
- No telemetry, no analytics, no account required.
Draftly is proprietary software. © 2026 Kashif Khan. All rights reserved.