Semnote

What Semnote does

Semnote is a platform for writing, organising, and publishing structured documents. Your files stay on your machine by default — move them between devices, back them up however you like, or open them in any text editor. There is no rescue-export step because the files are already yours from the start.

The authoring format is SEML — a readable plain-text syntax for documents that need more structure than a blank note and more flexibility than Markdown. Each file carries its own structure, metadata, and formatting — nothing is lost when you move it.

SEML

SEML is the document syntax at the core of Semnote. It is plain text with explicit structure — headings, metadata, settings, and semantic markup all live in the same readable file.

Where Markdown trades structure for simplicity and Typst focuses on academic typesetting, SEML is designed for general-purpose documents that need to stay human-readable, carry their own context, and produce professional output.

What you get

• Professional formatting and PDF export — built on Typst's typesetting engine
• Web publishing — publish documents directly from Semnote
• Change history — friendly, Git-based version tracking
• End-to-end encryption — for synced and cloud-stored documents
• Auto-updating links — references across files that stay current when things move
• No tracking, no ads — telemetry is opt-in, EU-friendly privacy

Public alpha

public alpha

Semnote is free during the public alpha — no payment, no credit card, no countdown timer. Alpha users will receive credit toward future paid plans.

Try Semnote free

Open source

You can inspect the source, verify what it does, and build on it. Business clients get a commercial licence. See Licensing for terms.