Stik is a free, open-source quick-capture note app for macOS. Press ⌘⇧S from anywhere on your Mac, and a floating post-it appears instantly. Type your thought, press Escape, and you're back to work in under 3 seconds. Notes are saved as plain markdown files in ~/Documents/Stik/. Built with Tauri and Rust for native performance.

Yes, Stik is completely free. It is also open source under the MIT license. There are no premium tiers, no subscriptions, and no in-app purchases. You can view and contribute to the source code on GitHub.

Does Stik require an account or cloud service?

No. Stik requires no account, no cloud service, and no sync setup. It works entirely offline and stores everything locally on your Mac. Your notes never leave your machine unless you choose to share a folder via git.

Where are Stik notes stored?

Notes are stored as plain markdown (.md) files in ~/Documents/Stik/ on your Mac. Each folder in Stik corresponds to a real folder on disk. You can open, edit, move, or back up your notes with any tool — they're just files.

What format are Stik notes saved in?

Stik saves all notes as plain Markdown (.md) files. This means your notes are future-proof, portable, and compatible with any text editor. There is no proprietary format or database lock-in.

Does Stik have AI features?

Yes. Stik features on-device AI for semantic search (find notes by meaning, not just keywords) and smart folder suggestions (automatically suggests the right folder as you type). All AI processing runs locally on your Mac using Apple's NaturalLanguage framework — zero data is sent to any server.

How fast is Stik for capturing notes?

Stik is designed for sub-3-second capture. Press ⌘⇧S, type your thought, press Escape to close. The app launches instantly thanks to its native Rust/Tauri architecture — no Electron overhead, no web app loading times. It's one of the fastest note capture experiences on macOS.

Yes, Stik is fully open source under the MIT license. The source code is available on GitHub at github.com/0xMassi/stik_app. Contributions, issues, and feature requests are welcome.

What is the keyboard shortcut to capture a note in Stik?

The global keyboard shortcut is ⌘⇧S (Command + Shift + S). This works from any application — a floating post-it window appears instantly. Other shortcuts include ⌘⇧M for folder selection, ⌘⇧P for search, and ⌘⇧1-9 for jumping directly to assigned folders.

How does Stik compare to SideNotes, Apple Quick Note, and Drafts?

Unlike SideNotes ($9.99) and Drafts ($4.99/mo), Stik is completely free and open source. Unlike Apple Quick Note and Drafts, Stik saves notes as plain markdown files you fully own. Unlike all three, Stik includes on-device AI semantic search and stores everything locally with no cloud dependency. Stik is the only open-source option with git-based sharing for team collaboration.

Stik vs Obsidian — Quick Capture Comparison

Name: Stik
Availability: InStock
Author: Massi

Obsidian is a powerful knowledge base. Stik is a lightning-fast capture tool. Here's how they compare when all you need is to jot something down instantly.

Feature	Stik	Obsidian
Time to capture a note	<3 seconds (global shortcut)	~8–10 seconds (open app → new note)
Global keyboard shortcut	⌘⇧S — works from any app	No built-in global shortcut
Note format	Plain markdown (.md) files	Plain markdown (.md) files
Local-first storage	Yes — ~/Documents/Stik/	Yes — vault on local disk
App size & resource usage	~15 MB, native Rust/Tauri	~400 MB+, Electron-based
On-device AI search	Yes — semantic search, zero cloud	No (requires paid plugins or cloud)
Open source	Yes — MIT license	No — source-available, not OSS
Price	Free	Free core, $50/yr for sync & publish
Knowledge graph & backlinks	No	Yes — graph view, backlinks, plugins
Plugin ecosystem	No	Yes — 1,500+ community plugins
Git-based sharing	Yes — share folders via git	Possible with manual git setup

Stik leads in 7 of 11 categories

The bottom line

Obsidian excels as a long-form knowledge management system with its graph view, backlinks, and extensive plugin ecosystem. If you're building a second brain or managing a personal wiki, Obsidian is a great choice.

But if your primary need is speed — capturing a fleeting thought before it disappears — Stik is purpose-built for that. No app switching, no finding the right note, no waiting for Electron to load. Just ⌘⇧S, type, done.

Stik is also fully open source (MIT), uses a fraction of the resources (native Rust vs Electron), and includes on-device AI for semantic search — no paid plugins or cloud required.

Many users run both: Stik for capture, Obsidian for organization. Since both use plain markdown files, they work together seamlessly.

Try Stik free

Download Stik and start capturing thoughts in under 3 seconds. Free, open source, no account required.

Download Stik for Mac