Skip to content
Inkwelo Inkwelo
Download

Plain text writing app for Mac

Plan your essay, chapter or story as a living outline or mind map, then write without distraction. Every document is a .md file in your folder — no account, no server, no subscription.

Download for macOS 14-day free trial · then €29.99 once
  • Plain .md files
  • Works entirely offline
  • Fully private
  • 14-day free trial
Plan Write On attention
# On attention
Attention is not a resource to be spent but a place to be
*inhabited*. The essays that survive are written from inside it.
## Where attention goes
Writing asks for **whole hours**, not spare minutes. The work
begins when everything else goes quiet
Body Heading 1 List Blockquote Bold Italic Strikethrough Link Footnote Table TOC 190 Characters Focus Checks
Your words in full-strength ink; the Markdown fade politely into the background. 

Planning

Plan and write in the same document

The outline is not a separate file. It is the document's own headings, drawn as a plan — so the plan and the draft can never drift apart.

Plan the outline
The outline magic
##Why writing stalls
—the blank page is a thinking problem
—rewriting the opening to avoid the middle
+Focus Idea
##How planning helps
—a shape to argue with beats a blank page
+Focus Idea
##When structure changes
—a plan that can bend
+Focus Idea
Visual thinker? Build the outline as a mind map
The outline magic
Why writing stalls
the blank page is a thinking problem
rewriting the opening to avoid the middle
How planning helps
a shape to argue with beats a blank page
When structure changes
a plan that can bend
Then write it, section by section
# The outline magic
## Why writing stalls
—the blank page is a thinking problem—rewriting the opening to avoid the middle
## How planning helps
—a shape to argue with beats a blank page
## When structure changes
—a plan that can bend
Outline, mind map and document are one file on disk. Move a section in either plan and its prose moves with it: the heading, every paragraph beneath it, and its notes travel together.

Distraction-free

Keep your attention on the thought, not the tool

You choose the scope. Focus on the current sentence, line or paragraph — the rest of the page steps back.

Attention is not a resource to be spent but a place to be inhabited. Writing asks for whole hours, not spare minutes. The work begins when everything else goes quiet The paragraph above waits. The paragraph below waits.
Focus: sentence
Attention is not a resource to be spent but a place to be inhabited. Writing asks for whole hours, not spare minutes. The work begins when everything else goes quiet. The paragraph above waits. The paragraph below waits.
Focus: line
Attention is not a resource to be spent but a place to be inhabited. Writing asks for whole hours, not spare minutes. The work begins when everything else goes quiet The paragraph above waits. The paragraph below waits.
Focus: paragraph

Ultrafocus

Just you and the words

One keystroke — ⌃U — and every button, bar and edge disappears, leaving only your words on the screen. Press it again and everything is back exactly where it was.

PlanWrite On attention
# On attention
Writing asks for whole hours, not spare minutes. The work begins when everything else goes quiet
Body Heading 1 List Blockquote Bold Italic Strikethrough 19 words
Press ⌃U — on your keyboard, or the button below — and every button, bar and edge disappears.

Keyboard

Full control from your keyboard

Hold ⌃ anywhere and every control in the window shows its shortcut as a small badge — the whole keyboard map, one held key away.

  • ⌃1 Plan
  • ⌃2 Write
  • ⌃4 Mind Map
  • ⌃5 Focus: sentence
  • ⌃U Ultrafocus
  • ⌃R Preview
  • ⌘⌫ Move to Trash
  • ⌃ and 60 more

Your files, your folder

Your writing stays plain text

Every document in Inkwelo is a plain Markdown file, sitting in a folder you chose:

~/Documents/Essays/on-attention.md

No library database, no proprietary format, no import. Choose Folder… and Inkwelo reads and writes your .md files in place — the file in Finder and the document on screen are the same bytes on disk. Open it in any editor, today or in twenty years. It still opens if Inkwelo disappears.

~/Documents/Essays
on-attention.mdToday, 14:02
draft-three.mdToday, 09:41
on-endings.mdYesterday
the-outline-trap.mdTuesday
The folder in Finder. These files are the documents — they still open if Inkwelo disappears.

Details

The small things, done properly

  • Live Markdown styling

    Syntax stays visible but recedes to a quiet grey — you always know what the file says.

  • Style Check

    A curated phrase list flags clichés and filler. It will miss things; it is honest about that.

  • Spelling and grammar, offline

    The checker is a program on your machine, not a service. Nothing leaves your Mac.

  • Export to four formats

    PDF, Word, HTML and rendered Markdown, from one menu.

  • Preview

    Read the finished piece with the syntax resolved — one keystroke there, one back.

  • Light, dark, or system

    Every colour has a hand-picked dark counterpart. Nothing is auto-inverted.

  • Honest saving

    “Unsaved” means the buffer genuinely differs from disk. Inkwelo never saves behind your back.

  • No AI, on purpose

    There is no AI in Inkwelo — and no network connection to send your writing over.

  • Continuous improvements

    Improvements and new features arrive on a regular basis — free updates, no upgrade fees.

Privacy

There is nothing for us to see

Inkwelo makes no network requests. There is no account, no telemetry, and no sync to servers. Your writing is files on your computer, and the grammar checker is a program on your machine.

Pricing

Pay once. No subscription.

€29.99 / lifetime

14-day full trial. No account. Free updates.

Download for macOS

macOS 14 or later · Apple Silicon or Intel · grammar checking needs Apple Silicon

Questions

Where do my files live?
In a folder you choose, as plain .md files. Inkwelo reads and writes them as plain text files — there is no library database and nothing is copied or locked in.
Is there a subscription?
No. Inkwelo is €29.99 once, with a 14-day full trial and free updates. No account is needed at any point.
Can I sync between Macs?
Inkwelo has no sync service of its own. Keep your folder in iCloud Drive, Dropbox or a git repository if you choose — they are ordinary files, and syncing them is your call.
Does Inkwelo send my writing anywhere?
No. Inkwelo makes no network requests. Your writing is files on your computer, and the grammar checker runs entirely on your machine.
Can I use my existing Markdown folder?
Yes. Choose Folder… and point Inkwelo at it. Your files open as they are, and everything Inkwelo writes is standard Markdown.
Does it use AI?
No. There is no AI in Inkwelo, and no network to send your writing over.