Features

Everything a plan needs. And the numbers.

Varlig is the notes app that does the math, on Mac, iPhone and iPad: plain Markdown notes with a calculator built into the page. Here’s what it can do, from the first heading to the final number.

Varlig on iPhone, three demo notes: a pancake recipe that scales with its units, a weekend in Lisbon with tasks, dates and time zones, and a packing list as a table.

Calculations

A calculator that reads your notes.

Add a calc block anywhere and write sums the way you’d say them. Every answer appears beside its line, and updates the moment a number changes.

  • Percentages, units, dates, times and time zones
  • Currencies and crypto, with exchange rates that refresh on their own
  • Name a value once and use it through the rest of the note
  • A floating total, average, median or count of the lines you choose
  • Click any answer to copy it
Your first calculation

NumbersPro

Chart the numbers. Try another plan.

A calc block can draw its own answers and read the same note with other values, without changing a line. Charts and scenarios come with Varlig Pro; every calculation stays free.

  • Bar and line charts from the lines above them, redrawn as you type
  • A title for each chart, with values in your currency or unit
  • Scenarios give a block other values, such as a cheaper rent
  • Switch between As written and a scenario above the block
  • PDFs and printouts draw the charts; the note stays plain text
Charts and what-if scenarios

Planning

A plan, a number, and how close you are.

Write down what you want, break it into steps and put a number on it. Varlig works out the rest, and keeps the plan where you’ll see it.

#goals/flat

A deposit for our first flat

Somewhere with a balcony and room for a desk. We start viewing once the deposit is there.

The plan

  • Open a savings account just for this
  • Cut takeaways to once a week
  • Get a Mortgage in principle
  • Make an offer
Every paydayMove the £950 before anything else goes out.

The numbers

flat = £250,000
deposit = 8% of flat
saved = £12,400
saved is what % of deposit
left = deposit - saved
monthly = £950
months to go = left / monthly

#goals/flat

  • Steps as checklists, gathered in the Todo section until they’re done
  • A reminder on any task, with a copy in Apple Reminders if you like
  • Calculation widgets on the Home Screen and Lock Screen that follow your numbers
  • Daily and weekly notes, and templates for the plans you make again
  • Share a plan with the people in it, through iCloud
Reminders

Writing

Plain Markdown, neatly styled.

Type the way you already do. Varlig tucks the symbols away as you write, so notes read beautifully and stay portable plain text.

  • Headings, bold, highlights in five colors, callouts and footnotes
  • Checklists that gather in the Todo section until they’re done
  • Tables you edit like a grid, and code with syntax colors
  • TeX formulas and Mermaid diagrams, drawn right on your device
  • Pictures, PDFs, audio and video, plus searchable text in pictures and PDFs with Pro
Markdown at a glance

Organize and find

No folders. Nothing gets lost.

Tags, links and search keep a growing notebook easy to move around, however many notes it holds.

  • Nested tags like #work/clients, with icons, pins and workspaces
  • Links between notes and straight to headings, with backlinks
  • Quick Open (⌘O) jumps to any note, tag or section
  • Search filters such as @todo, @images and @date
  • Todo, Today, Pinned and Locked sections that fill themselves
Tags, links and backlinks

Privacy

Your notes stay yours.

Varlig keeps your library on your devices, in step through your own iCloud. There’s no account to create, and by default nothing you write is sent to a server of ours.

  • Give any note a password, and its text and attachments are encrypted with AES
  • Unlock with Touch ID, Face ID or your password
  • Lock the whole app, or ask for authentication every time it opens
  • Unlocked notes lock again when you step away
  • Works offline, and goes online only for things like exchange rates
Privacy and locking

And more

The details that make it a daily habit.

  • Import from Bear and SoulverBring a library across in one step, or import Evernote, Drafts, Day One and Markdown files, and Word files on Mac. How to switch
  • Export anywhereMarkdown, plain text and PDF, with answers in the PDF, and HTML, EPUB and (on Mac) Word with Pro.
  • Sync and backupsYour library on your Mac, iPhone and iPad through your own iCloud, and backups on your Mac in a folder you choose.
  • Themes and typographyLight and Night with your choice of fonts, size and line width, plus Paper, Forest, Rose, Dracula, Nord and more, and your own themes, with Pro.
  • App icons for your DockThe Classic cat, and with Pro, fifteen colors and four special editions.
  • Keyboard firstA shortcut for nearly everything, plus two that open Varlig or start a note from any app.
  • Long notes, made easyA table of contents, foldable sections, word count and note statistics.
  • Link cardsShow a web link as a card with its title and picture, which still displays offline.
  • Web clipperSave a web page’s article as a note, ready to highlight and annotate.
  • SketchesDraw a quick diagram or doodle without leaving the note.
  • On iPhone and iPadThe same notes and answers, with calculator keys, a document scanner and widgets.
  • Demo notes that teach by doingTen short notes show what Varlig can do, with a list of things to try that ticks itself off.

Write the plan.
Varlig does the sums.

  • Varlig FreeFreeEverything you need, with iCloud sync included.
  • Varlig ProRecommended$29.99 a year$2.50 a month, billed yearly.

Varlig for Mac, iPhone and iPad

Varlig is in private beta

Varlig already runs on Mac, iPhone and iPad, with a small group of testers. Email us to join, and we’ll reply with how to install it.

Email us to join

No mail app? Write to us at [email protected]

Needs macOS 14 Sonoma or later on a Mac with Apple silicon, and iOS 17 or iPadOS 17 or later on iPhone and iPad.