Notion alternative Your notes, on your devices. Offline, private and free.

Notion is built for teams, databases and wikis. Varlig is built for your own notes: a native app for Mac, iPhone and iPad that works offline and keeps everything in your own iCloud, with sync, shared notes and calculations free.

Join the beta Varlig and Notion, side by side

Why people switch from Notion

Made for one person
No workspaces, members, permissions or databases to manage. Open Varlig and write, and keep things in order with tags, links and pins.
Every note, offline
Notion keeps the pages you download for offline use. Varlig keeps your whole library on your devices, so every note opens and every search works without a connection.
Private by design
Your notes live on your devices and in your own iCloud. Varlig has no account to create and no server of its own.

What comes with you

Every page, as a Markdown note
Subpages, each as a note of its own
Headings, lists, to-dos, tables and code
Pictures and files from your pages

Move in three steps

In Notion, export your workspace, or the pages you want, as Markdown & CSV. Notion gives you a .zip file.
In Varlig on your Mac, choose File › Import Notes… and choose the .zip. On iPhone and iPad, use Import Notes… in a note list’s … menu.
Check the review and import. Pictures become attachments, and your Notion workspace stays as it was.

Databases arrive as CSV files. A CSV that a page links to is attached to that page, and Varlig doesn’t turn it into a table. Links between pages stay as written. Unzip an export larger than 200 MB and import the folder.

Import, export and backups

Varlig and Notion, side by side

Feature	Varlig	Notion
Made for	You, on your Mac, iPhone and iPad	Teams and individuals, in shared workspaces
Price	Free; Varlig Pro from $2.99 a month	Free for one person; Plus $12 a member a month, or $10 billed yearly
Offline	Your whole library, always	Pages you download, in the desktop and mobile apps
Where your notes are kept	On your devices and in your own iCloud	On Notion’s servers, in the US by default
Calculations	In any note, with units, currencies and dates	Formulas in database properties
Markdown	Every note is Markdown	Markdown shortcuts, import and export
Version history	Free: up to 30 versions of each note	7 days on Free, 30 days on Plus
Where it runs	Mac, iPhone and iPad	Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad, Android and the web

Checked October 2026. Prices in US dollars, as each app lists them; they may change.

When Notion may suit you better

You work with a team in shared workspaces, wikis and project boards.
You build things out of databases, with views, relations and formulas.
You need Windows, Android or a web browser.

Questions about switching from Notion

Does importing change my Notion workspace?

No. Notion’s export is a copy, and Varlig makes its own copies from it, so your workspace stays as it was.

What happens to my Notion databases?

Each database row that has a page comes across as a note of its own. The table itself is exported as a CSV file, which Varlig attaches to a page that links to it but doesn’t turn into a table.

Do links between my pages keep working?

Not by themselves. Notion exports them as links to files, and Varlig keeps them as written. Replace the ones you use with [[Note title]] links, which also show up as backlinks.

Can I share notes, as in Notion?

Yes, one note at a time: invite people through iCloud to read or edit a note with you, free. Varlig has no shared workspaces.

Does Varlig work offline?

Yes. Your notes are kept on your devices, so you can write, search and calculate without a connection, and changes sync through iCloud when you’re back online.

Is Varlig free?

Yes: unlimited notes, iCloud sync, shared notes, version history and every calculation are free. Varlig Pro adds extras such as charts, Word export and text recognition.

Write the plan.
Varlig does the sums.

Join the beta

Import, iCloud sync and shared notes are free in Varlig. Varlig Pro adds power tools when you want them.