An online notepad with no sign-in: how it works, and its limits

You want to write down a phone number, a shopping list or three bullet points from a call. The note app wants your email, a password and a tour of its features first. For a task that takes thirty seconds, that is absurd.

Why most note apps demand an account

Not out of malice — out of architecture. A traditional note app keeps your notes on its server so it can sync them between devices. The moment a note lives on someone else's machine, they need to know whose it is, which means an account.

The alternative: keep notes on your device

If a note never leaves your computer there is nothing to sign in to. Browsers can store data locally, so a notepad can run entirely on your machine while still being something you open in a tab.

That is how NoteDraft notes work. Open notedraft.com and type — the page is the notepad. Each note saves to your browser as you write and appears in a list you can search.

What you can do without signing up

• Write notes with headings, bold, links and pictures
• Make checklists — type [] and press Enter — and tick items off
• Search every note from the sidebar
• Share a note as a link that contains the note itself
• Download a note as Markdown, plain text or HTML, or print it to PDF
• Sketch or annotate an image when words are not enough

The honest trade-offs

Without an account, notes stay on one device

Nothing syncs until you sign in, because nothing is uploaded. Move a note with a share link or a download, or create a free account and your notes follow you to every device.

Browser storage can be cleared

Clearing browsing data deletes your notes, and some browsers clear storage for sites you have not visited in a while. Download anything you would be upset to lose.

Working together needs an account

Two people typing in the same note at once genuinely requires a server. In NoteDraft that is what the free account is for: share a note with someone by email and you edit it together, live.