Growly Notes review
A free Mac note app for multimedia pages, local storage, and structured notebooks.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Nov 2026
Growly Notes is a free Mac desktop note-taking application for class notes, research, trips, to-do lists, journals, and other information. Its free-form pages let users arrange movable, layered content rather than working only in a linear document. Supported content includes formatted text, images, movies, audio, PDFs, tables, lists, links, web pages, and drawings. Notebooks are divided into sections and pages, with search across open notebooks, built-in and custom tags, and page and notebook templates.
The product’s strongest fit is multimedia note organization on macOS. Tables, bulleted lists, numbered lists, and checkbox lists support structured content, while floating windows allow note-taking alongside other applications. Files are stored locally rather than in the cloud, and password protection uses encrypted notebook files. Dropbox and Google Drive support sharing and synchronization through supported folders and services, but Growly Notes does not provide real-time collaboration. Notebook sharing and synchronization can still support collaborative workflows when live co-editing is not required.
The Free plan is free to use without payment, with donations accepted. That makes the full feature set accessible without a paid tier, but platform coverage is narrow: the application is available only on macOS. Growly Notes was removed from the Mac App Store, and mobile versions are discontinued or not planned, which reduces its suitability for people who need notes across Mac, phone, and tablet. Choose it for free-form, locally stored multimedia notebooks on a Mac. Choose an alternative if real-time collaboration, mobile access, or broader platform coverage is essential.
Questions about Growly Notes
Does Growly Notes have a free plan? Yes, there is a free plan.
What does Growly Notes run on? macOS. It runs as a desktop app.
What does Growly Notes integrate with? 2 integrations: Dropbox and Google Drive.
Who is Growly Notes built for? Solo users and small businesses (our editorial estimate).
Growly Notes pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Handles text, images, movies, audio, PDFs, tables, and drawings
- Organizes content with notebooks, sections, pages, tags, and templates
- Includes local storage, encrypted notebook files, and floating note windows
- Where it doesn't
- Available only on macOS
- No real-time collaboration
- Removed from the Mac App Store; mobile versions are discontinued or not planned
Growly Notes fact sheet, pricing and score →
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