Lokus review
A free, open-source Markdown workspace for linked notes, graphs, and visual thinking.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Nov 2026
Lokus is a local-first note-taking and knowledge-management application for people who want their notes stored as standard Markdown files on their own devices. It is designed for students, researchers, professionals, writers, and other knowledge workers who prefer connected notes, visual organization, and offline access. The desktop application runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux. Its core workspace includes a rich Markdown editor with live preview, syntax highlighting, tables, code blocks, and math support, along with bidirectional wiki links and automatic backlinks.
For knowledge organization, Lokus goes beyond a basic notebook. Interactive 2D and 3D graph views show relationships between notes, while an infinite canvas supports visual thinking and diagrams. Full-text search, tags, folders, daily notes, tasks, and Kanban boards cover several common workflows. Its template system supports variables, conditionals, loops, and date operations. Custom themes can be edited live, and a community plugin marketplace extends the application. Optional encrypted sync is documented by the vendor, while local Markdown storage keeps offline work central to the product.
Lokus is free and open source, with the vendor describing it as free for personal use and education or research. Commercial licensing is required for competing products or services. The published platform details identify Claude MCP as its integration and list artificial-intelligence features, but collaboration is not available and collaborative editing appears on the repository roadmap as a future item. Choose Lokus if local files, Markdown portability, linked-note exploration, graphs, and canvas tools matter more than team editing or a broad integration ecosystem. Users seeking real-time collaboration or extensive verified integrations should consider a different note-taking app.
Questions about Lokus
What does Lokus run on? Windows, macOS and Linux. It runs as a desktop app.
What does Lokus integrate with? 1 integration: Claude MCP.
Who is Lokus built for? Solo users and small businesses (our editorial estimate).
Lokus pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Stores notes as standard Markdown files with offline access
- Combines backlinks, graphs, canvas, templates, and task tools
- Runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux with plugins and custom themes
- Where it doesn't
- Real-time collaboration is not available
- Verified integrations are limited to Claude MCP
- Commercial use requires licensing for competing products or services
Lokus fact sheet, pricing and score →
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