CarbonFin Outliner vs outl

CarbonFin Outliner organizes thoughts, tasks, and projects in nested outlines. Tasks can contain subtasks, with progress indicators for parent tasks that have them. Its editor supports inline changes, cut, copy, paste, undo, redo, drag-and-drop reordering, search, and controls to collapse or expand items. Outlines can be tagged and filtered by tag, searched across the collection, archived, and optionally numbered. Each outline can include notes, with configurable checkboxes, note previews, and numbering. The iPhone and iPad app costs $4.99, paid once. Outliner Online is a free browser-based companion for syncing, editing, printing, importing, exporting, and sharing outlines. Outliner users can invite other Outliner users to view and edit shared outlines; published outlines can be viewed read-only by anyone with the URL. The app can sync outlines as OPML files with Dropbox or OneDrive, import OPML, and export plain text or OPML. Shared editing through Outliner Online is limited to iPhone or iPad app users. The app lacks native printing, though synced outlines can be printed through Outliner Online in a browser.

outl is a free, local-first outliner and bullet-point note app that stores plain Markdown files on disk. Its nested blocks, wiki-style links, backlinks, tags, and daily journal support structured note-taking. Stable block IDs and metadata are kept in sidecar files rather than the Markdown notes. Notes can be edited offline, and devices on the same Wi-Fi can sync directly without internet; device syncing uses peer-to-peer end-to-end encryption and does not require an account or cloud. Markdown code blocks can run Python, JavaScript, Lua, and Rust, with Lisp available behind a build flag. An MCP server lets compatible hosts including Claude, Cursor, Zed, and ChatGPT read and write local notes. Native desktop builds are listed for macOS, Linux, and Windows, alongside iOS TestFlight and Android APK beta builds. The product is pre-1.0, and the download page describes builds as public beta. The macOS desktop DMG is currently unsigned. An optional Docker deployment can run an always-on peer with a full replica of notes. Export formats include Markdown, JSON, and Hugo; navigation includes search, a fuzzy switcher, and a command palette.