Low-key I have been looking for something like Obsidian-but-freeish to try since a while - I think this is exactly what I searched for. Going to give it a go during the weekend definitely.
On a different note, what's the long term sustainability plan? Relying on donations rarely works... I guess it's not very expensive to host text, but still, its cost is not 0. "Unlimited free forever" is either not free, doesn't last forever, or not unlimited. (Usually the 2nd one)
Also, do you do any (automatic) content filtering? It is very easy to abuse pastebin services
Thanks for the comment and very valid points. When we initially started building we had subscription plans and more of a general revenue model. Over time we transitioned to the donation-based approach. We are open to revisiting the former if there is interest (and feedback) in the existing functionality or newer updates. I definitely understand the concern of "free forever" and open to input.
I would charge for syncing like obsidian does. You can set up your own syncing, but you can also pay to not have to do that and let you handle it. Especially syncing projects that multiple people have access to can be a pain. If you have a decent solution for it you should charge for it.
Given your model, consider publishing a time-to-live metric: if you get no further donations, this is how long the service will last.
Then people who care about 1 month, 1 year, or 10 years can decide accordingly.
And also describe the processes for extracting data, etc.
Finally, talk about your motivations. You raise the issue by pricing at $0 without addressing the concerns that raises, in a era when "free" means the user is the product and when LLM's are a giant content vacuum that copies without attribution.
This great feedback - thank you. I like the idea of the TTL. That's interesting if we continue on the current route. Similar to the "open start up" concept and publishing available runway, etc.
An addition could be a "bounty program" - let donors choose what features to "boost" (prioritize development on). That gives donors a tangible benefit and a feeling of community / ownership, as they can help guide the project in multiple ways.
Need to look at the site more in general to see if it's for me, but just a note - https://www.lowercase.app/pricing/ still references the subscription model.
I'm confused. Obsidian itself is free. You can choose to pay for their sync service if you need it, but there are alternatives for that that don't cost extra.
Thanks for mentioning it. You're right and it still is, but it's not obvious because the pricing summary doesn't say clearly that 1 person businesses are exempt.
> Free for personal use. We don't charge based on features or usage. Only pay if you use Obsidian commercially.
But the FAQ does:
> What is considered commercial use?*
> Commercial use means using Obsidian for revenue-generating or work-related activities within a for‑profit organization that has two or more employees. Government departments and agencies are considered commercial use, unless registered as a non-profit organization. For all other purposes, you're welcome to use Obsidian for free. Learn more.
("Learn more" leads to subtle differences from the FAQ, eg. organisations with 2 or more people rather than employees, and "work-related activities that generate revenue", but the gist is the same)
Silverbullet.md is another pretty good one which allows a lot of customization. I was able to recreate my (admittedly very basic) Obsidian workflow fairly quickly.
SilverBullet looks very good, it reminds me of Hugo (https://gohugo.io/) Now if only some one combined SilverBullet with Hugo we could have a live view/edit in Hugo =) Thanks for the link.
I haven't noticed a significant battery drain. I charge my one year old phone once a day. Merge conflicts aren't too bad, although I don't encounter them often. When there's a conflict there is a file for each version and it's easy enough to resolve.
On a different note, what's the long term sustainability plan? Relying on donations rarely works... I guess it's not very expensive to host text, but still, its cost is not 0. "Unlimited free forever" is either not free, doesn't last forever, or not unlimited. (Usually the 2nd one)
Also, do you do any (automatic) content filtering? It is very easy to abuse pastebin services