jot
a scratchpad for your mac that does the math in the margin.
press ⌥A anywhere to open it. press it again to put it away.
↓ download for macabout 1 MB
or brew install lsuryatej/jot/jot
macOS 14 or later · free · open source · buy me a coffee
try it, it's a real scratchpad
type below. answers show up on the right, same as the app.
variables, %, units and currency. a line with no math in it stays a line.
what's in it
- math that works. variables, percentages, units, currency6000
- checklists. type
liston the first line and every line becomes one 5m timerorpomodoro 25/5, with confetti when it's done4:59remind tomorrow 9amsends a real macOS notification9:00 am- paste images. ⇧⌘V reads the text out of a screenshotoffline
- **bold**, ==highlights==, headings, and long links that shrink to their domain
- ⇧⌘F searches every note at once
- sync across devices. not yet, honestlysomeday
it's all plain text on disk. a note still reads fine in cat, Obsidian or GitHub.
today
five ways to keep it around
- floating
- on top of everything, no dock icon
- menu bar
- a window behind its menu bar icon
- dropdown
- drops down from the menu bar
- dock
- a normal app window
- screen edge
- a sidebar you push your cursor into
paper
frosted, glass, solid, white, cream or true dark, with dots or a grid.
this page has three of them:
how it compares
as of october 2026, read off each app's own site. all three are good tools; this is what you get for free.
| feature | jot | antinote | numi | soulver 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| price | free | $5 once | free; $29.99 to unlock | $59 once |
| download | ~1 MB | n/a | n/a | ~18 MB |
| math with variables | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| units | yes, offline | yes | yes | yes |
| currency | live rates opt‑in | live, crypto | live, crypto | live by default |
| checklists | yes | yes | no | no |
| images inline | yes | become ocr text | no | no |
| screenshot to text | yes, offline | yes, offline | no | no |
| display modes | 5 | 3 | window | window |
| search every note | yes | yes | n/a | yes |
| links shrink | yes | yes | n/a | n/a |
| sync across devices | no | icloud, optional | icloud, paid | icloud |
| scripting | no, themes only | js, url schemes, cli | js plugins, cli | cli, url schemes |
| apple notes | one‑way sync | one‑click export | no | no |
| network | 1 update check a day | a switch per feature | rates; icloud if paid | live data on |
| runs on | mac | mac | mac, windows, linux | mac, iphone, ipad |
| source | open, MIT | closed | app closed | closed |
jot doesn't win every row. no sync and no scripting, and it's new.
private by default
no account. no analytics. no crash reports.
your notes stay on your mac, as plain text.
one anonymous update check a day, which you can turn off.
live currency rates stay off until you turn them on.
what's new
loading the latest release notes from github…
about
made by surya, as a free, open-source app (MIT).
swift and appkit, no dependencies, about a 1 MB download.
source · report a bug · full docs
if it saves you time. it's free either way.
