Zettlr
Free and open source; supported by donations · Open source
Price checked at source September 18, 2026.
A free, open-source Markdown workbench built for academic writing — citation manager integration, Zettelkasten-style note linking, and one-click journal export via Pandoc.
Our take
Positioned as a “publication workbench” rather than a general notes app: it hooks into Zotero, JabRef, or Juris-M for citations (9,000+ CSL styles), links notes Zettelkasten-style with a graph view, and uses Pandoc-powered export profiles to hit specific journal or conference formatting requirements in one click. Privacy-first — no forced cloud sync or telemetry, and the only network call is an optional update check. Free and open source, supported by donations.
- Price
- Free and open source; supported by donations
- License
- Open source
- Requires
- Windows, macOS, and Linux; specific minimum macOS version not published on the developer’s site.
- Get it via
- Direct · Homebrew
- Developer
- Hendrik Erz
Do you use Zettlr?
Who made this
Site (opens in new tab) GitHub (opens in new tab)
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What it does
Citation manager integration
Connects to Zotero, JabRef, or Juris-M and supports over 9,000 citation styles.
Zettelkasten linking
Wiki-style internal links, note IDs, and a graph view for connecting ideas across files.
Pandoc export profiles
One-click export to journal- or conference-specific templates, including LaTeX, Beamer, and reveal.js.
Custom CSS & snippets
Tweak the editor’s appearance with custom CSS and automate repetitive text with a variable-aware snippets system.
The deal
- Free and open source software, per the developer
- No forced cloud sync or telemetry
- Supported by donations
Worth knowing: Built for long-form academic and research writing more than quick notes — citation management and journal export profiles are the draw, with a steeper learning curve than the other editors in this list.
Zettlr — questions people ask
Is Zettlr free?
Yes — free and open source software, supported by voluntary donations.
Does Zettlr require cloud sync?
No — files stay local by default; there’s no forced cloud sync or telemetry.
Is Zettlr free?
Yes — Zettlr is free.
Does Zettlr work alongside a notch app like Alcove?
Yes — Zettlr lives in the screen, so it runs happily alongside any Dynamic Island hub or notch app.
Where can I download Zettlr?
Zettlr is available via Direct, Homebrew.
Is Zettlr open source?
Yes — Zettlr is open source.
Reviews
No public ratings yet. Reader reviews are coming to Kitsmith soon.
Listing hand-verified September 18, 2026 from the developer's site and public sources.
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