What is Zettlr used for?

Zettlr is a Markdown editor for researchers and writers with citation management, Pandoc exports and Zettelkasten-style note linking. It is a good fit for writing academic papers with citations and building a linked personal knowledge base.

Is Zettlr open source?

Yes. Zettlr is open source under the GPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at Zettlr/Zettlr and is written mainly in TypeScript.

Yes. Zettlr is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host Zettlr?

Yes. Zettlr can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is Zettlr an alternative to?

Zettlr is an open-source alternative to Typora, Obsidian, Scrivener and iA Writer. Other open-source alternatives to Typora include VNote, SoloMD and MarkText.

Is Zettlr actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Zettlr was on 29 September 2026, and the latest release is v4.8.0, published on 18 September 2026. The project has 14k stars on GitHub.

Zettlr: open-source alternative to Typora, Obsidian

About Zettlr

Zettlr is a desktop Markdown editor aimed at academic and long-form writing. It presents itself as a publication workbench, combining note-taking, drafting, reference management and export in one application, with a focus on keeping your notes private and stored as ordinary files on your own computer.

Citations integrate with reference managers such as Zotero and JabRef, and exports rely on Pandoc, LaTeX and Textbundle, with support for LaTeX and Word templates. Other capabilities include snippets for boilerplate text, themes with dark modes and custom CSS, code highlighting, full-text search, and techniques from the Zettelkasten knowledge management method. The interface is translated into over a dozen languages.

Zettlr is built with TypeScript, Electron and Node.js and released under GPL-3.0. Installers are provided for macOS, Windows and most Linux distributions, and the repository documents building from source, command-line switches and contribution workflows. The project is also reachable through a community forum, Discord and Mastodon.

Key features

Markdown editor with a distraction-free writing focus
Citation support for Zotero and JabRef
Export via Pandoc, LaTeX and Textbundle
Zettelkasten-style linking and full-text search
Snippets, themes and custom CSS
Installers for macOS, Windows and Linux

Good fit for

→Writing academic papers with citations
→Building a linked personal knowledge base

Built with: TypeScript; Electron; Node.js
Tags: markdown; note-taking; academic-writing; zettelkasten; citations; pandoc; desktop-app

Zettlr: questions and answers

What is Zettlr used for?: Zettlr is a Markdown editor for researchers and writers with citation management, Pandoc exports and Zettelkasten-style note linking. It is a good fit for writing academic papers with citations and building a linked personal knowledge base.
Is Zettlr open source?: Yes. Zettlr is open source under the GPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at Zettlr/Zettlr and is written mainly in TypeScript.
Is Zettlr free?: Yes. Zettlr is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host Zettlr?: Yes. Zettlr can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is Zettlr an alternative to?: Zettlr is an open-source alternative to Typora, Obsidian, Scrivener and iA Writer. Other open-source alternatives to Typora include VNote, SoloMD and MarkText.
Is Zettlr actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Zettlr was on 29 September 2026, and the latest release is v4.8.0, published on 18 September 2026. The project has 14k stars on GitHub.