Helix Notes

HelixNotes saves your notes as plain .md files on your device only. There is no company-run server or cloud storage involved. If you want to sync your notes, you can set it up yourself using WebDAV, Syncthing, rsync, or Git, and choose where your data goes. Since no third party ever has a copy of your notes, the usual question about which jurisdiction hosts your data does not apply. Your data stays only on your device, which is the best possible outcome.

By default, no user content ever leaves the device at all. There is no network transmission of any kind for HelixNotes to encrypt. HelixNotes also offers an optional passphrase-protected 'encrypted secret block' for sensitive fragments via the /secret command, though the underlying cipher is not documented; if a user opts into WebDAV/Syncthing sync, transport security depends entirely on their own server configuration, outside the app's control. This question was excluded from the Privacy & Data total, reducing this section's maximum from 22 to 16 points.

There is no server component and no company-operated backend that could collect, sell, or share user data. The developer states directly: 'There is no server, no telemetry on your notes, no proprietary format.'

AI features are opt-in and run either via a locally-installed Ollama instance or the user's own API key to a third-party provider. HelixNotes has no server-side AI feature and cannot train on user content because it never receives that content.

HelixNotes is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (AGPL-3.0), an OSI-approved copyleft license, confirmed directly on the Codeberg repository.

No independent security audit, penetration test, or certification of any kind was found for HelixNotes or for ArkHost's broader infrastructure. This is unsurprising given the project is under five months old and backed by a small volunteer team.

The source code and issue tracker are public on Codeberg, but a direct listing of the repository root shows no CONTRIBUTING.md, CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md, or SECURITY.md, and no documented maintainer/decision-making process.

HelixNotes has no purchase, subscription, or monetization of any kind. It is entirely free with no tiers, trials, or paywalled features anywhere on the site or in the documentation.

There are no tiers; every feature (tasks view, graph view, themes, WebDAV sync, AI integration) is free for all users.

With no pricing page, no upsells, and no paid plan of any kind, there is nothing that could constitute a dark pattern.

This product has no price at all. This question was excluded from the Pricing Model total, reducing that section's maximum from 17 to 14 points.

Notes are stored natively as plain Markdown (.md) files on disk at all times. There is no proprietary database and nothing to export because the working format is already open and portable.

HelixNotes has no server component; the entire application runs on the user's device. Optional sync targets are fully user-controlled. This goes beyond typical 'self-hosting' because there is no vendor infrastructure to depend on.

The application is a native desktop and mobile app built with Tauri and Rust. All core functionality — editing, full-text search via the bundled Tantivy index, tasks view, and graph view — works fully offline by design.

HelixNotes ships for Linux (AppImage, .deb/APT, AUR, Solus), Windows, macOS, and Android (F-Droid), covering several open non-proprietary distribution channels.

There is no dedicated accessibility policy or WCAG compliance statement, but the documentation lists concrete accessibility features: customizable keyboard shortcuts for every action, interface scaling from 80% to 200%, 29 built-in color themes for contrast and low-vision needs, and custom JSON themes.

HelixNotes is a side project published under the Codeberg organisation of ArkHost. ArkHost is a small, owner-operated European hosting company (ArkHost LLC, servers in Sofia, Bulgaria) founded and run by a single individual. There is no evidence of outside investors or VC funding. It remains a bootstrapped, independently-run entity rather than a Big Tech subsidiary or VC-backed startup.

No acquisition, investment round, or restructuring was found; the project and its parent company appear to have had the same single owner throughout.

There is no standalone ethics or responsible-use policy page. However, the project's design brief is built around an explicit privacy commitment ('no server, no telemetry on your notes, no proprietary format'). The developer chose Codeberg over GitHub to align with privacy principles. This is a genuine but informal and partial stance rather than a documented formal policy.

HelixNotes is a fully local, serverless application with no vendor-operated backend—no data centre, server, or cloud infrastructure whose environmental impact could be assessed. Zero infrastructure means zero operational footprint on the vendor side, matching any green-hosting commitment. No separate environmental statement was found for ArkHost, but none is required since nothing is running that a statement would cover.

HelixNotes' first stable release (v1.0.0) shipped on 9 February 2026; at the time of this review the project is not yet five months old, so it remains firmly in the 'less than 2 years' bracket regardless of how active development has been in that window.

Despite its youth, the project shows real activity. It has 34 tagged releases in under five months, roughly weekly with one six-week gap in early spring. There are 270 commits, 133 stars, and 10 forks on Codeberg. Forty-seven open issues show active engagement. A handful of external contributors have merged pull requests, including new color themes, an outline-panel resize feature, and install instructions. There is also a presence on Mastodon and discussion threads on Reddit. Still, the core team numbers four contributors in the first five months, and longevity depends on their continued engagement.