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Linwood Butterfly

Free plan AndroidiPhoneLinuxMacSelf-hostedWeb+1

Visit Linwood Butterfly Alternatives Pricing

Linwood Butterfly's own site

What Linwood Butterfly is

Linwood Butterfly is a free, open-source note-taking app built around an infinite canvas for handwriting, sketching, annotating, and organizing work. It accepts stylus, touch, and mouse input, with controls for stroke width, color, smoothing, and texture. Documents can combine notes with imported photos, PDFs, and SVGs, and placed content remains editable. Templates and packs let users reuse content, stamps, palettes, and styles. Export options include Butterfly files, images, SVG, PDF, and Xournal++ files. The app is available on the web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android, and supports offline use. Browser data is stored locally, but the documentation says Firefox and Safari lack required WebAssembly features. Notes can remain local or use WebDAV cloud storage, including Nextcloud for syncing and backup. Real-time collaboration is experimental and uses Swamp or a WebSocket server. The maker also provides web-app hosting instructions, including a Docker image. Butterfly is free under GNU AGPL-3.0.

Who it suits

Butterfly suits people who want to write or draw on a flexible canvas across desktop, mobile, and web platforms. It also fits users who want editable imported materials, reusable templates, and local or WebDAV storage.

What it does well

  • Works offline across listed platforms.
  • Combines notes with editable photos, PDFs, and SVGs.
  • Exports to images, PDF, SVG, and more.
  • Supports local storage and WebDAV, including Nextcloud.
  • Free and open source under GNU AGPL-3.0.

What to know first

  • Firefox and Safari lack required web-app WebAssembly features.
  • Real-time collaboration is experimental.

Plans

PlanBilled and limitsPrice
ButterflyFree and open source under GNU AGPL-3.0Free

As butterfly.linwood.dev lists them, read 11 Oct 2026. The maker's own page has the final word.

Verdict

Butterfly brings handwriting, sketching, imported materials, and reusable assets together on an infinite canvas. Consider its browser limitations and experimental collaboration status when choosing how to use it.

Facts from Linwood Butterfly's own pages

Browser requirements
The web app stores data in the browser and works offline, but its documentation says Firefox and Safari lack the required WebAssembly features. · butterfly.linwood.dev, 11 Oct 2026
Canvas tools
It supports stylus, touch, and mouse input, with adjustable stroke width, color, smoothing, and texture. · butterfly.linwood.dev, 11 Oct 2026
Collaboration
Real-time collaboration is an experimental feature that supports Swamp or a WebSocket server; the Swamp server acts as a proxy and cannot read end-to-end encrypted data. · butterfly.linwood.dev, 11 Oct 2026
Content
Documents can combine notes with imported photos, PDFs, and SVGs, and content remains editable after placement. · butterfly.linwood.dev, 11 Oct 2026
Data handling
The maker says documents remain on the device unless users choose another storage location, and its app privacy policy says requested personal information is retained on the device and not collected by the maker. · butterfly.linwood.dev, 11 Oct 2026
Export
The documentation lists export formats including Butterfly files, images, SVG, PDF, and Xournal++ files. · butterfly.linwood.dev, 11 Oct 2026
File formats
The maker documents Butterfly Note (.bfly) and Butterfly Raw Note (.tbfly) formats. · butterfly.linwood.dev, 11 Oct 2026
Free plan
Yes · butterfly.linwood.dev, 20 Sept 2026
Integrations
WebDAV,Nextcloud · butterfly.linwood.dev, 20 Sept 2026
Note sharing
Yes · butterfly.linwood.dev, 20 Sept 2026
Offline access
Yes · butterfly.linwood.dev, 20 Sept 2026
Platforms
The maker lists Android, Windows, macOS, Linux, and browser support; its iOS version is in preview and may not work as expected. · butterfly.linwood.dev, 11 Oct 2026
Purpose
Butterfly is a note-taking app for handwriting, sketching, annotating, and organizing work on an infinite canvas. · butterfly.linwood.dev, 11 Oct 2026
Real-time collaboration
Yes · butterfly.linwood.dev, 20 Sept 2026
Reusable assets
Users can create templates and packs containing reusable content, stamps, palettes, and styles. · butterfly.linwood.dev, 11 Oct 2026
Self-hosting
The maker provides instructions for building and hosting Butterfly’s web app, including a Docker image. · butterfly.linwood.dev, 11 Oct 2026
Storage integrations
Notes can be stored locally or in WebDAV cloud storage, with the maker specifically mentioning Nextcloud for syncing and backup. · butterfly.linwood.dev, 11 Oct 2026
Support
The downloads page links to a support page and a community FAQ. · butterfly.linwood.dev, 11 Oct 2026

Where Linwood Butterfly stands on Freedom251

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