Side by side

Folian vs Outerline

Both stand on writing apps. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.

Folian

Paid Mac

Folian brings drafting, story reference, planning, and editing passes into a local-first Mac workspace. Buyers should account for its Mac-only beta support and separate charges for optional AI use.

Visit Folian

Outerline focuses on local, portable Markdown writing with organization, linking, annotations, and exports. Its general plan is $9.99 a month, while public publishing adds a 1.99 USD monthly subscription.

Visit Outerline

The facts

	Folian	Outerline
Free plan	No	No
Open source	Not published	Not published
Runs on	Mac	iPhone, Mac
Lowest paid plan	See the plans	Outerline Publish: $1.99 a month
Plans published	2	2
Maker	Folian	Not published
Website	folian.app	outerline.so
On writing apps	#129 of 135	#125 of 135

Folian: what it does well

Stores projects locally and supports offline work.
Connects story details to the manuscript.
Includes export and backup tools.
Optional AI can connect to OpenAI or Claude.

What to know first

Supports Apple Silicon Macs only.
No mobile apps are available.
AI provider charges are billed separately.
Beta workflows and interface details are still changing.

Outerline: what it does well

Ordinary Markdown files
Works offline without account
Exports Markdown, HTML, and PDF
Five annotation colors
Mac and iPhone apps

What to know first

No free plan
Publishing requires separate subscription
Requires iOS 26.0 or later
Requires macOS 26.0 or later

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