Electron came first and has a massive ecosystem. Most apps were built before Tauri was mature enough. Switching frameworks is expensive, so existing apps stay on Electron. New projects are increasingly picking Tauri though.

Tauri is an alternative to Electron. Both are frameworks for building desktop apps with web technologies, but Electron bundles a full Chromium browser (which is why Electron apps use so much RAM). Tauri uses your OS’s native webview instead, much smaller, much lighter. Both are open source. The difference is resource usage.

Obsidian’s default editor is barebones, you need plugins to get a usable experience. HelixNotes gives you rich editing out of the box: formatting toolbar, slash commands, source mode toggle. No setup. It’s also not Electron. Rust + Tauri 2.0 & Svelte fraction of the RAM, launches instantly. Same philosophy though: local .md files, no cloud, no lock-in. If Obsidian works for you, no reason to switch.

Mac Cmd shortcuts fixed in v1.1.0, just shipped. Thanks for reporting it.

Fixed in v1.1.0

Thanks for all the feedback everyone. Just shipped v1.1.0 based on what was reported here today:

• Obsidian wiki link import fix
• macOS Cmd key shortcuts (was showing Ctrl)
• Frontmatter no longer modified on notes you don’t edit
• KaTeX math support
• Daily Notes
• Tag management (single + batch)
• View mode toggle + focus mode improvements
• Source mode search
• Notebook delete confirmation
• Collapsible sidebar tags

Not like Typora, no. HelixNotes has a WYSIWYG editor and a source mode toggle, two separate views. Not inline markdown rendering.

You have both - the WYSIWYG editor and a way to switch to the Markdown editor.

AI is optional, disabled by default, and doesn’t even show in the UI unless you enable it. The app works fully offline with zero AI involvement.

It’s just a naming coincidence. It has nothing to do with the Helix editor.

Not at this moment. Which local model would you like to see as an additional option?

Thanks! No Patreon yet, but I’ll set something up. For now, the best support is feedback and bug reports.

The current DMG is an Intel build but runs fine on Apple Silicon through Rosetta. Native ARM build is on the list.

Thanks, appreciate it!

The import dialog warns you to make a backup before running as it modifies files in place. That said, the frontmatter overwrite on just viewing a note is a valid bug. I’ll fix that, notes should only be modified when you actually edit them.

Known issue - the AppImage is built on Arch so it works on Arch, Fedora, openSUSE, etc. For Debian-based distros, use the APT repo or download the .deb directly

Appreciate the honest feedback, doesn’t come over negatively at all, this is exactly what helps improve the app.

• Obsidian wiki links not converting properly during import: that’s a bug, will be fixed in the next release.
• View mode, math support, frontmatter behavior, and the other UX points: all noted and will be considered. So far I’ve focused on features I use personally, but if something makes sense, improves the app, and keeps it focused without bloat, I just implement it.
• The LockFile bug and empty graph view: I haven’t seen this behavior yet but I’ll look into it.

HelixNotes isn’t trying to be a replacement for Obsidian. It was a replacement for Obsidian for me, but different people have different needs. Thanks for taking the time.

That’s exactly the way I do it. However, the mobile app is something that will be made in the near future.

No, completely separate project. Just a coincidence in naming.

You might be right. I will re-think this :)