# Tolaria

34 Hacker News commenters recommended Tolaria and 7 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Open-source Markdown notes app with a clean interface and built-in git, liked as an Obsidian alternative. Critics cite sorting bugs and that it is a web wrapper.

## Why people recommend it

- Open source, local Markdown files (4 comments): "Open source, works locally, uses markdown, no-databases. Git client built-in. Even has Notion-style input." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48180926)) "Markdown first just makes more sense for knowledge bases. Love the clean ui." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47895096)) "I love how you have used markdown here" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47884803))
- Clean, attractive interface (4 comments): "Markdown first just makes more sense for knowledge bases. Love the clean ui." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47895096)) "This is clean and love the git-backed approach." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47883140)) "The UI is gorgeous, congratulations!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47884505))
- Git-backed, git-first approach (4 comments): "The magic starts when Sig contributes to another, remote repo - a central knowledge base that all teammates' local Sig can pull from" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47884730)) "Open source, works locally, uses markdown, no-databases. Git client built-in. Even has Notion-style input." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48180926)) "The git-first approach for AI context is a smart differentiator from Obsidian" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47900676))
- Obsidian alternative with linked notes (3 comments): "Beautiful project! I am using Obsidian for some time but not very happy with it lately." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47914982)) "The git-first approach for AI context is a smart differentiator from Obsidian" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47900676)) "I love this! It is like you have taken all the things I want from Obsidian" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47887678))

## What people warn about

- Sorting and freezing bugs (3 comments): "I'm running into a pretty annoying sorting bug that's preventing me from using it for real" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47885618)) "I've run into three bugs in about 5 minutes, including a blank, frozen app." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47891623)) "After this point, the sorting doesn't work and will continue failing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47895355))
- Web app, not native (4 comments): "A freaking web app? Boo. Boooooooooo. Thanks but no thanks." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47883700)) "this is a webwrapper—absolutely disgusting" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47885545)) "A web app is not an actual application." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47885507))
- Small editing quirks (3 comments): "immediately places the cursor below the block where I'm more used to the cursor moving into the block after creation" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47889327)) "it looks really nice but like most of these it has too many small editing thorns for me to use" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47886563)) "The editor doesn't seem to support code fence literals" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47888601))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Obsidian](https://hackerapproved.com/p/obsidian.md): 447 recommend
- [Org mode](https://hackerapproved.com/p/org-mode.md): 175 recommend
- [Notion](https://hackerapproved.com/p/notion.md): 91 recommend
- [Logseq](https://hackerapproved.com/p/logseq.md): 52 recommend
- [Apple Notes](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-notes.md): 39 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Tolaria", https://hackerapproved.com/p/tolaria/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).