Anytype is a safe haven for digital collaboration: one private place to chat, craft docs, organise projects, and build shared knowledge — all without surrendering your data.
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Best
Apple User here.
The one thing I'm missing is calculated columns. I don't really have much need for collaboration features right now. One critique I have is how it puts so much in front of you immediately.
If it were simplified to be a notes app (like Apple Notes or Bear) with the option to add properties and define types for the "notes", it would be easier for me to get into that way.
Obsidian is fairly close in that regard.
iOS Space Screen
There have been vast improvements in simplification to the space screen since I first looked at Anytype.
Maybe this can be a feed of different objects in one view instead?
Similarly, on the Mac App, the sidebar could be a feed of notes (or objects), with the type showing in the bottom left or right of the note preview to denote what it is.
Tragedy of the Commons
Anytype can theoretically be used for anything as a jack of all trades, but when it comes to specific niceties offered by more focused apps, that's when the tragedy of the commons rears its ugly head.
For instance, if I have a project type object in Things in Anytype, completing subtasks in it makes a progress indicator fill up. Completing the project makes it disappear from my views and show up in the logbook. There is similar functionality in Craft Docs with tasks, though it is more of a notes app. Bear has checkboxes but also shows progress for notes (in their preview) that have checkboxes based on how many are complete.
With Notion, you can accomplish progress indicators, but you have to do extra work to set it up.
In Anytype, I would necessarily have to rely on queries to create the necessary views for handling what projects appear in front of me and which ones are relegated to the archive.
Calculated columns are coming with our next Lists update. And we’re also working on simplifying the initial experience so you can start as easily as in Apple Notes, and only add structure when you need it.
@cyclestowork we have just released https://github.com/anyproto/anytype-cli. With it, you can deploy the Anytype JSON API connected to your space on your own server. Keeping in mind the privacy-oriented nature of Anytype, we cannot deploy the centralized API to our infrastructure because it would mean we would need to have keys and process plaintext users' data.
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I use anytype on desktop and android for almost two years now.
Felt enamored the first day I tried it and I love its developers team attitude and openness.
I try to spread the use among peers, already run family wiki in it and have shared spaces with other people.
I love how anytype is local-first, completely functional offline and encrypted.
The missing parts for me are:
Easier and more complete ways to get data in and out of Anytype
alternative more polished and snappy frontends
Something like anytype is really needed. I searched before for any solution for collaborative e2e encrypted notes. And the closest I could find was Turtl. Anytype is WAY ahead of turtl in features, simplicity and completeness.
So it is unique and the best we have now in this niche. I really wish Anytype strives
Thank you — really appreciate you being with us for two years and even spreading Anytype among your peers and family. That's cool.
Local-first, offline, encrypted — that core won’t change. And your missing pieces are spot on: easier import/export and more polished frontends are big priorities for us moving forward.
Thanks for the comparison as well — we know how rare true p2p collaborative tools are, and we’re going to keep pushing to make Anytype stronger.
Really grateful for your support and feedback.
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Good luck guys - looking forward to starting to use the chats in my volunteering project!
Thank you Alex, let us know if there is a way we can support it. Happy to contribute free subscriptions!
Report
Great piece of software. Habe been trying a lot of alternatives/similar projects like Obsidian, Logseq etc. But eventually settled with Anytype. I really hope they keep up the spirit as there are still some things I would really love to see added. My personal top 3 would be:
Tabs for increased efficiency switching between contexts
Search across workspaces; even better would be to be able to link between spaces (that would be very helpful having a private space with a daily agenda linking to work related tasks, that I don't want in my personal space as they refer to further work related pages)
Some sort of sketching possibilities, Obsidian kind of got this by plug in's embedding Excalidraw
Anyway, awesome project and I love it being Open Source! Props to the creators and everyone involved!
Thanks a lot for the kind words and for choosing Anytype!
Tabs: Already in progress. We have working prototypes, but we’re still refining the UX before releasing them.
Search across Spaces: The backend already supports this via our local API(including via @Raycast extension). The remaining challenge is designing a clear and intuitive UI for cross-space search and navigation.
Sketching: No plans yet for a native sketching tool, but Excalidraw is available in read-only mode today, and we’re exploring what a good long-term approach might look like.
Really appreciate the feedback and your support!
Report
Anytype Chats delivers on its privacy-focused promise—combining team chat, docs, and project organization in one self-contained, data-safe workspace.
While Anytype Chats’ privacy and all-in-one tools are appealing, it’s unclear how well it scales for larger teams or integrates with existing workflows. I
On scaling: Chats runs on our Any-Sync protocol, so performance stays strong even as teams grow. On workflows: we just released our headless client/CLI, which opens the door to integrations and automation with existing tools.
The biggest bottleneck right now is UX. If you’re considering Anytype for your team, we’d be happy to go deeper on your needs and shape solutions around them.
Happy to answer anything more specific you’re curious about.
Report
I am using anytype for about a month now to plan my complete holiday home building project. I have everything in there: Plans, contracts, invoices, pictures, links, explanations, contacts, tasks.... and it gets bigger and bigger every day. Furthermore, I am so happy I found this program. It is lightweight, easily to understand if you ever tried something similar like Notion, otherwise there is a learning curve, but it is manageable. I am a paying member because I will help the wonderful people of anytype to keep on going and implement more exciting features in the future.
Thank you — this is wonderful to hear. And thank you for becoming a supporter. It genuinely helps us keep building and bring more features to life.
Really appreciate you being with us.
Report
Working with anytype since 10+ months, works great with Claude! I tested a lot of note-taking / organizing apps, but this steals the show! not as complex as obsidian, but waaay more features than a lot of paid apps... go for it!!
Report
Love the app. As a Notion heavy user with lots of knowledge in there I’m eager to switch to Anytype, especially with more sensitive data. I think the product would work well for individuals like me (ADHD, work, personal).
It needs a bit of polish and features - there are some bugs (CTRL+Z added image, you can’t redo it properly).
I’d love to see some local or private AI - as leveraging all that stored knowledge with an assistant is really wonderful use of AI that can really help, without leaving all that sensitive data with some company.
Another thing is how to use it. Without some pre-made queries it might be a tad confusing to get around, filtering only by Types. I feel like some good Wiki with proper video tutorials and use cases would really ease the learning curve.
I see plenty room for improvement, I’ll keep my ideas for Anytype surveys or feature requests. Keep up the good work!
I’ll continue to support Anytype, and when I feel like it’s a ready product. Easier to get into for layman users I’d love to introduce my friends to it. Currently I just got over Queries and how Objects and Types work. Took me a bit of time.
Replies
Apple User here.
The one thing I'm missing is calculated columns. I don't really have much need for collaboration features right now. One critique I have is how it puts so much in front of you immediately.
If it were simplified to be a notes app (like Apple Notes or Bear) with the option to add properties and define types for the "notes", it would be easier for me to get into that way.
Obsidian is fairly close in that regard.
iOS Space Screen
There have been vast improvements in simplification to the space screen since I first looked at Anytype.
Maybe this can be a feed of different objects in one view instead?
Similarly, on the Mac App, the sidebar could be a feed of notes (or objects), with the type showing in the bottom left or right of the note preview to denote what it is.
Tragedy of the Commons
Anytype can theoretically be used for anything as a jack of all trades, but when it comes to specific niceties offered by more focused apps, that's when the tragedy of the commons rears its ugly head.
For instance, if I have a project type object in Things in Anytype, completing subtasks in it makes a progress indicator fill up. Completing the project makes it disappear from my views and show up in the logbook. There is similar functionality in Craft Docs with tasks, though it is more of a notes app. Bear has checkboxes but also shows progress for notes (in their preview) that have checkboxes based on how many are complete.
With Notion, you can accomplish progress indicators, but you have to do extra work to set it up.
In Anytype, I would necessarily have to rely on queries to create the necessary views for handling what projects appear in front of me and which ones are relegated to the archive.
Anytype
Calculated columns are coming with our next Lists update. And we’re also working on simplifying the initial experience so you can start as easily as in Apple Notes, and only add structure when you need it.
Appreciate the thoughtful feedback.
Any plans for Zapier integration?
Anytype
@cyclestowork We just released our CLI, which already opens up the possibility to build your own automations today.
A native Zapier integration is planned, it will come at some point. The CLI is the first big step toward making these workflows possible.
Anytype
@cyclestowork we have just released https://github.com/anyproto/anytype-cli. With it, you can deploy the Anytype JSON API connected to your space on your own server. Keeping in mind the privacy-oriented nature of Anytype, we cannot deploy the centralized API to our infrastructure because it would mean we would need to have keys and process plaintext users' data.
I use anytype on desktop and android for almost two years now.
Felt enamored the first day I tried it and I love its developers team attitude and openness.
I try to spread the use among peers, already run family wiki in it and have shared spaces with other people.
I love how anytype is local-first, completely functional offline and encrypted.
The missing parts for me are:
Easier and more complete ways to get data in and out of Anytype
alternative more polished and snappy frontends
Something like anytype is really needed. I searched before for any solution for collaborative e2e encrypted notes. And the closest I could find was Turtl. Anytype is WAY ahead of turtl in features, simplicity and completeness.
So it is unique and the best we have now in this niche. I really wish Anytype strives
Anytype
Thank you — really appreciate you being with us for two years and even spreading Anytype among your peers and family. That's cool.
Local-first, offline, encrypted — that core won’t change. And your missing pieces are spot on: easier import/export and more polished frontends are big priorities for us moving forward.
Thanks for the comparison as well — we know how rare true p2p collaborative tools are, and we’re going to keep pushing to make Anytype stronger.
Really grateful for your support and feedback.
Good luck guys - looking forward to starting to use the chats in my volunteering project!
Anytype
Thank you Alex, let us know if there is a way we can support it. Happy to contribute free subscriptions!
Great piece of software. Habe been trying a lot of alternatives/similar projects like Obsidian, Logseq etc. But eventually settled with Anytype. I really hope they keep up the spirit as there are still some things I would really love to see added. My personal top 3 would be:
Tabs for increased efficiency switching between contexts
Search across workspaces; even better would be to be able to link between spaces (that would be very helpful having a private space with a daily agenda linking to work related tasks, that I don't want in my personal space as they refer to further work related pages)
Some sort of sketching possibilities, Obsidian kind of got this by plug in's embedding Excalidraw
Anyway, awesome project and I love it being Open Source! Props to the creators and everyone involved!
Anytype
@fdloch
Thanks a lot for the kind words and for choosing Anytype!
Tabs: Already in progress. We have working prototypes, but we’re still refining the UX before releasing them.
Search across Spaces: The backend already supports this via our local API(including via @Raycast extension). The remaining challenge is designing a clear and intuitive UI for cross-space search and navigation.
Sketching: No plans yet for a native sketching tool, but Excalidraw is available in read-only mode today, and we’re exploring what a good long-term approach might look like.
Really appreciate the feedback and your support!
Anytype
Thank you — really appreciate the balanced take.
On scaling: Chats runs on our Any-Sync protocol, so performance stays strong even as teams grow. On workflows: we just released our headless client/CLI, which opens the door to integrations and automation with existing tools.
The biggest bottleneck right now is UX. If you’re considering Anytype for your team, we’d be happy to go deeper on your needs and shape solutions around them.
Happy to answer anything more specific you’re curious about.
I am using anytype for about a month now to plan my complete holiday home building project. I have everything in there: Plans, contracts, invoices, pictures, links, explanations, contacts, tasks.... and it gets bigger and bigger every day. Furthermore, I am so happy I found this program. It is lightweight, easily to understand if you ever tried something similar like Notion, otherwise there is a learning curve, but it is manageable. I am a paying member because I will help the wonderful people of anytype to keep on going and implement more exciting features in the future.
Anytype
Thank you — this is wonderful to hear. And thank you for becoming a supporter. It genuinely helps us keep building and bring more features to life.
Really appreciate you being with us.
Working with anytype since 10+ months, works great with Claude! I tested a lot of note-taking / organizing apps, but this steals the show! not as complex as obsidian, but waaay more features than a lot of paid apps... go for it!!
Love the app. As a Notion heavy user with lots of knowledge in there I’m eager to switch to Anytype, especially with more sensitive data. I think the product would work well for individuals like me (ADHD, work, personal).
It needs a bit of polish and features - there are some bugs (CTRL+Z added image, you can’t redo it properly).
I’d love to see some local or private AI - as leveraging all that stored knowledge with an assistant is really wonderful use of AI that can really help, without leaving all that sensitive data with some company.
Another thing is how to use it. Without some pre-made queries it might be a tad confusing to get around, filtering only by Types. I feel like some good Wiki with proper video tutorials and use cases would really ease the learning curve.
I see plenty room for improvement, I’ll keep my ideas for Anytype surveys or feature requests. Keep up the good work!
I’ll continue to support Anytype, and when I feel like it’s a ready product. Easier to get into for layman users I’d love to introduce my friends to it. Currently I just got over Queries and how Objects and Types work. Took me a bit of time.
Can’t wait to see Anytype evolve!
BlankPage
Really cool!
Anytype
Thank you, Jesper — your “cool” means a lot!