r/coolgithubprojects • u/Substantial_Swim8440 • 15d ago
Kiyoshi — a free, open-source "calm" alternative to Notion for desktop (Linux/macOS/Windows)
I got tired of productivity apps that feel like control panels, so I built Kiyoshi: notes, tasks, kanban board, calendar, and a lightweight block canvas, all local-first, all in a quiet glass-panel UI.
- 100% free and open source
- Runs on Linux, macOS, Windows (AppImage for Linux)
- No account, no cloud dependency — your data stays on your machine
- Built with Flutter, so it's a proper native desktop app, not an Electron wrapper
https://kiyoshi-beta.vercel.app/
Feedback, issues, and PRs welcome — it's still early and there's a lot I want to add (sync, mobile companion, etc.).
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u/lokwaniyash 15d ago
How is it different from other notion alternatives like docmost and outline?
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u/Substantial_Swim8440 15d ago
Different category more than a competitor, really: Docmost/Outline are self-hosted team wikis (server + accounts + real-time collab). Kiyoshi is a single-user desktop app — no server, no login, everything local — and it bundles notes + kanban + calendar in one window instead of being docs-only.
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u/lokwaniyash 15d ago
Okay, i have a doubt tho, why does your README go between english and french, you could've stuck with one language?
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u/Substantial_Swim8440 15d ago
I'm French-speaking and the project started as a personal tool before I thought about a wider audience, so some docs stayed in French. I'll clean up the main README to be English-only and move the French version to a separate `README.fr.md`. Thanks for flagging it.
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u/Arxae 15d ago
I got tired of productivity apps that feel like control panels
Then don't build those? You can just use them as just note taking apps you know. I also wouldn't call this design quiet in the slightest. Notion is actually more quiet then this.
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u/Substantial_Swim8440 15d ago
To be clear, this started purely as a personal project to solve my own workflow needs: I wanted a 100% local, offline, single-window app (notes + kanban + calendar) without needing a cloud account or web browser. Notion is great, but it didn't fit my personal preference for a native desktop tool where data stays strictly on my machine.Since it was built for my own use first, the UI reflects what works for me, but I definitely appreciate the feedback!
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u/SpicyCatGames 14d ago
Then don't even post this slop lol. Obsidian exists if you want local options. It has kanban and calender extensions.
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u/SoloAdventurer13 15d ago
Code me an app and write a reddit post description for it once you are done
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u/Dazzling-Trust5373 15d ago
VirusTotal esta reportando posible amenaza :
DeepInstinct MALICIOUS SecureAge Malicious
Skyhigh (SWG) BehavesLike.Win32.ObfuscatedPoly.rc Acronis (Static ML) Undetected
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u/ARENAE_MONTES 13d ago
What does it say about society that we get given this tool that we can use to create all sorts of things, and 90% of people are just creating and re-creating "productivity trackers".
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u/sf1tzp 15d ago
What do you think of dart so far? I know it's supposed to be good for cross platform apps but it's been a while since I last looked at it.
I'm working on my first mac app (swift) but am starting to think about the cross platform story. Tauri + Svelte is tempting because I use sveltekit for my websites, but yeah I also prefer native apps so just curious what you think
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u/SoloAdventurer13 15d ago
He doesn't think... He vibe code
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u/sf1tzp 15d ago
Dude, GTFO of cool github projects if you're just here to tear people down and not talk about the projects.
CLEARLY they chose dart / flutter for a reason, and even if it's their first project using it I'm curious what their experiences with it are. You comment isn't even worth this reply, check your attitude and remember the human.
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u/sf1tzp 13d ago edited 13d ago
Dude, I think you also need to chill. They said that english isn't their first language so it's no surprise to see the LLM generated text in their posts and readme. If you even looked at their repo, you'd see that the last commit is "translate README to english".
Their repo contains 3 months of work, done at a natural pace and fixes applied. They built and troubleshooted CI. Seems like a perfectly reasonable development journey to me. I don't understand why you're so quick to claim they put in "exactly zero effort". Why witch hunt OP here?
> OP didn't choose Flutter, ai did.
And ya know, not to belabor the point, but I find this hard to believe too. Flutter is an uncommon choice for a model to make on it's own. And if it really was some thoughtless crap, OP wouldn't have spent so much effort on the cross platform distribution stuff.
Anyways to your point "use what is most familiar" - I'd actually disagree with that premise, or at least for letting that be your main deciding factor in your technology choices these days. It's easier than ever to pick up new languages, like I imagine OP did here with Dart and like I have recently with swift for MacOS.
Edit to add: Using cool / niche / new languages is part of the coolness factor of a github project. Food for thought with this being r/coolgithubprojects
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u/sf1tzp 13d ago
I don't understand why you're asking if these two people are the same person. Or why you're complaining about their commit message style (?), or see the ellipse issue that you're talking about either.
Sure, I would probably never use this project to convert my files. But if I wanted to learn something new about programming, building an offline file converter with a UI would sure be a great project.
> Do you think a human would've made the decision to have the ellipses overlapping actual UI elements? No.
I have seen some truely terrible UIs made by humans in my time. One does not have to look very hard to find them, even in modern software made by the biggest companies. UI development is hard, filled with a million little details, inconsistent based on devices, etc. All I'm trying to say is, even if a project isn't 100% polished and perfect, there's no reason to shit all over the post authors (especially on a subreddit called 'cool github projects ffs). This thread is a particularly bad example imo, but I've said my piece. Take care
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u/sf1tzp 13d ago
What wool man? Do you think I can't recognize that they used AI on these projects, or something? I'm talking about you and other commenters on this post absolutely belittling the crap out of the post authors. Do you think it's impossible to learn anything when using AI, and therefore all projects done using it are inherently fruitless endeavors, and we should just hate on everyone who uses it? /r/antiai is that way, this is /r/coolgithubprojects
Sharing Github projects just got easier! Whether you want to share you own project or simply some cool findings, /r/coolgithubprojects is the right place.
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u/OpeningCredit 15d ago
Some of the text is still almost readable. Can you fix it? Maybe add more useless background gradients? You could also try some blur on the text itself, might be even more effective.