XDA covered the KDE community’s fresh guidelines around generative AI this week. A sub-community inside the project is pushing for an outright ban on AI-generated contributions to KDE’s own codebase and documentation. The politics are complicated. The technical position is not: some people want tools that were not built to invite a language model into every keystroke, and those tools still exist.
The same conversation is unfolding on the writer side. There are a lot of people who do not want a copilot suggesting the next sentence, do not want text summarised as they type, and do not want a small silhouette on the toolbar labelled “Ask AI.” The seven Android writing apps below take that seriously. None ship an integrated LLM. None phone home for suggestions. All work offline. Ranked by how well each one respects the “write what I typed, nothing more” contract.
What “AI-free” means in an app in 2026
- No integrated language model. No cloud LLM, no on-device model, no “smart compose” that predicts the rest of your sentence.
- No telemetry to a suggestion service. Autocomplete based on your own past text is fine. Autocomplete backed by a model trained on other people is not.
- No optional AI features gated behind a settings toggle. A toggle counts as invitation. Real AI-free apps do not ship the option at all.
- Local-first storage. If a note is on the phone, the phone owns it. Sync happens through boring protocols (WebDAV, IMAP, Git) that never think about your prose.
- Import-friendly formats. Plain text, Markdown, Org-mode. Anything proprietary is a lock-in that only stays AI-free until the next release.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Free plan | Starting price | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Markor | Markdown-first writing | Yes | Free | Android |
| Standard Notes | Encrypted long-form notes | Yes | About 3 USD/month for extended | Android, iOS, web, desktop |
| Joplin | Full notebook system | Yes | Free (paid sync optional) | Android, iOS, web, desktop |
| SimpleNote | Fastest possible plain-text | Yes | Free | Android, iOS, web, desktop |
| Orgzly | Org-mode outlines and tasks | Yes | Optional donation | Android |
| FairEmail | Writing long emails without cloud AI | Yes | About 4 USD/year Pro | Android |
| Nextcloud Notes | Self-hosted note-taking | Yes | Free (self-hosted) | Android, iOS, web, desktop |
The apps
1. Markor — Best AI-free Markdown editor
Markor is the AI-free default on Android. Plain Markdown, live preview, and a folder-based file model that saves every note as a file you can read anywhere. Text expansion is a hand-curated snippet list, not a language model. No cloud sync ships in the app itself; you sync the files with whatever tool you already use.
Where it falls short: No collaborative editing. No inline search across a big vault. The theme options are limited.
Pricing:
- Free: everything, Apache 2.0 open source
- Paid: none
Platforms: Android
Download: Markor on Aptoide · F-Droid · Google Play
Bottom line: The default pick. Install this before any of the others and stay if it works.
2. Standard Notes — Best encrypted long-form notes
Standard Notes is end-to-end encrypted by default. That is unusual in this category and it matters because the anti-AI conversation and the anti-surveillance conversation overlap. Notes leave the phone encrypted, sync to the vendor cloud, and cannot be read by anyone but you. The base editor is plain text. Extended editors (Markdown, code, rich text) unlock at the paid tier and none of them include AI features.
Where it falls short: The extended editors are gated behind a subscription. Cross-device speed is slower than SimpleNote because of the encryption layer.
Pricing:
- Free: plain-text editor, unlimited notes, cross-device sync
- Paid: Extended at about 3 USD/month for Markdown, code, and other editors
Platforms: Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Linux, web
Download: Standard Notes on Aptoide · Google Play
Bottom line: Pick this if encryption matters to you as much as the AI-free position does.
3. Joplin — Best full notebook system
Joplin is a full-featured Evernote replacement without any language-model integration. Notebooks, tags, attachments, encryption, web clipper, and multi-device sync over WebDAV, S3, OneDrive, Dropbox, or the paid Joplin Cloud. The Markdown editor is competent. The desktop app is the same codebase, so notes look identical across platforms.
Where it falls short: Sync setup is heavier than Standard Notes’ out-of-the-box flow. The Android app has been slower on very large notebooks (5,000-plus notes).
Pricing:
- Free: everything, AGPL open source
- Paid: Joplin Cloud from about 3 USD/month, only for hosted sync
Platforms: Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Linux, terminal
Download: Joplin on Aptoide · F-Droid · Google Play
Bottom line: Pick this if you were going to sign up for Evernote or Notion and want a fully AI-free alternative.
4. SimpleNote — Best fastest possible plain-text
SimpleNote does one thing very well. Text notes, tags, sync across devices, and search. There is no rich text, no AI, and no clutter. Automattic (the company that runs WordPress.com) maintains it, and it stays free because it is a marketing arm rather than a paid product. The Android app opens in under a second on a mid-range phone.
Where it falls short: Plain text only. No attachments. No folders (tags only). Sync depends on an Automattic account.
Pricing:
- Free: everything, forever
- Paid: none
Platforms: Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Linux, web
Download: SimpleNote on Aptoide · Google Play
Bottom line: Pick this if the goal is a jot pad and speed matters more than structure.
5. Orgzly — Best Org-mode outlines and tasks
Orgzly is what you want if the Emacs world is your home. Org-mode files, task states (TODO, DONE, DEFERRED), recurring dates, agenda views, and sync to the same .org files you have on desktop. No AI, no vendor cloud, no proprietary format.
Where it falls short: Org-mode has a learning curve. If you were not already reading it in Emacs, you have some ramp-up.
Pricing:
- Free: GPL open source
- Paid: none, optional donation
Platforms: Android
Download: Orgzly on Aptoide · F-Droid · Google Play
Bottom line: Pick this if .org files are already how you think.
6. FairEmail — Best for long-form emails without cloud AI
FairEmail is not primarily a writing app, but it lands on this list because the writing that happens in an email client is exactly where consumer inboxes are aggressively adding AI reply, summary, and draft-generation. FairEmail refuses. It supports every IMAP account, encrypts locally, and treats the message body as plain text or Markdown that never leaves your device before send.
Where it falls short: Onboarding is dense. Configuration surface is huge. Not the app to hand a family member.
Pricing:
- Free: full functionality, GPL open source
- Paid: Pro at about 4 USD/year for extra convenience features
Platforms: Android
Download: FairEmail on Aptoide · F-Droid · Google Play
Bottom line: Pick this if the writing that matters happens in email and you refuse the AI compose button.
7. Nextcloud Notes — Best self-hosted note-taking
Nextcloud Notes is the Notes app that ships with Nextcloud. On Android, it pairs with a self-hosted Nextcloud instance and gives you Markdown, folders, sync, and offline editing. If you already run Nextcloud, this is a free add-on. If you do not, it is the pick that keeps every note on hardware you own.
Where it falls short: Requires a self-hosted server. Slower than Markor on the phone side because of the network layer.
Pricing:
- Free: everything, AGPL open source
- Paid: none
Platforms: Android, iOS, web
Download: Nextcloud Notes on Aptoide · F-Droid · Google Play
Bottom line: Pick this if the notes should live on your own server, and Nextcloud is already there.
How to choose
- If you want the simplest AI-free Markdown editor on the phone: Markor.
- If encryption matters as much as the AI-free position: Standard Notes.
- If the goal is a full notebook system: Joplin.
- If you want a jot pad that opens in half a second: SimpleNote.
- If Org-mode is your language: Orgzly.
- If the writing that matters is in email: FairEmail.
- If you already run a home server: Nextcloud Notes.
Stay on Google Keep or Notion only if the AI features they now ship are the reason you use them. If they are a bonus you never asked for, one of these seven is a straight upgrade.
FAQ
Which of these actually has zero AI features? All seven at time of writing. Markor, Orgzly, and Nextcloud Notes are open source and unlikely to ship AI features without a community fork happening in response. Standard Notes has publicly committed against embedded LLMs. SimpleNote has never shipped one.
Do any support voice input? Any Android app can accept text from the system voice input, including Gboard’s on-device voice typing. That is not the same as a language model composing on your behalf.
Is Obsidian AI-free? Obsidian core is AI-free but the community plugin ecosystem includes many AI extensions. Whether you consider that a violation of the position depends on how you set it up. This list stayed with apps that ship no AI in any part of the surface.
What about writing with a stylus? Notability, GoodNotes, and Samsung Notes all have handwriting recognition without generative AI. Squid is another AI-free option for stylus-first note-taking on Android.
Can I self-host these? Joplin, Standard Notes, Nextcloud Notes, and FairEmail can all be paired with self-hosted infrastructure. Markor and Orgzly are file-based, so any sync tool you already run works.
