Pad vs Scratch

Comparing two open source alternatives to Notion . Use the comparison below to decide which one fits your needs.

Pad

Apache-2.0

Local-first project management for developers and AI agents, with a CLI, web UI, SQLite backend, and native skills for Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, and more.

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Scratch

MIT

Scratch is a minimalist, offline-first markdown note-taking app for macOS, Windows, and Linux. Plain text files, keyboard-driven, with no cloud lock-in.

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Side-by-side comparison

	Pad	Scratch
License	Apache-2.0	MIT
Self-hostable	Yes	Yes
GitHub Stars	120	1,547
Forks	21	146
Open Issues	20	71
Last Commit	Aug 13, 2026	Jul 28, 2026
First Released	Mar 26, 2026	Jan 31, 2026
Categories	Project Management	Note Taking & Knowledge Management Tools
Tags	#local-first #cli #ai-agents #agent-tools #mcp-server	#markdown #note taking #offline #cross-platform #desktop-app

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