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About

Dynalist is a fast outliner that organizes notes and tasks as infinitely nested bullet lists, grouped into documents and folders. It was built by the team that later created Obsidian and is now largely in maintenance mode.

Dynalist turns everything into collapsible, infinitely nestable bullet points: you can zoom into any item to treat it as its own page, drag branches around, and move items between documents with a keyboard-driven item mover. Unlike single-tree outliners, Dynalist organizes outlines into separate documents and folders, which many users find easier to manage at scale. The free plan is unusually generous, with unlimited items and documents, Markdown formatting, internal links, dates, tags, checklists, sharing and collaboration, and import/export (OPML, plain text, and more). Dynalist Pro ($7.99/month billed annually or $9.99 monthly) adds Google Calendar sync, recurring dates, a tag pane, file and image uploads (1 GB per month), version history, daily Dropbox and Google Drive backups, custom shortcuts, and custom CSS. Apps are available on the web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android, with a companion web clipper for Chrome and Firefox and a public API. Dynalist was started in 2015 by Erica Xu and Shida Li, who went on to build Obsidian; since then development has slowed dramatically. The changelog's last major entry dates from 2020, the iOS app has not been updated since October 2021, and in July 2026 Shida stated on the forum that there are no immediate plans to update the Electron desktop app for Apple Silicon. The service, forum, and Android app remain online.

Who Is Dynalist Best For?

Dynalist is particularly well-suited for:

People who think in outlines and nested lists
GTD and task-list enthusiasts
Students structuring course notes
Writers outlining long documents
Users wanting a capable free outliner
View all Productivity apps

Credibility of This Listing

We show what we know, where it comes from, and what is still incomplete.

Review Coverage

3.9/5

Aggregated score built from 3 public review sources.

NoteFinderz Research

October 9, 2026

NoteFinderz research refreshed on October 9, 2026.

Product Freshness

August 10, 2026

Latest known product update: August 10, 2026.

Descriptions, use cases, pros, and limitations are written and curated by NoteFinderz. Ratings and review volume are aggregated from public signals when they exist.

Features

Markdown
Tags
Search
Tasks/TODO
Calendar Integration
Collaboration
Sharing
Export Options
Import Options
Version History
File Attachments
Image Support
Custom CSS
Custom Themes
Dark Mode
Offline Mode
Keyboard Shortcuts
Web Capture
API Access
Real-time Sync
Folders

Ratings & Reviews

3.9
(1,153 reviews)

Pricing

Freemium
Free Tier Available

Category

Productivity

Project Health

Status
Maintenance
Activity Score
35/100
Status Note
The service, forum, and Android app (updated August 2026) are still running, but the last major changelog entry is from 2020, the iOS app has not been updated since October 2021, and in July 2026 the developer said there are no immediate plans to update the desktop app for Apple Silicon.

Publisher & Origin

Developer
Dynalist Inc. (Erica Xu and Shida Li)
Source Model
Closed source
License
Proprietary
Country of Origin
Canada
Headquarters
Ontario, Canada
Origin Type
Company
Origin Note
Dynalist was started in 2015 (initially as Omniflow) by Erica Xu and Shida Li, University of Waterloo alumni based in Ontario, Canada. The same founders later built Obsidian, which became their main focus.

Pros

βœ“Very generous free plan with unlimited items and documents
βœ“Fast, keyboard-centric outlining with zoom and item mover
βœ“Documents and folders on top of nested lists for better organization
βœ“Available on web, desktop (Windows, macOS, Linux), iOS, and Android
βœ“Google Calendar sync and recurring dates on Pro

Cons

⚠Development has largely stopped; few new features since 2020
⚠iOS app last updated in 2021 and the desktop app is Intel-only on Mac
⚠Mobile apps are often described as buggy or dated
⚠Pro is relatively pricey for a product in maintenance mode

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Dynalist free to use?

Yes, Dynalist offers a free tier that you can use without payment. Free: unlimited items and documents, sharing and collaboration, 5 bookmarks. Pro: $7.99/month billed annually ($95.88/year) or $9.99/month billed monthly ($119.88/year), adding Google Calendar integration, recurring dates, file uploads, version history, automatic backups, custom CSS, and priority support.

What platforms does Dynalist support?

Dynalist is available on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, iPadOS, Android, Browser Extension. You can access it from any web browser, plus dedicated apps for other platforms.

Does Dynalist work offline?

Yes, Dynalist supports offline mode. You can access and edit your notes without an internet connection, and changes will sync when you're back online.

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