KinopioVisual Thinking

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About

Kinopio is a playful spatial canvas where you jot ideas on cards, connect them with lines, and arrange them into boxes and lists, alone or with collaborators. It is community-funded, has no AI features, and is free for up to 100 cards.

Kinopio is a freeform thinking space built around cards that you place anywhere on an infinite canvas and link together with colored connection lines. Cards support Markdown-style formatting, checkboxes, backlinked [[tags]], images, website previews, PDFs, code blocks, and audio or video embeds, and can be grouped into boxes and lists or separated with line dividers and drawings. Spaces can be kept private or shared for real-time collaboration, with comments, @mentions, groups, an Inbox space for quick capture, templates, and an Explore section where the community publishes public spaces. Kinopio runs in the browser and works offline. The official site lists apps for macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android plus quick-capture browser extensions, and there is a public REST API with app-specific API keys. Spaces can be exported as text, PDF, JSON, or JSON Canvas. Kinopio is made by Piri (Pirijan Ketheswaran), co-creator and designer of Glitch, who has been building it since 2018-2019 as deliberately 'organic software': no VC funding, no ads, and no AI. The client code is public on GitHub under the PolyForm Noncommercial license, which makes it source-available rather than open source.

Who Is Kinopio Best For?

Kinopio is particularly well-suited for:

Designers and creatives who think visually
Product managers mapping ideas
Students and educators
Writers planning stories
People who dislike rigid outlines and folders
View all Visual Thinking apps

Credibility of This Listing

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

Review Coverage

4.7/5

Aggregated score built from 1 public review source.

NoteFinderz Research

October 9, 2026

NoteFinderz research refreshed on October 9, 2026.

Product Freshness

Unknown

Product update date not yet recorded.

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

Visible Review Sources

14 aggregated reviews

Features

Visual Canvas
Card-based Notes
Markdown
Collaboration
Real-time Sync
Sharing
Tags
Tasks/TODO
Image Support
File Attachments
Link Previews
Code Highlighting
Templates
Export Options
Import Options
Offline Mode
Dark Mode
API Access
Web Capture

Ratings & Reviews

4.7
(14 reviews)

Aggregated from 1 sources

Pricing

Freemium
Free Tier Available

Category

Visual Thinking

Project Health

Status
Active

Publisher & Origin

Developer
Kinopio LLC (Pirijan Ketheswaran)
Source Model
Source available
License
PolyForm-Noncommercial-1.0.0
Origin Type
Indie creator
Origin Note
Kinopio is a one-person, community-funded product made by Piri (Pirijan Ketheswaran), previously co-creator and designer of Glitch at Fog Creek Software in New York. He started it in 2018 and has taken no VC funding.

Pros

βœ“Delightful, playful interface that makes spatial thinking feel light
βœ“Every feature available for free up to 100 cards, without an account
βœ“Real-time collaboration, comments, and community spaces
βœ“Works offline and exports to text, PDF, JSON, and JSON Canvas
βœ“Independent, community-funded, with no ads or AI
βœ“Public API and source-available client code

Cons

⚠100-card free limit is reached quickly with heavy use
⚠No AI features, by design
⚠Not a long-form document editor; best for short cards
⚠Small one-person team, so development pace depends on a single maker

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Kinopio free to use?

Yes, Kinopio offers a free tier that you can use without payment. Free with all features for up to 100 cards and 5 MB uploads, no sign-up required. Paid upgrade for unlimited cards and uploads: $8/month, $80/year, or $250 lifetime (USD) when bought on the website. In the iOS app the subscription is $9/month or $90/year to cover Apple's fees. Discounts are available on request for students and people with financial need.

What platforms does Kinopio support?

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

Does Kinopio work offline?

Yes, Kinopio 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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