Grain
First-matter reference threshold
Collect and organise references (images, audio, video, 3D and notes) on a freeform canvas. Fast, local-first, and yours: everything lives in files and folders on your own computer.
All downloads
- Download for macOSmacOS 12+ (Apple Silicon)
- Download for WindowsWindows 10/11 (x64)
Early-bird: 25% off with code EARLYBIRD until 30 September 2026
Free download · macOS 12+ (Apple Silicon) · Windows 10/11 (x64) · Licence: €35 one-time
Version 0.9.9
What makes it different
Your files stay files
Grain watches folders you choose and indexes what is in them. Nothing is imported into a proprietary bundle, nothing is rewritten, and nothing is ever deleted for you. Move the folder to another computer and everything is still there as ordinary images, audio and markdown. There is no single board file that a crash can corrupt and take months of collecting with it: the library is an index, and an index can always be rebuilt.
A board and a library, not two apps
One window replaces the usual pair: a canvas app to arrange references on, and a separate organiser to ever find them again. Arrange freely on an infinite canvas, then search the whole collection across every project without leaving it. Tags, colours, notes and the text inside your markdown are all searchable, so a board of four hundred images stays findable instead of becoming a scroll marathon.
Search by meaning, not just by filename
Find a picture by describing it, or ask for more like the one you are looking at. The same works for audio, and spoken recordings are transcribed so you can search what was said. The models run on your own machine as an optional download, nothing is sent anywhere to make this work, and nothing is ever generated from your work or trained on it.
Local-first, one-time price
No account, no sign-in, no subscription and no cloud. Grain opens instantly and works with no connection at all. The download is free for three projects, for as long as you like; a licence is €35 once, for good.