I Built the Tool I've Been Using for Years - And Now It's Free for Everyone

For as long as I can remember, I had a tab open in my browser. Just a blank page. A simple text area where I could jot something down quickly - a phone number someone just told me, a snippet of code I needed to paste somewhere, a quick list of things to grab from the supermarket, a random thought I didn't want to lose.

No login. No app to open. No subscription. Just... a place to write.

The Problem With "Real" Note-Taking Apps

Don't get me wrong - I have nothing against Todoist, Evernote, Notion, or any of the other great productivity tools out there. They're powerful, well-designed, and genuinely useful for the right use case.

But sometimes, you don't need powerful. Sometimes you just need a napkin.

You know that feeling when you're at a cafe, someone gives you a phone number, and you grab the nearest napkin to scribble it down? You're not building a knowledge base. You're not setting up a project. You're just... writing something down so you don't forget it in the next 30 seconds. And when you're done with it, you crumple it up and throw it away - and that's perfectly fine.

That's exactly what I was missing in the browser. A napkin.

Years of Personal Use

I built the first version of this for myself years ago. It lived on a private URL, it was ugly, it didn't have tabs or export or Markdown - but it worked. Every single day.

I'd open a new tab, type something, and move on with my life. No account to create. No sync to wait for. No app to download. No "your free trial has ended" popup. Just me and a blank page.

It became one of those tools you forget is even a tool. Like a pen in your pocket.

Why I Finally Made It Public

A few weeks ago I was showing someone my browser setup and they saw the tab. "What's that?" they asked. I explained it, and their reaction was: "Wait, that's actually really useful. Can I use it?"

That was the nudge I needed.

I cleaned it up, added proper tab support, Markdown and HTML editing modes, a word counter, and the ability to export your notes as .md, .html, or .txt files. Then I put it on a domain that felt right: mynapkin.net.

What It Is (and What It Isn't)

mynapkin.net is a free, browser-based scratchpad. Here's what makes it different:

• No account required. Ever.
• No server. Your text lives in your browser's localStorage - it never leaves your device.
• No sync. Close the tab, reopen it later, your notes are still there. Switch devices? Gone. And that's kind of the point.
• No subscription. Free. Forever.

It supports Markdown, HTML, and plain text editing. You can open multiple tabs, rename them, and export your content as a file when you actually need to save something properly.

The Napkin Philosophy

There's a reason I called it "My Napkin" and not "My Notes" or "My Workspace."

A napkin is temporary by nature. You write on it knowing it might not survive the day. That's liberating. You don't overthink what you write, you don't organize, you don't tag or categorize. You just write.

And yet - the napkin is always there when you need it. Grab one, scribble, move on.

mynapkin.net works the same way. It's not trying to replace Notion or Obsidian. It's the thing you reach for before those tools are even necessary.

Try it at mynapkin.net - no signup, just open and type.

If you lose your notes because you cleared your browser storage or switched devices, don't say I didn't warn you. That's the napkin way.