Comparison
Shelf vs Heptabase
One helps you work an idea out. The other helps you find what you already had.
Heptabase is a visual thinking tool built on cards and whiteboards for making sense of a subject. Shelf is a local-first memory layer for retrieving what you saved.
01 · The difference
Same problem. Different product.
Heptabase
Visual thinking canvas
- Make cards.
- Lay them on a whiteboard.
- Connect ideas visually.
- Work through a subject.
- Build understanding.
Shelf
Personal memory
- Save things.
- Forget about them.
- Let Shelf understand them.
- Find them again.
- Rediscover them later.
02 · Heptabase
What is Heptabase?
Heptabase presents itself as a visual note-taking and learning tool: put ideas on cards, arrange them on whiteboards, connect them, and build understanding of a subject over time.
It's for active sense-making, the deliberate hours where you sit with material and think.
03 · Shelf
What is Shelf?
Shelf is a local-first memory layer for your Mac.
Shelf is built around a simpler question: what will I remember about this later?
You save something from anywhere on your Mac. Shelf reads it, describes it in its own words, links it to the other things it belongs with, and waits until you come looking.
- Capture
- Send a screenshot, link, PDF, image or note to Shelf without leaving what you are doing.
- Understanding
- Text is read out of images with OCR, audio is transcribed, and short summaries and topics are written on device.
- Relationships
- Saved things are connected to each other, with the evidence for each connection shown.
- Semantic retrieval
- Full-text and meaning-based search run side by side, so a rough description usually lands.
- Contextual retrieval
- What you saved around the same time, and about the same subject, comes back with it.
- Local-first privacy
- Your library and its index live on your Mac. No account, no sync server.
- Rediscovery
- Shelf brings older saves back to the surface when they line up with what you are doing now.
04 · Head to head
Head to head.
| Capability | Heptabase | Shelf |
|---|---|---|
| Category | ||
| Core idea | A canvas for making sense of a subject | A memory layer that remembers what you saved |
| Primary use | Learning, researching, thinking visually | Saving, then finding again |
| Platform | Cross-platform desktop, mobile and web | Native macOS 14 and later, Apple Silicon and Intel |
| Memory and retrieval | ||
| Personal memory | Understanding through arrangement | The whole product |
| Semantic search | Search across cards and notes | Full-text and semantic search, on device |
| Contextual relationships | Connections you draw between cards | Connections between saves, with visible evidence |
| Visual retrieval | Spatial: you remember where you put it | Browse and search visually by what a thing looked like |
| Rediscovery | Through revisiting whiteboards | Older saves resurface when they become relevant |
| Long-term accumulation | Grows with the boards you build | Gets more useful the longer you keep saving |
| What you put in | ||
| Screenshots | Can be placed on a board | First-class, with text read out of the image |
| Bookmarks and web references | Supported as cards | First-class, saved with their content |
| Notes | Cards are the core unit | Quick notes, kept alongside everything else |
| Files and PDFs | PDF reading and annotation supported | PDFs and documents, read and indexed locally |
| Effort | ||
| Setup before it's useful | A board and some cards | None. Save something and it works |
| Filing and tagging | Spatial arrangement plus tags | Optional. Meaning does the grouping |
| Maintenance | Boards need tending to stay useful | Nothing to prune, rename or reorganise |
| Architecture | ||
| Local-first | Local storage with cloud sync | Library and index stay on your Mac |
| Privacy model | Governed by Heptabase's own terms | Nothing to sync, because there is no sync server |
| Account requirement | An account is required | No account |
| Offline behaviour | Offline support with sync | Capture, understanding and search work offline |
| Export | Export is supported | Export your library, plus encrypted local backups |
Shelf rows describe what Shelf does today. Heptabase rows describe only what Heptabase publicly presents about itself. Where a product does not focus on something, that is a choice, not a defect.
Category
- Core idea
HeptabaseA canvas for making sense of a subject
ShelfA memory layer that remembers what you saved
- Primary use
HeptabaseLearning, researching, thinking visually
ShelfSaving, then finding again
- Platform
HeptabaseCross-platform desktop, mobile and web
ShelfNative macOS 14 and later, Apple Silicon and Intel
Memory and retrieval
- Personal memory
HeptabaseUnderstanding through arrangement
ShelfThe whole product
- Semantic search
HeptabaseSearch across cards and notes
ShelfFull-text and semantic search, on device
- Contextual relationships
HeptabaseConnections you draw between cards
ShelfConnections between saves, with visible evidence
- Visual retrieval
HeptabaseSpatial: you remember where you put it
ShelfBrowse and search visually by what a thing looked like
- Rediscovery
HeptabaseThrough revisiting whiteboards
ShelfOlder saves resurface when they become relevant
- Long-term accumulation
HeptabaseGrows with the boards you build
ShelfGets more useful the longer you keep saving
What you put in
- Screenshots
HeptabaseCan be placed on a board
ShelfFirst-class, with text read out of the image
- Bookmarks and web references
HeptabaseSupported as cards
ShelfFirst-class, saved with their content
- Notes
HeptabaseCards are the core unit
ShelfQuick notes, kept alongside everything else
- Files and PDFs
HeptabasePDF reading and annotation supported
ShelfPDFs and documents, read and indexed locally
Effort
- Setup before it's useful
HeptabaseA board and some cards
ShelfNone. Save something and it works
- Filing and tagging
HeptabaseSpatial arrangement plus tags
ShelfOptional. Meaning does the grouping
- Maintenance
HeptabaseBoards need tending to stay useful
ShelfNothing to prune, rename or reorganise
Architecture
- Local-first
HeptabaseLocal storage with cloud sync
ShelfLibrary and index stay on your Mac
- Privacy model
HeptabaseGoverned by Heptabase's own terms
ShelfNothing to sync, because there is no sync server
- Account requirement
HeptabaseAn account is required
ShelfNo account
- Offline behaviour
HeptabaseOffline support with sync
ShelfCapture, understanding and search work offline
- Export
HeptabaseExport is supported
ShelfExport your library, plus encrypted local backups
05 · Shelf
Where Shelf is different.
- Memory-first designShelf is built around remembering saved things, not around managing a system. There is nothing to set up before it is useful.
- Mac-nativeShelf is a native macOS app, designed around how you already use the Mac.
- Local-firstYour library and its index live on your Mac. OCR, transcription, summaries, search and connections run on device.
- ContextSaved things are connected through relationships and shared subjects, so one memory brings back the ones around it.
- Retrieval from imperfect memoryYou describe what you half-remember. Shelf is designed for that, not for exact filenames.
- Long-term accumulationThe value grows quietly as your library grows. Nothing needs maintaining for that to happen.
06 · Heptabase
Where Heptabase makes more sense.
Heptabase is the stronger thinking surface, and thinking is not the same job as remembering.
- You're learning a hard subject and want to see the whole shape of it.
- You think spatially and want to arrange ideas by hand.
- You do deep research sessions and want annotation and cards.
- You want your work available across devices and the web.
- You want to build an argument, not just retrieve a reference.
Shelf is intentionally narrower.
Shelf is for people who don't want another system. They want their computer to remember.
07 · Decide
Which one should you choose?
Choose Heptabase if
You want a visual canvas for working an idea out until you understand it.
Choose Shelf if
You want a personal memory layer for the things you save on your Mac.
If your problem is “I need to understand this subject”, Heptabase may be the better fit. If your problem is “where did that thing go?”, Shelf is built for you.
08 · In practice
Three ordinary moments.
Scenario 01
“I saved it and moved on.”
- Heptabase
- A card is worth making when you plan to work on it.
- Shelf
- Saving takes a second and the understanding happens without you.
Scenario 02
“It was eight months ago.”
- Heptabase
- You revisit the board, if you made one.
- Shelf
- You describe it. Shelf searches meaning across everything you ever kept.
Scenario 03
“I'm mid-task and don't want to stop.”
- Heptabase
- Canvas work is a deliberate session.
- Shelf
- Capture is designed to not interrupt what you were doing.
Heptabase helps you work an idea out.
Shelf helps you remember what you've seen.
One is a thinking canvas.
The other is a memory layer.
10 · Privacy
Personal memory is personal.
Shelf is designed around the idea that the things you save about your own life should stay with you. Your library and its index live on your Mac, there is no account, and there is no sync server holding a copy.
OCR, transcription, summaries, topics, search and connections all run on device, which is why Shelf keeps working with the network off.
11 · Questions
Straight answers.
- Is Shelf a Heptabase alternative?
- Not really a replacement. Heptabase is for active thinking; Shelf is for passive remembering. They answer different questions.
- Does Shelf have a canvas?
- No. Shelf is a memory layer, not a thinking surface. Its job is capture, understanding and retrieval.
- Does Shelf work on Mac?
- Shelf is a native Mac app. It runs on macOS 14 and later, on Apple Silicon and Intel.
- Is Shelf local-first?
- Yes. Your library and its index stay on your Mac, and the understanding work, OCR, transcription, summaries, topics, search and connections, runs on device.
- Can Shelf search screenshots?
- Yes. Shelf reads the text out of images with OCR and indexes both the words and the meaning, so you can find a screenshot by describing it.
- Does Shelf require an account?
- No. Shelf works without an account and without a sync server.
Your computer already stores everything.
It should remember some of it.
Free. macOS 14 and later, Apple Silicon and Intel. No account.
Keep reading
Related pages
Shelf V3 is out now
Shelf V3 is the current build. Shelf does not use automatic updates, so download the latest build here and install it over your current version.
This is intentional. Shelf is built around a local-first, privacy-focused philosophy. An automatic updater requires additional background processes, network connections, update infrastructure, and another system with permission to modify the app. We prefer to keep Shelf’s network footprint and background activity as small as possible.
Manual updates keep the process explicit: Shelf only checks the internet when a feature actually needs it, and you decide when a new version is downloaded and installed.