Valutorio vs Tana: Supertags vs files that open (2026)
Tana is the most structurally ambitious note app in this category. Supertags put a schema on any node, so a meeting becomes a meeting everywhere it appears, and the AI features write up the transcript for you. Valutorio does none of that. It opens a folder of markdown files, indexes 2,000 of them in 1.07 seconds, and answers a search in single-digit milliseconds. Tana is the better system for building workflows. Valutorio is the better tool if you want the notes themselves, in files that stay readable no matter who you stop paying.
Quick verdict
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You run recurring meetings and want each one captured against a schema
Pick Tana
Supertags plus meeting transcription and agents do this properly; Valutorio has no schema and no transcription.
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You want notes on your phone that work in a tunnel
Pick Tana
Tana at least has a mobile app, though it can only capture offline, not show existing content.
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You want the writing surface to be instant and the files to be yours
Pick Valutorio
0.1 ms keystroke latency in a 1 MB note, and every note is a file on your own disk.
| Valutorio | Tana | |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | macOS 14+ | macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, Web |
| Engine | native Swift + Rust | web |
| Data format | plain markdown folder | proprietary node graph (cloud); limited export |
| Pricing | paid app, Mac App Store (pricing at launch) | Free (up to ~20k nodes); Plus $8-10/mo; Pro $20/mo |
| Sync | Valutorio Sync (subscription): automatic, encrypted, conflict-free; personal MCP endpoint for AI assistants included | cloud-native; desktop offline support added late 2025 |
| Offline | yes | no |
| Wikilinks | yes | yes |
| Backlinks | yes | yes |
| Graph view | yes | yes |
| Open source | no | no |
Competitor rows come from public vendor documentation and pricing pages, checked August 2026. Valutorio rows describe the shipping macOS app.
Structure against simplicity
Supertags are the reason Tana exists. Tag a node and it acquires fields, templates, and views, so an outline turns into something closer to a database that you happen to type into. Ex-Roam power users moved to Tana in numbers for exactly this.
Valutorio has no supertags and nothing that behaves like them. It has wikilinks with autocomplete, backlinks with the surrounding sentence attached, tags with counts, and a graph you can filter. That is a smaller idea, deliberately. A steep learning curve for the node and supertag model sits on Tana's own list of weaknesses, and that is the honest price of the power.
Winner Tana Tana: structured workflows on top of an outline, which Valutorio does not attempt.
Where your knowledge is kept
Tana keeps a proprietary node graph in its cloud, and its export options are limited. That combination is the thing to weigh before you invest two years of thinking into it, because the exit is narrower than the entrance.
Valutorio's vault is a folder of plain markdown. One note, one file. Nothing is imported when you open a vault and nothing is converted when you close it, so there is no format boundary between the app and your work. Uninstall the app and the folder is exactly as it was.
Winner Valutorio Valutorio: markdown files any editor opens, with no export needed to read your own notes.
Offline, honestly stated on both sides
Tana added desktop offline support in late 2025, which was a real fix. Mobile is still the weak point: the app can capture offline but cannot show you content you already have. If you commute underground, that limitation is going to find you.
Valutorio is offline by default because nothing in the editor needs a server. Search, links, and the graph all read local files, with no subscription involved. Valutorio's problem is different and larger: there is no Valutorio app for a phone at all.
Winner either Tana has a phone app with an offline hole; Valutorio has no phone app and no offline hole.
Speed you can measure
Tana is a web application on every platform. Valutorio is Swift and AppKit over a Rust engine, with no Electron shell and no JavaScript runtime in the process.
The measured figures, all on a 2,000-file, 55 MB vault on Apple silicon: cold index 1.07 s, full-text search 1.8 to 6.6 ms, wikilink autocomplete under 0.5 ms, backlink lookup 0.65 µs, graph snapshot 10 ms, keystroke latency 0.1 ms in a 1 MB note. A 300 MB markdown file opens in under a second. Those numbers do not move when your connection does.
Winner Valutorio Valutorio: search in 1.8 ms and a graph snapshot in 10 ms, entirely on-device.
Sync, conflicts, and the monthly line item
Tana's sync is its cloud, included in the plan. Free covers roughly 20,000 nodes, then Plus is $8 to $10 a month and Pro is $20. The jump from free to Plus has drawn criticism from its own users.
Valutorio Sync is an optional subscription, so on price this section does not favour it: Tana has a free tier that carries a year of ordinary note-taking and Valutorio does not. What the subscription does is run automatically between Macs at 0.56 s a cycle, encrypted in transit and at rest, with nothing to configure. Two machines editing one note go through three tiers of automatic resolution, a three-way merge first, then markdown-aware keep-both blocks, then keep-both artifacts, and a conflict marker never lands inside a note. Cancel it and the app still opens local vaults.
Winner either Tana includes sync and has a free tier; Valutorio charges for sync and never surfaces a conflict.
What each one costs
Tana is free up to roughly 20,000 nodes, then $8 to $10 a month for Plus and $20 for Pro. Two years on Plus is around $240, and Pro doubles that. Valutorio is sold on the Mac App Store and syncing between Macs is a separate optional subscription; I cannot quote either figure, because neither is fixed. The structural difference is what matters here: Tana's subscription is what keeps your notes reachable at all, while Valutorio's only keeps them moving between machines.
Who should choose which
Choose Tana if
- Supertags are the feature you have been looking for and you will invest the time to learn them.
- AI meeting transcription and agents belong in your notes app, not beside it.
- You need Windows, Linux, Android, or the browser.
- You are leaving Roam and want the closest thing to a more powerful Roam.
Choose Valutorio if
- Plain markdown files matter more to you than a node graph, however clever the graph is.
- You want to open a large vault and start typing, with no workspace load to sit through.
- You want the notes to stay readable and editable if you cancel every subscription you have.
- You are on a Mac and simplicity is the point, not a compromise.
Questions people ask
How hard is it to get out of Tana and into Valutorio?
Harder than the reverse, because Tana's export options are limited and the node graph is proprietary. Whatever markdown you can get out becomes a vault the moment you put it in a folder and point Valutorio at it, with no import step. Supertag fields will not carry over as structure. Test the export on a small workspace before you commit to the move.
Does Valutorio have AI?
Not in the window. There is no chat panel, no transcription, and no summarisation, and Tana has all three, which is a straightforward win for Tana. What Valutorio has instead comes with a Sync subscription: a personal MCP endpoint, a private URL and rotatable token that let Claude or another MCP-capable assistant search, read, and write notes in the vault from anywhere. That covers questions about your notes and does nothing for a recorded meeting.
Which one handles a large collection better?
Valutorio, by measurement. A 2,000-file vault indexes cold in 1.07 seconds and searches in 1.8 to 6.6 ms, and a 300 MB file opens in under a second. Tana's numbers depend on its servers and its node count, and the free tier caps at roughly 20,000 nodes for a reason.
What does Valutorio give up compared with Tana?
Supertags, AI in the editor, real-time collaboration, a plugin ecosystem, a free tier, and every platform except macOS 14 and later. It is also a young app with no user reviews yet, which is a fact and not a posture. What you get instead is your notes as files on your own disk, indexed and searched faster than anything with a browser inside it.
Related comparisons
This comparison is published by the Valutorio team. Competitor details verified August 2026 from public sources; corrections welcome. All Valutorio comparisons · What Valutorio is