We’re making TheBrain free on desktop.

June 23, 2026

From the beginning, I’ve always wanted people to experience their computers as more than just a glorified filing cabinet. Even though a lot has changed since then, the way most people organize their information is still stuck in paper-era metaphors: folders, files, and rigid hierarchies. TheBrain’s purpose is to break free from those limits by blurring the line between thinking and organizing, with an associative approach that mirrors the way you actually think. It’s magical to capture the connections between thoughts in your head and turn them into an external reality you can see, share, update, and rediscover.

With the advent of artificial intelligence, it’s now possible to connect your own network of thoughts with machine intelligence, so TheBrain can not only store your ideas, but also help you discover patterns, surface connections, and think in new ways. Combined with everything we’ve accomplished in this latest version, which dramatically advances TheBrain’s user interface, reliability, and cross-platform flexibility, we’re finally on the verge of realizing the full potential of the “networked user interface” I imagined when I started working on this.

But one thing has been holding us back more than anything else: the upfront cost of getting started.

We want TheBrain to be used by everybody. It’s a completely different way of working, so there are cultural hurdles to adopting it. We believe that all kinds of people will love using TheBrain, but asking them to invest the time to learn a radically new way of working and commit their money up front is a big barrier. By making TheBrain free, we remove that barrier.

TheBrain itself is now free to use on your desktop, so more people can build and explore their Brains without hesitation. Our first priority is getting TheBrain into as many hands as possible. When more people build their second brain with us, everyone wins, and revenue from Pro services is what allows us to keep investing and making TheBrain better for you. It’s a virtuous circle.

As a user of TheBrain, you are a pioneer in the field of networked knowledge organization, and we’re deeply grateful for your loyalty and support. We’re growing the ecosystem so we can support you better, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds.

To learn more about TheBrain 15, our biggest update ever, see the TheBrain 15 overview. To learn more about the new pricing plans, see our pricing.