Why I stopped renting my own library
June 7, 2026
Over the years I have tried a lot of tools for keeping images, screenshots, and references I collect organised and easy to retrieve. Some I found were great, the app and UX were rarely the problem, the monthly bill was.
Every year the price crept up. Each app started OK, then they added a tier, then quietly moved the feature I actually used into the tier above. Before long I was paying a monthly fee to look at files I had saved myself, and I couldn't stop. My whole collection lived inside someone else's app. Cancel, and I'd lose the tags, the order, years of saving. So I kept paying...
Eventually I got annoyed enough to build the thing I actually wanted.
Markie keeps your stuff as plain files in a folder you choose. Not on a server someone else controls. Not an account you log into. Files on your local computer. The images are images, the PDFs are PDFs, and the tags and notes sit right next to them. Open the folder in Finder right now and everything is sitting there. Back it up like you back up anything else.
That one decision puts you as the user of Markie in charge instead of me. Yes there is an export button if you want to move the library, but that is for your convenience. You can also just copy the folder and move on. Want your library on your laptop and your desktop? Point the folder at iCloud Drive, Dropbox, or Google Drive. Your sync, your account, not mine. If you ever decide to leave, you don't have to ask for your stuff back. You already have it.
It also means I can't quietly raise the price and count on you being stuck, because there's nothing to be stuck to. The files sit on your disk and keep working whether or not my company is still around in five years. I'm not against paying for software. I'm against paying rent on my own things. Markie is a one-time purchase, not a subscription, and what you save stays readable without it.
The goal was never to build one more place to dump your inspiration. It was to give you a place that stays yours. Save it, find it later, keep it.