Stop forgetting what you watch and read.
Import Obsidian notes, Markdown, PDFs, articles, EPUBs, video, audio, streams, and Anki decks. Extract the parts worth keeping while you read, watch, or listen, then EtchMind brings them back before you'd forget. Local-first. Normal reading and studying work offline. Your installed app remains usable if an annual plan ends.
30 days, every current feature unlocked. No account, no card, no app telemetry.
52-second demo: import an article, extract key ideas, turn them into flashcards, and review.
How it works
A modern desktop app for incremental reading and spaced repetition.
Import anything
Obsidian notes, Markdown, PDFs, EPUBs, web articles, videos, audio, streams, images, and Anki decks. Everything lands in one prioritized queue.
Extract as you go
Highlight a passage, mark a video/audio range, or set a reading endpoint the moment it matters. Read in pieces, across days — the queue remembers exactly where you left off.
Review just in time
Extracts become flashcards scheduled by FSRS, the modern spaced-repetition algorithm. A few minutes a day go a long way toward keeping material fresh.
Your video library is study material now.
Most learning tools stop at text. In EtchMind, open a lecture, course video, stream, podcast, or audiobook, mark the useful range, and that moment becomes an extract in your learning queue — reviewable, prioritizable, editable, and one click from replaying the exact clip. Watching and listening stop being passive.
A precision tool, not another app to feed
Priority queue
You'll always have more material than time. Rank everything; EtchMind serves the most important material first and gracefully postpones the rest.
FSRS scheduling
A leading open spaced-repetition algorithm, with an optimizer that tunes its scheduling to your own review history.
Obsidian vault sync
Connect watched vaults, sync tagged or all notes, parse supported flashcard syntax, keep folder structure, and reopen the original note when you need context.
Source-linked memory
Cards and extracts can point back to a PDF page, selected passage, image region, video timestamp, audio range, or Obsidian note.
Local-first, yours
Your collection is a SQLite file and a media folder on your disk. One-click zip backups, full export, no account, no cloud, no app telemetry.
Offline-friendly
Normal reading and studying work without internet. Purchase, activation, update checks, and web/video imports use the network when needed.
Keyboard-driven
Reveal, grade, extract, prioritize — all single keystrokes. A review takes seconds; friction is the enemy of consistency.
Built for growing collections
EtchMind uses indexed storage, pagination, and virtualized lists so it loads the work you need instead of your whole library. It is built to stay responsive as your material grows.
Why I built this
I'm autistic and have ADHD, and my working memory tests in the bottom 3 percent. I could hyperfocus on something for hours and lose nearly all of it by the time it mattered. Notes piled up unread. Re-reading felt like starting over, every time.
Spaced repetition was the first thing that ever made knowledge stay — but the tools around it assumed a tidy brain: rigid daily quotas, walls of settings, a guilt trip for every missed day. So I built the tool I actually needed: capture things in the moment they have my attention, let the queue do the remembering so I don't have to, and never get punished for a bad week — life already hands me plenty of those.
If your brain works anything like mine, this was built for you.
— Trent, maker of EtchMind
Pricing Limited supporter offer
Most users should choose Annual: US$49/year for updates while subscribed. Choose Lifetime Supporter if you want no recurring billing and want to back EtchMind early: US$199 once at list price. Start with the 30-day trial if you are unsure.
best for most users
- Lowest upfront price; use on up to 3 of your computers
- Desktop app updates while subscribed
- Your US$49/year rate stays locked while your subscription remains active
- Cancel anytime; future charges stop and installed versions remain usable
back EtchMind early and avoid recurring billing
SUPPORTER25: 25% off — US$149.25 through 1 October 2026. This final 25%-off offer will not be repeated. Confirm it at checkout.
- One payment, no recurring billing
- All future EtchMind desktop app updates we release
- Helps fund continued development
- Use on up to 3 of your computers
Prices are in USD and exclude applicable taxes until checkout. Lemon Squeezy calculates and collects local tax. The Annual plan renews automatically every 12 months at your current subscription rate unless cancelled before renewal; a reminder email is sent before each renewal. Cancel from your receipt or customer portal to stop future charges. 14-day money-back guarantee on every purchase. Plans cover the EtchMind desktop app. Optional hosted services with ongoing server or API costs, such as future cloud storage, hosted sync, hosted AI, or collaboration, may be sold separately if they ship.
Questions
Is EtchMind stable?
EtchMind is early launch software: the core study workflow is ready for daily use, updates are tested before release, and the app is actively improving. Bugs can still happen in any desktop app, so please keep backups of important collections. Backup and export tools are built in. The honest, dated list lives at known issues.
Is this a subscription?
The Annual plan is a yearly subscription for updates. It renews yearly (you get a reminder email first, and you can cancel from your receipt or customer portal), but unlike many subscriptions the installed app remains usable after cancellation on activated machines, offline, with all your data. Updates are the thing that stop. Prefer zero recurring billing? That's the Lifetime Supporter license — one payment, done.
What happens if I cancel the Annual plan?
Nothing dramatic. The installed app remains usable on the machines you activated, and normal reading and studying continue offline with all your data. You stop receiving new updates. Resubscribe later and updates pick right back up.
What does "Lifetime Supporter" mean, exactly?
One payment includes all future EtchMind desktop app updates we release. Because EtchMind is local-first with no server dependency for study data, installed versions should remain usable on compatible machines even if development someday ended. Lifetime Supporter covers the desktop app, not optional future hosted services with ongoing server or API costs unless they are explicitly included.
Are future cloud sync or AI services included?
The current EtchMind desktop app is local-first and does not require cloud storage or hosted AI. If optional hosted services with ongoing costs ship later — for example cloud storage, hosted sync, hosted AI/API usage, or collaboration — they may be priced separately.
Where does my data live?
On your disk: a SQLite database plus a media folder. EtchMind has one-click zip backups (with optional mirroring to a folder you choose, like a synced drive) and full export. There is no account and no cloud, so your collection remains accessible outside EtchMind's servers.
How many computers can I use it on?
Each license activates on up to 3 of your machines. Moving to a new PC? One click deactivates the old machine and frees the seat.
What is incremental reading?
A method invented by Dr Piotr Woźniak, the memory researcher behind SuperMemo: instead of finishing one thing at a time, you read (and now watch) many things in interleaved pieces, extracting the valuable parts as you go. The extracts become spaced-repetition material. It sounds chaotic; in practice it's designed so you don't lose your place, the insight resurfaces, and what you invested hours consuming keeps coming back to you before you'd otherwise forget it.
EtchMind is an independent project and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by SuperMemo World or Dr Woźniak. SuperMemo is a trademark of its respective owner.
What platforms does it run on?
64-bit Windows 10 and 11 today. No Mac or Linux release has been announced.
Join the community
EtchMind is built by one person, in the open. Bring your questions, feature ideas and workflows to the Discord — it's where updates land first and where you help shape what comes next.
Try it free for 30 days
Every current feature unlocked. No account, no card. If you buy, your trial data carries straight over.
Windows 10/11 · Free 30 days · No account or card · Signed installer