Both are block outliners: everything is a bullet, bullets nest, daily notes are the front door, and ((block references)) wire thoughts together. If Logseq's model fits your head, Thoute will feel familiar within minutes. This page lays out where the two differ, fairly, so you can decide whether the move makes sense. When you are ready, the Leaving Logseq guide covers the one-pass import.
Where Logseq is a better fit
Honesty first:
- Free and open source. Logseq's app is free, the code is open, and your graph is a folder of Markdown files you can read with anything. Thoute is a hosted product with a free tier and paid plans, and while every export format is open (Markdown, OPML, JSON, plus a lossless full-vault export), the app itself is not open source.
- Fully local operation. A Logseq file graph works with no account and no server. Thoute syncs through a server by design (that is what makes multi-device and the web app work), though the server only ever stores ciphertext.
- Plugins. Logseq has a large community plugin ecosystem. Thoute's extension surface is its API and MCP server, which is a different shape: fewer buttons inside the app, more power for scripts and AI agents outside it.
- Self-hosting. Not offered for Thoute today.
Where Thoute is different
- Encryption covers everything, everywhere. Logseq Sync (the paid add-on) encrypts your files end to end in transit and in cloud storage, which is genuinely good. Thoute's zero-knowledge model goes further because the whole product is built on it: every block, every attachment, search metadata, and even AI-generated summaries are encrypted with keys only you hold, across web, Mac, and iOS. There is no unencrypted mode. See Privacy for the details.
- AI that works without reading your vault. This is the pairing that does not exist elsewhere: real end-to-end encryption plus AI features. Semantic search runs on-device by default, so it works with zero data leaving your machine. The Ask features are strictly opt-in per vault, send only the minimum context per question through a proxy, and store their outputs encrypted. Logseq has no built-in AI over your notes.
- Tasks are native. Statuses, priorities, scheduled dates and times, due dates, recurrence, and a Tasks view that spans the vault. In Logseq much of this lives in keywords plus queries you assemble yourself.
- One surface, many lenses. Thoute retired pages as an organizing concept: there is the Journal (days) and the Library (a single outline), and everything else (Tasks, Tags, Files, Timeline, Recall, search) is a lens over the same blocks. No filing decisions, no orphan pages. See Library.
- Sync and the web app are the product, not an add-on. Real-time multi-device sync, a full web app, and native Mac and iOS apps are included. There is no separate sync subscription and no graph-format split: the same encrypted blocks serve every client.
- Agent access is first-party. A published MCP server (
npx @thoute/mcp) with read and write tools, plus scoped API keys, lets Claude or any MCP-capable agent work with your vault, and the decryption happens on your machine, never on our server. See API and integrations.
- Long-form when you want it. Prose lives in Markdown documents with a real writing editor, while the outline stays bullet-first. No fighting an outliner to write an essay.
The migration itself
Thoute imports a whole Logseq graph in one pass: journals to days, pages to the Library, links and block references kept live, TODO states to real tasks, tags carried over, attachments uploaded encrypted. Works with file graphs directly, and with the 2.0 database version via Logseq's own Markdown export. The Leaving Logseq guide has the walkthrough and an honest list of what does not carry over.
Your Logseq folder is never modified, and Thoute's export story means you are never locked in on the other side either: Markdown, OPML, JSON per subtree, and a lossless whole-vault archive, any time.
Try it
Request an invite at app.thoute.com, or start with the Getting started guide.