Acres is our first recommendation when a whiteboard needs to become a lasting note system. Write cards, link them, reuse them on other boards and let an agent help you organize the material. The cards are Markdown files in a folder you choose, and the app runs on Mac and Windows.
Freeform is a good reason to be precise about that recommendation. Its core app is free. Drawing on an iPad and sharing a live board with other Apple users are jobs it does well, and Acres does not replace them. Paying for Acres makes sense when the notes and their relationships are the main asset.
Acres Plus is also available for $9/month, including app access, Sync, and Publish with no upfront purchase. The $59 lifetime option covers local use.
What changes when a card is a file?
A Freeform board is managed by the app. Apple’s export guide explains how to save it as a PDF or image, and Send a Copy lets another Freeform user receive an editable board. Those are real ways to preserve or share the work. Markdown export is not documented there.
Acres starts with working files. A note in cards/research-notes.md can be read in another editor or inspected by an agent. Its placements and connections live in a JSON board. The same card can appear on several boards while its text stays in one place.
The links and board format still have Acres-specific details. Another Markdown editor can read the content without understanding every acres:// reference. The advantage is direct access to the prose and data, not a promise that every app can reproduce an Acres board.
Freeform’s organization has improved
It would be unfair to describe Freeform as an unsearchable sketchpad. Apple’s current guide documents typed and handwritten text search, find-and-replace inside a board and Spotlight results. It also supports folders and subfolders.
Acres serves a different kind of organization. Cards have tags and properties, linked references connect notes, and the Database view lets you filter and sort the collection. Full-text command-palette search arrived in Acres 0.3.0. A note is useful on the board and outside its original arrangement.
For research you revisit over months, that card-level structure is why we’d choose Acres. For a diagram or a handwritten plan, Freeform’s organization may be plenty.
AI images and AI note work are different needs
Apple Creator Studio brings premium image creation and editing to Freeform, including image enhancement tools. Freeform has AI features; calling it an app with no AI would be outdated.
Acres focuses its assistant on the note workspace. Use your provider key or a supported local model through Ollama or LM Studio. The assistant can read notes, draft cards and help organize a board. Rewrites and larger layout changes are presented for review; some new-object actions apply immediately.
Bundled MCP also connects external agents such as Claude Code, Cursor and Codex. They can search cards, create connections and work on your boards, with supported changes visible in activity history. No first-party Freeform MCP connection was documented in the Apple guides reviewed for this page. That is narrower than saying no software can ever access or interpret a board.
The local MCP notes guide shows the workflow. If you’re choosing mainly for AI-assisted structure, also read AI mind mapping.
When we’d keep Freeform
An iPad sketch made with Apple Pencil should stay in the tool that suits it. So should a workshop where several people need to edit together. Apple documents live collaboration, participant cursors and follow-along navigation, and its device ecosystem makes that convenient.
Acres has no mobile app or real-time collaborative editing. It’s newer and less mature, and it costs $59 once at the early-adopter price. We recommend it for desktop notes you want to keep working with, not as a lower-cost substitute for a free app.
You can use both. Freeform can remain the sketching tool, with Acres holding the notes, sources and project decisions that need links and search. Our infinite canvas guide compares this split with other options.
Moving a board into Acres
There is no dedicated Freeform importer. Save a PDF of a board you want to preserve and place it on an Acres canvas as a reference. Rebuild the active notes as cards and reconnect the ideas that still matter.
The PDF won’t turn into editable cards, and Send a Copy stays within Freeform’s workflow. Keep the original board until you’ve checked what needs to survive. Use the 14-day Acres trial on one project and judge whether the note system adds enough value to justify the switch.