MindWiki vs Roam Research.
Honest, side-by-side comparison so you can pick the right tool — and so we can point out where Roam Research is still the better fit.
The short version
Roam Research is a daily-notes outliner built around bullets, blocks, and block references inside a hosted graph database. MindWiki is a pages-and-markdown vault on macOS and web, with a knowledge graph built from wikilinks and an MCP/API surface for AI clients. If you think and write in bullets and block references, Roam fits your hands. If you write in paragraphs, want plain markdown on disk, and want AI clients to plug in without a plugin, MindWiki is closer.
Best for
MindWiki is best for: writers and builders who think in pages and paragraphs and want AI clients reading their vault.
Roam Research is best for: outliner-native thinkers who live in daily notes and lean on block references and queries.
Where MindWiki is different from Roam Research
- Pages, not bullets. The atomic unit is a markdown file, not a block.
- Plain markdown files on disk; no hosted graph database.
- Native macOS app + web app from the same vault.
- Single MCP endpoint for Claude/ChatGPT/Codex via OAuth.
- Free tier covers core editing; Pro adds MCP, API, and scheduled automation.
Feature comparison
| Feature | MindWiki | Roam Research |
|---|---|---|
| Atomic unit | Pages (markdown files) | Blocks (outliner bullets) |
| Storage | Plain markdown files on disk + managed cloud | Hosted graph database |
| Local-first | Yes (macOS app) | No (cloud-hosted) |
| Daily notes | Optional, user-controlled | First-class |
| Block references | Not native | First-class |
| Queries | Search + frontmatter filters | Roam query language |
| Knowledge graph view | Yes (wikilink graph) | Yes |
| AI access | MCP + REST API, OAuth for Claude/ChatGPT/Codex | Roam AI inside the app |
| Pricing | Free + Pro | Paid Believer/Pro plans |
| Data portability | Markdown export anytime | Markdown / JSON / EDN export |
Migration reality
Roam exports as JSON or Markdown. The Markdown export is the easier path into MindWiki:
- Export your Roam graph as Markdown (Settings → Export All).
- The flat folder of
.mdfiles drops into your MindWiki vault directly. Wikilinks survive. - Daily notes pages keep their date-named filenames. You may want to reorganize them under a
daily/folder. - Block references
((blockid))become inline markers — they do not resolve cleanly without a Roam-style block store. Expect to either flatten them or accept the plain text fallback.
When Roam Research wins
- Your workflow is fundamentally outline-based with deep block references.
- You rely on Roam's query syntax for live filtered views inside pages.
- You want a hosted-graph product and don't want files on disk.
- You're invested in a Roam-style daily-notes habit you don't want to translate.
Frequently asked questions
Does MindWiki have block references?
Not as a first-class feature. The unit of reference is the page, not the block.
Does MindWiki do daily notes?
You can run a daily-notes pattern by creating dated pages under a daily/folder, but it's a convention, not a built-in mode. The macOS app's properties + table views give you a similar journal-style flow.
Can my AI read my notes the way it would in Roam?
MindWiki exposes a single MCP endpoint Claude/ChatGPT/Codex can connect to. The AI reads pages, searches, asks questions against your vault, and writes captures through approved tools.