Opal
Opal is a visual workspace where notes, documents, links and files sit on an infinite pan-and-zoom desk, so you find them by remembering where you put them rather than searching. Built for freelancers and small teams.
What is Opal?
Opal is a visual workspace built around a single idea: people remember where they put something far better than they remember what they called it. Instead of folders, tags or nested pages, Opal offers a pan-and-zoom canvas — a desk — on which every note, document, link, file, checklist or embedded Google Doc sits exactly where you dropped it. The publisher backs the thesis with published research on object-location memory, a McKinsey figure on time lost searching for information, and a Pega study counting more than 1,100 application switches per worker per day.
The model has four objects. A workspace is the endless grid itself, and you can keep several so client work, personal projects and a new venture never mix. An item is any draggable piece of content: a note, a document, a link, a file, an iframe. A fence is a resizable zone that groups items and moves them as one. A binder archives what should be out of the way but still close. Tasks sit outside all of it, on their own panel, and can be wikilinked to any item.
Writing happens in a block editor that works in WYSIWYG or markdown mode, with lists, tables, code blocks and embedded media; short notes and long documents share the same editor. Items link to one another through internal and published wikilinks, which is how the site suggests assembling SOPs and small knowledge bases. Google Docs and Sheets embed as live iframes and stay editable without leaving Opal. Several items open side by side in one tab, so an estimate, a checklist and a client's notes are all readable at once.
Sharing works per item or per binder, with view and edit toggles and real-time co-editing; any document or container can also be published as a read-only public page requiring no account. For builders, a REST API issues read-only or full-access keys so an AI agent can read and write content, and Opal publishes an agent skill for that purpose. A separate integration brings AI-transcribed voice notes from the CRUSH recording device straight into an Opal inbox.
Opal is published by Opal Recall LLC, a bootstrapped one-person Wyoming company operating from Bayfield, Colorado. The product is openly in beta: access runs through a wait-list, the roadmap is public with a status on every line, and the publisher names his own gaps.
What it does
- Drop notes, documents, links, files and embedded iframes anywhere on an infinite grid
- Open several items side by side in a single browser tab and drag blocks between them
- Group work into resizable fences and archive it into binders
- Connect items to each other with internal and published wikilinks
- Share an item or a binder with view or edit permissions and co-edit in real time
- Publish a document or a container as a read-only public page that needs no account
- Issue read-only or full-access API keys so an AI agent can reach your content
When to use Opal / When not to
A quick filter to help you decide if Opal is the right fit.
When to use Opal
- Solopreneurs and freelancers juggling five to twenty active clients or projects at once
- Small service businesses — contractors, insurance agents, consultants — tracking jobs, estimates and client notes
- Visual and neurodivergent thinkers who have already abandoned folder- and database-driven tools
- Writers and content people who want drafts, references and sources laid out side by side
- Solo operators building lightweight SOPs and internal knowledge bases they will actually reopen
When not to use Opal
- Organisations with compliance requirements: no GDPR framework, DPA, subprocessor list or certification is published
- Mobile-first users: iOS, Android, Windows and macOS apps are all still on the roadmap
- Teams that share widely: contacts cannot be saved, so each recipient's email is retyped every time
- Anyone who needs a bulk export or end-to-end encryption today — both are announced, neither is shipped
- Buyers who want a mature, generally available product rather than an openly beta, wait-list product
How to use Opal
A typical end-to-end flow, from setup to results.
- Join the wait-list or register at app.opalrecall.com — the free tier asks for no credit card
- Create your first workspace and give it a name, colour and icon; keep one desk or split work from personal
- Drop your first items on the grid: a note, a document, a link or a dragged-in file, with no folder to pick
- Move each item to where your memory expects it — every note, draft and reference for one project in one spot
- Draw fences around related items to create zones, and move a whole zone as a single block
- Write in the block editor, in WYSIWYG or markdown mode, and connect items with wikilinks
- Embed a live Google Doc or Sheet next to the work it belongs to and edit it in place
- Open several items at once, side by side in a single tab, then zoom out to see the whole desk
- Share an item or a binder with specific people, or publish it as a public read-only page for a client
- On the top plan, generate a read-only or full-access API key to connect an AI agent or another application
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Prices and quotas are published in full, tier by tier, with no contact form in the way
- A permanent free tier with no time limit and no credit card required
- Public roadmap with a status on each line, including limitations the publisher admits to
- Content ownership asserted in the terms, self-service cancellation and pro-rata refunds
- Individual items export to HTML, PDF and markdown, so content is not locked in
- The REST API and the agent skill are shipped, not merely announced
- The publisher is named, reachable, and publishes a postal address and a legal contact
Cons
- No GDPR framework, DPA, named subprocessor or certification anywhere on the site
- No hosting country or region disclosed, and no stated retention period
- A broad content licence in the terms, covering derivative works and surviving your departure
- The enterprise-grade backend is credited to unnamed banking-sector infrastructure, so the claim cannot be checked
- Bulk export, end-to-end encryption and native apps are all roadmap items, not features
- No contact management: a recipient's email must be retyped at every share
- Beta status, wait-list access, and pricing the site says may change
Pricing & Plans
Opal offers a permanent free plan, Free Mode, with no time limit and no credit card requirement. The lowest paid entry point advertised is USD 21.00 per seat per month on the annual commitment (Core Essentials), rising to USD 27.00 per seat per month when billed monthly. Prices are stated exclusive of tax and payable in advance.
- 1 workspace
- up to 15 items
- 100 MB of storage
- 5 MB maximum file size
- unlimited tasks
- individual item sharing
- 5 workspaces
- up to 1
- 000 items
- 5 GB of storage
- 25 MB maximum file size
- unlimited tasks
- item sharing
- container sharing (binders only) and container publishing
- 10 workspaces
- up to 5
- 000 items
- 25 GB of storage
- 50 MB maximum file size
- unlimited tasks
- item and container sharing
- container publishing and API access with read-only and full-access keys
Data, GDPR & hosting
A consolidated view of how Opal handles your data.
GDPR overview
Opal makes no mention of the GDPR anywhere on its site — not in the terms of service, the privacy policy, the acceptable-use policies or the DMCA policy. There is no stated legal basis for processing, no Article 27 EU representative, no data protection officer, no dedicated privacy contact address and no data processing agreement on offer. The privacy policy, effective 27 December 2024, does undertake to give users access to their personal information and to correct or remove it, while reserving the right to refuse requests that are unreasonably repetitive, disproportionate or impracticable. It also lists concrete controls: profile visibility settings, per-item sharing permissions, optional paid encryption of data in the database, marking items for deletion and blocking cookies. Governing law is declared to be the State of Wyoming, with disputes heard in La Plata County, Colorado.
Who owns the data?
Opal's terms state that you keep the title and the intellectual property rights in everything you upload. In exchange you grant Opal — and the third parties it uses to run the service — a worldwide licence to host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works from, publish, display and distribute that content. The stated purpose is limited to operating, promoting and improving the service and developing new ones, but the licence survives after you stop using Opal, in particular for content you leave in place or have shared with other users. Opal's own intellectual property, branding and trademarks stay entirely its own.
Reuse rights
Your own content remains yours to reuse: individual items export to HTML, PDF or markdown, and imported markdown, code and text files can be edited and exported again. Content belonging to someone else is treated differently — the terms forbid reusing anything placed or stored on the platform unless you obtain the owner's permission or the law allows it. Opal's branding, logos, trademarks and trade dress may not be used at all, and legal notices displayed with the service may not be removed, obscured or altered. Feedback and suggestions you send are used freely by Opal, with no obligation, compensation or further consideration to you.
Data retention & training
Hosting summary
Opal does not name a single hosting country or region. The privacy policy states that personal information is processed on various servers that may reside in several countries around the world, and that data may be processed on a server outside the country where the user lives. No data residency option is offered. The features page describes an enterprise-grade backend — a self-hosted database, data management layer and API platform said to be used by global banking organisations — but never names the vendor, so the claim cannot be checked. On security, the site states that authentication data is tokenised and hashed, that data is encrypted in transit, that the main service runs over SSL, that collection and storage practices are reviewed, and that access to personal information is restricted to those who need it. Encryption of data at rest in the database is presented as an optional paid service, and end-to-end encryption is a roadmap item, not a shipped feature. The domain resolves to a Cloudflare anycast address, which indicates the CDN rather than any storage location.
Things to keep in mind
Risks and trade-offs to weigh before adopting Opal.
- The GDPR is never mentioned on the site: no data processing agreement, no Article 27 EU representative, no privacy contact address
- No hosting country or region is disclosed — the privacy policy says only that servers may sit in several countries worldwide
- No retention period is stated; backup copies may survive a deletion, and the terms explicitly disclaim any warranty on retaining or deleting content
- The content licence in the terms is broad, covers derivative works, and continues after you stop using the service
- The enterprise-grade backend is attributed to unnamed infrastructure used by global banks: an assertion that cannot be verified from outside
- Database encryption is described as a paid add-on and end-to-end encryption is only a roadmap item, so do not assume either by default
- A spatial desk rewards visual memory but can also become visual clutter: with no folders to fall back on, discipline in placement is the user's responsibility
Setup & Integrations
Technical difficulty
Very low. Opal is a web application with nothing to install: register on the free tier without a credit card and start dropping items on the grid. The site claims four steps and no onboarding wizard, and a customer quoted on the homepage reports no learning curve. Placement is drag-and-drop, with a command bar and keyboard shortcuts for faster work. The only technical step is generating API keys to connect an AI agent or another application, which is limited to the top plan. Access currently runs through a wait-list rather than open registration.
Deployment
Integrations
Supported languages
Behind Opal
Fundraising
Social
Resources
All the official URLs gathered for verification and reference.
Alternatives
Tools that compete with or complement Opal.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to move my whole business into Opal on day one?
How much does Opal cost?
Is there a mobile app?
Can I share work with a client?
What happens to my data if I cancel?
Does Opal have an API?
Is Opal GDPR compliant?
Is my content used to train AI models?
Where is my data hosted?
How do I get support?
Should you pick Opal?
Opal is a real, working product rather than a promise: the pricing page lists three tiers with hard quotas, the features page separates what has shipped from what is queued, twelve help articles are indexed, and the page describing its AI agent skill is itself a document published through the product's own publish-to-web feature. Its bet is narrow and clearly stated — that a pan-and-zoom desk you navigate by memory beats folders, tags and search for people running a handful of client projects at once. For freelancers, solo operators and small service businesses who have abandoned heavier tools, that bet is worth testing, and the permanent free tier makes testing it cost nothing.
The reservations are equally clear, and most of them concern documentation rather than the software. Nothing on the site addresses the GDPR, no data processing agreement or subprocessor list exists, no hosting country is named, and no retention period is stated. The terms grant a broad licence over uploaded content — including derivative works — that outlives the account, while disclaiming any warranty on retaining or deleting that content. The enterprise-grade backend is credited to unnamed infrastructure used by global banks, which cannot be verified from outside. Bulk export and end-to-end encryption are on the roadmap, not in the product.
Add the structural facts: an openly declared beta, wait-list access, prices the publisher says may change, and a bootstrapped one-person company whose continuity rests on one individual. None of that disqualifies Opal — the transparency about the gaps is itself unusual — but it does define who should adopt it now. Individuals and very small teams with no compliance obligations can try it today at no cost; organisations that must answer to a data protection officer should wait for the paperwork to catch up with the product.
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