Semaphor vs MrOwl
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Semaphor
This app offers secure team communication and collaboration with end-to-end encryption and private blockchain technology. It provides features like direct messaging, file sharing, and project-specific channels for real-time teamwork.
- End-to-end encryption
- Secure file sharing
- Private direct messaging
- Unlimited project channels
- Real-time collaboration
- Native offline mode
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Semaphor combines the best features of collaboration apps and encrypted messaging apps. Your team can work together through team messages, direct messages, and file sharing. Semaphor is secured by the power of private blockchain and end-to-end encryption. Semaphor brings you and your team: › End-to-end encryption to protect every file and conversation › Fast file uploads › Secure file sharing › Private direct messaging › Unlimited, project-specific channels › Real-time communication and collaboration › Password-less account creation › Native offline mode › Mobile and desktop friendly › Enterprise and LDAP ready › Supports bots and integrations › HIPAA/FINRA/FIRPA compliant › Reviewable source code To find out more about Semaphor, visit our website or send us an email. We always welcome your feedback and suggestions. ----- Subscriptions: - Basic: Free 30-day conversation history - Standard: Unlimited conversation history and access to Standard channels. $8.99/month - Pro: Unlimited conversation history and access to Pro channels. Team admin pays for all team members. $8.99/user/month - Payments will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. - Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. - Your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal. - Subscriptions may be managed by you and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the your Account Settings after purchase. ----- By installing this app you agree to SpiderOak's: Privacy Policy, https://spideroak.com/policy/privacy-policy Term of Use, https://spideroak.com/policy/terms-of-use Service Agreement, https://spideroak.com/policy/service-agreement
MrOwl
This platform combines cloud storage, search, and social networking to help you save, find, and share content. Organize information into searchable "branches" and collaborate with others privately or publicly. Offers secure document sharing and private web browsing.
- Unlimited free cloud storage for shared content
- Simultaneous search of cloud, computer, and internet
- Organize content into searchable "branches"
- Collaborate on branches with multiple editors
- Secure, encrypted document storage
- Private and anonymous web browsing
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MrOwl is a Social Cloud Storage™ platform that brings together the best of search, social, and the cloud all in one app. SAVE IT Free unlimited cloud storage for content you share with the world.* FIND IT Simultaneously search your cloud, computer files and the internet together, because they all belong in one search box. SHARE IT Connect and collaborate with a community and discover what others have shared. YOU WILL LOVE MROWL 1. MrOwl is unlike anywhere else on the internet! Social Cloud Storage ™ is a new app category that allows users to store their content and either keep it private or share it for the benefit of all users. Any information users choose to make public can get found online without having to build a website. Come find what others users have shared on MrOwl. It’s never been easier to connect and collaborate with endless communities and discover what others have shared. 2. Internet topic playlists. MrOwl users curate topic playlists, called “branches”, that can be organized with subtopics, links, documents and media. They can upload gigabytes of data with a few clicks and have it automatically organized into a MrOwl “branch” that is shareable and searchable. Now you can save it once, and search it infinitely. 3. Simultaneous search. Today, half of the world’s digital information is not accessible by search because it lives in fragments on personal computers, work computers and various cloud storage platforms. MrOwl’s Social Cloud Storage™ helps solve this problem. By allowing users to store and share items residing on platforms not accessible by traditional search engines—i.e., computers and other users’ cloud storage platforms —Social Cloud Search makes previously unsearchable information searchable. Simultaneously search the cloud, your computer, and the internet all together, because they all belong in one search box. 4. Easy collaboration. Collaborate with others and build “branches” together to share knowledge and resources. And you can even choose to add multiple editors to your collaborative “branch” and decide if you want to keep it private or make it public. It’s completely up to you. 5. Secure document sharing. All documents added to MrOwl “branches” are encrypted (both in the transfer and while stored on our servers). You can have the confidence to store your documents on MrOwl. 6. Private web browsing. Anonymously search the web through the MrOwl browser in the app. The websites you visit will only record that a MrOwl user visited their website, without storing your web browsing history. We value your privacy as much as you do. SUBSCRIPTION TERMS & PRICING MrOwl is free to use. For free MrOwl users receive free unlimited storage for content that is shared to the world* and up to 10GB private storage. MrOwl offers a free trial to try one of our two paid monthly subscription for more storage, increased user privacy and an ad-free environment: 1) MrOwl Premium or 2) MrOwl Premium Plus . Purchasing one of our auto-renewing paid services is completely optional. Payments will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. By using the MrOwl app you agree to be bound by our Terms of Use (https://www.mrowl.com/terms.jsp) and our Privacy Policy (https://www.mrowl.com/privacyPolicy.jsp). ------------------------- * Free unlimited files stored in public branches up to 20MB per file. Plus, 10GB of free private storage. Files over 20MB will count towards private storage. See Terms of Use (https://www.mrowl.com/terms.jsp) for more information.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: MrOwl at 89% against Semaphor's 15%. MrOwl also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.5). Semaphor's advantage is iOS requirement (10.0 vs 15.6). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Semaphor sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $8.99 per month and MrOwl sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
MrOwl holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 15 and 27 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 15% of Semaphor's written reviews are positive against 89% of MrOwl's.
Semaphor ships an update every 3 weeks, MrOwl every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Semaphor | MrOwl |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.5 (15 ratings) | 4.7 (27 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 15.4% of reviews | 88.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 15 | 27 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 6 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 10.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 19 MB | 52 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | SpiderOak, Inc. | MrOwl.com |
Customer experience
Semaphor
MrOwl
In-app purchases
Semaphor
- Personal Plan Monthly$8.991 Month
MrOwl
- MrOwl Premium1 Month trial$9.991 Month
- MrOwl Premium Plus1 Month trial$19.991 Month









