Ikiru vs Purelist
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Ikiru
Organize your life with this versatile app for creating lists, taking notes, and setting reminders. It helps you focus on what's important with a beautiful, user-friendly design and powerful features like nested lists and due dates.
- Create nested lists
- Set due dates and reminders
- Add photos to list items
- Sort list items dynamically
- Sync data via iCloud
- Protect data with Touch ID/passcode
- View items on Apple Watch
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Ikiru is a simple but powerful app for making lists, keeping notes and setting reminders. It aims to help you live a productive and meaningful life, by enabling you to focus on the things that are most important to you. IKIRU IS VERSATILE Use it to create to do lists, shopping lists, take notes, store contact information, keep track of books to read, or movies to watch... or anything else you'd want to make a list for. IKIRU IS BEAUTIFUL With a clean and easy to use design, choose from over 2000 icons to assign to your lists. IKIRU IS POWERFUL - create lists within lists - assign a due date and reminder to list items - view all items with a due date in one convenient timeline - add a photo to list items - drag and drop to sort list items, or automatically keep a list sorted alphabetically, by modification date, completion date, and more - easily copy or move items from one list to another - mark items incomplete to return them to their original position in the list (this makes lists easy to reuse) - send a list via email, and the receiver can import your list into their copy of Ikiru - view items with due dates on your Apple Watch IKIRU KEEPS YOUR DATA SAFE - automatically back up and sync lists between iOS devices using iCloud - use Touch ID or a custom passcode to protect your information IKIRU HAS PURPOSE The word "ikiru" (ee-kee-roo) means "to live" in Japanese. It's also the title of an Akira Kurosawa film about a man who decides to do something meaningful with his life. Ikiru (the app) is my attempt at doing something meaningful with my life, and hopefully help others live meaningful and productive lives. IKIRU HAS HISTORY In 2010 I released a list-making app called "Paperless". From busy moms to airplane pilots to people who needed a little help remembering things after suffering a brain injury, Paperless has been used by hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. Ikiru is built upon that legacy - incorporating the best ideas from Paperless, greatly improving upon them, and adding big features that people have requested. IKIRU NEEDS LOVE If you find Ikiru useful, please rate and review it in the App Store. Thank you!
Purelist
This app helps organize thoughts and manage tasks with a minimalist approach. It focuses on core functionality for productivity, offering features like sorting, widgets, and indentation. An optional Pro version unlocks advanced features like reminders and iCloud sync.
- Free item sorting
- Home screen widget
- Mark important items
- Indentation for outlines
- Search by item
- Swipe to complete/delete
- Add item descriptions
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Purelist is a thought organizer for those who are serious about their work or studies. Purelist prioritizes your focus on what's important, not adding extra features or decorations to get your attention. If you are looking for a motivational tool, Purelist may not be for you. However, if you need something simple to help you achieve your goals, it may be perfect for you. Purelist can be used for daily planning, task management, and note taking. It's helpful for habit checklists, lecture notes, and shopping lists. Its clean interface won't steal your time. There are no ads, and it doesn't collect your data. Purelist has no checkboxes in the list and is completed by swiping, so it can be used for both task management and idea capture. The star icon indicates the urgency of tasks or the importance of ideas. Purelist is designed to do more with less, so you don't get confused and lose the features you need. Use Purelist to increase your productivity! Key Features: • Sort tasks and items freely. • Show your list on your home screen at any time with the widget. • Mark important items to mark them more prominently. • Use indentation for easier writing and reading outlines. • No need to title your lists and tasks. • Easily search by item. • Smooth completion and deletion as you work with each item. • Add descriptions to items to manage items in detail. For Pro: • Sync lists between your iPhone, iPad, and Mac via iCloud. • Set reminders for tasks and items. • View and manage reminders by date. • Quickly set reminders using date presets. • Send system notifications at set times. • Can repeat reminders on a daily, weekly, monthly, or annually schedule. • The list can be divided into groups to organize the list in more detail. • Subgroups can be added to a group.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Purelist at Free against Ikiru's $4.99. Purelist also leads on rating (4.6 vs 3.9) and review sentiment (75% vs 54%). Ikiru's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 6) and iOS requirement (11.1 vs 16.0). On ratings volume, update cadence, ads and device support 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
Purelist is free to download; Ikiru costs $4.99 up front. Purelist sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $0.49 per month. Ikiru asks for nothing beyond the download.
Purelist holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 101 and 41 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 54% of Ikiru's written reviews are positive against 75% of Purelist's.
Ikiru ships an update every 3 weeks, Purelist fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on August 30, 2026 and June 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Ikiru | Purelist |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.9 (101 ratings) | 4.6 (41 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 54.2% of reviews | 75.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 101 — better | 41 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 11.1 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 62 MB | 28 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | James Rhoades | Shintaro Miyake |
Customer experience
Ikiru
Purelist
Bugs and requests
Ikiru
Reported bugs
4 issues- Reminders not working properly
- Syncing issues causing data loss
- Crashes after iOS updates
- Inability to disable Face ID lock
Requested features
5 requests- Add more formatting options (bold, italic, etc.)
- Improve search to allow searching within sublists
- Provide more customization options for themes and icons
- Add location-based reminders
- Implement better backup and restore functionality
Purelist
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Ikiru
No in-app purchases
Purelist
- Purelist Pro for Students14 Days trial$0.491 Month
- Purelist Pro14 Days trial$0.991 Month
- Purelist Pro for Students14 Days trial$4.991 Year
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- Purelist Pro14 Days trial$9.991 Year
- Purelist Pro for Students$24.99
- Purelist Pro$49.99









