Color Notepad vs Simple Notes, Notepad & Lists
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Color Notepad
A clean and simple note-taking app that lets you personalize your experience with over 20 colorful themes. It offers a minimalist design for distraction-free writing, iCloud sync, and robust backup options.
- Minimalist design
- 20+ colorful themes
- Light & Dark Mode
- iCloud sync
- Sort notes
- Export notes
- Automatic local backups
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Color Notepad is a clean and simple note-taking app designed to match your personal style. Whether you’re jotting down quick thoughts, daily tasks, or important ideas, Color Notepad keeps things fast, easy, and customizable. Choose from 20+ colorful themes to match your mood — or let the app surprise you with a random one each time you open it. Key Feature: • Minimalist design for quick and distraction-free note-taking. • 20+ colorful themes to suit your mood. • Light & Dark Mode support for every theme. • iCloud sync to keep your notes up to date across devices. • Sort your notes by date or alphabetically. • Export individual notes or your entire archive for backup or sharing. • Automatic local backups with the ability to restore notes. Color Notepad is perfect for anyone looking for a lightweight, private, and beautifully customizable notes app — with no ads, no accounts, and no clutter.
Simple Notes, Notepad & Lists
Capture ideas, to-dos, and reminders instantly with this fast, lightweight notepad. Enjoy a simple, distraction-free interface that works entirely offline and keeps your data private on your device. Organize and edit notes with ease for a clean note-taking experience.
- Quick note-taking
- Distraction-free interface
- Offline functionality
- Private and secure
- Note organization
- Easy editing and deletion
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Kodeo Notes is a fast, private notepad for everyday notes, checklists and ideas. No ads, no account, no tracking. Your notes stay on your device. WRITE FAST • Open, type, done: a new note is one tap away • Turn lines into checklists and tick things off as you go • Grid or list view, sorted by last edited, date created or title • Search across all your notes • Word and character count for every note STAY ORGANIZED • Group notes in folders (3 free, unlimited with Pro) • Archive notes you want out of the way, restore from trash if you change your mind KEEP IT PRIVATE • No ads and no account required • Lock sensitive notes with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode (Pro) • Everything is stored locally on your device BACK UP AND RESTORE • Export a backup file of all your notes (Pro) • Restoring a backup is always free MADE TO FEEL RIGHT • Light, dark or system appearance • Available in 18 languages KODEO NOTES PRO Unlock unlimited folders, locked notes and backups with a free trial, a subscription or a one-time purchase, depending on what is offered in your region. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the period. Manage them in your App Store account settings. Privacy policy: https://kodeo.io/notes/privacy Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Simple Notes, Notepad & Lists at 100% against Color Notepad's 47%. Simple Notes, Notepad & Lists also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.5) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 5 months). Color Notepad's advantage is ratings volume (603 vs 28). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Color Notepad sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Simple Notes, Notepad & Lists sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Simple Notes, Notepad & Lists holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Color Notepad has 603 ratings behind it against 28, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 47% of Color Notepad's written reviews are positive against 100% of Simple Notes, Notepad & Lists's.
Color Notepad ships an update every 5 months, Simple Notes, Notepad & Lists every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Color Notepad | Simple Notes, Notepad & Lists |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (603 ratings) | 4.9 (28 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 46.5% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 603 — better | 28 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 29 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Dmytro Vynokurov | Kodeo Labs Ab |
Customer experience
Color Notepad
Simple Notes, Notepad & Lists
Bugs and requests
Color Notepad
Reported bugs
7 issues- Notes deleted unexpectedly after saving
- App crashes and fails to reopen
- Text disappears or becomes invisible
- Keyboard covers note content during editing
- Inconsistent save functionality (8 out of 10 times fails)
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- App unresponsive to input commands
- Notes lost after app closure
Requested features
6 requests- Password protection for notes
- Different colors for individual notes
- Checklist functionality with reset capability
- Note sharing capabilities
- Multiple font options
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- Apple Pencil support
Simple Notes, Notepad & Lists
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Color Notepad
- Unlimited Storage$4.99
Simple Notes, Notepad & Lists
- Notes Pro7 Days trial$9.991 Year
- Pro - Lifetime$4.99
Questions
Is Color Notepad free?
Is Simple Notes, Notepad & Lists free?
Which has better reviews, Color Notepad or Simple Notes, Notepad & Lists?
Do Color Notepad or Simple Notes, Notepad & Lists have ads?
Which is updated more often, Color Notepad or Simple Notes, Notepad & Lists?
Other comparisons
