Notes and Folders vs Shortnotes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Notes and Folders
Organize your thoughts and memories with this app. Create folders for notes, attach photos, and even keep a dated diary. Secure your entries with password protection and access them easily with widgets and search functionality.
- Organize notes with folders and subfolders
- Attach photos to notes
- Dated diary entries
- Password lock (Passcode, Touch ID, Face ID)
- Widgets for quick access
- Search notes
- Backup to Dropbox, PC, or Mac
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Over 240,000 downloads worldwide! Notes and Folders is a simple notepad that lets you organize notes and photos with folders. You can also lock your notes with a passcode. FOLDERS - Organize your notes with folders - Create folders inside folders NOTES - Attach multiple photos to a note - Character count - Auto-save while editing - Editing buttons: copy & paste, undo, select, and arrow keys - Built-in web browser to add text and screenshots of web pages to your notes DIARY - Write a diary entry for any date - Read a whole month of entries at once OTHERS - Widget - Passcode lock (Face ID and Touch ID supported) - Search notes - Share notes to other apps - Save text and images from other apps (Share Extension) - Theme colors - Adjustable text size - iPad support - Backup with Dropbox - Backup with a computer URL SCHEME notesandfolders:// BACKUP You can back up your notes with Dropbox, or with a computer (Finder on Mac, or the Apple Devices app or iTunes on Windows). For details, see FAQ > "About Backup" in the app's settings. ADS This app shows banner ads, and a full-screen ad only once a day (every 24 hours). Ads are not shown after purchasing ad removal.
Shortnotes
Capture and organize small pieces of information like codes, names, or license plates. Access your quick references across all your Apple devices, with options to add tags, photos, and even import notes from your desktop.
- Simple note adding and deleting
- Attach images to notes
- Speech input for notes
- Organize notes in folders
- Filter notes by tags
- iCloud synchronization
- Today Widget and Apple Watch support
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Shortnotes is perfect for all the little stuff that is not a "real" note. Your colleague's name, license plate, codes, room numbers, medicine names etc. Just put them down in one place and access them on your iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. Organize your notes in folders, attach tags and photos. View your favorite notes in the Today Widget. For pupils and students: now it's possible to prepare also large notes on your desktop computer and import them later in Shortnotes! Good luck ;-) Features: - Simple adding and deleting notes - Attaching images to the notes - Text formatting options - Create notes using speech input - Export as text file (.rtf) - Organize your short notes in folders - Changing the sort order of the notes - Favorites view - Filter notes by tags - Favorite notes are displayed in the App Widget (Today Extension) - iCloud-synchronisation. All of your notes are automatically synchronised between your devices like iPhone, iPad or Mac using iCLoud. Shortnotes Pro: - Import of the text files (.txt .rtf) - Favorite notes are displayed on your Apple Watch - Your purchase will help support the ongoing development of Shortnotes!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Shortnotes at none against Notes and Folders's shown. Shortnotes also leads on device support (4 vs 2). Notes and Folders's advantage is review sentiment (80% vs 46%) and rating (4.5 vs 4.1). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model and iOS requirement 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. Notes and Folders sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Shortnotes sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Notes and Folders holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notes and Folders has 303 ratings behind it against 12, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 80% of Notes and Folders's written reviews are positive against 46% of Shortnotes's.
Notes and Folders ships an update every 3 weeks, Shortnotes every 2 months. Both last shipped on November 2, 2026.
| Parameter | Notes and Folders | Shortnotes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (303 ratings) — better | 4.1 (12 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 80.4% of reviews — better | 45.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 303 — better | 12 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 — better | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 17 MB | 19 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | KinkumaDesign | Ilya Gorodnyanskiy |
Customer experience
Notes and Folders
Shortnotes
In-app purchases
Notes and Folders
- Remove Ads$3.99
Shortnotes
- Shortnotes Pro$3.99
Questions
Is Notes and Folders free?
Is Shortnotes free?
Which has better reviews, Notes and Folders or Shortnotes?
Do Notes and Folders or Shortnotes have ads?
Which is updated more often, Notes and Folders or Shortnotes?
Other comparisons
