Comparison

Dynalist vs UpNote

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Dynalist

Organize notes, manage projects, outline content, and build wikis with this versatile tool. Features include infinitely zooming lists, checklists, tagging, and cross-linking for efficient information management.

Highlights
  • Infinitely zooming bullet lists
  • Checklists
  • Tagging with # and @
  • Cross-linking between lists
  • Public and private list sharing
  • Insert images and LaTeX
Features
Read full description

Dynalist is a multi-purpose app that can be used as: • a note-taking app to organize your notes • a project management app to break down tasks and track progress • an outliner app to outline and write books • a wiki app to organize knowledge and information ************************************************** Key features include: • infinitely zooming bullet lists • make checklists • using # and @ tags • add dates • share lists publicly or privately • cross link between lists • insert images and LaTeX • sync dates to Google Calendar (Pro feature) • bookmark lists, bullets, and search results • apply color labels • upload files (Pro feature) • make numbered lists

About

UpNote

This app provides a clean and beautiful interface for writing and organizing notes, journals, and to-do lists. It offers rich formatting options, an intuitive organization system, and instant syncing across devices, with offline capabilities. Premium features include enhanced security and export options.

Highlights
  • Rich text editor with formatting tools
  • Intuitive organizing system (notebooks, pins, links)
  • Secure note locking with Touch/Face ID
  • Instant cross-device syncing and offline access
  • Markdown support and export
  • Task management and to-do lists
Features
Read full description

UpNote is a clean and beautiful app for writing and organizing. It's easy to use with rich features and delightful experience. UpNote is designed to help you take notes easily and stay focused on what matters most. UpNote has beautiful fonts and elegant themes that you can adjust to make your writing experience most comfortable and pleasant. UpNote is an ideal place to keep your diary and journal. It has a powerful lock feature so that you can rest assured that your notes stay private and secure. You can also use Touch ID or Face ID to securely unlock your notes. UpNote’s intuitive organizing system will keep your note space neat and light. There are many ways to organize your notes: putting them into notebooks, pinning your notes to the top of the note list, bookmarking them for quick reference or linking to other notes. You can also close any notebooks to focus on only most important one. UpNote’s rich editor makes it perfect for planning and managing your tasks. Simply write down your to-do list and have them synced to all your devices. UpNote offers highlight, text colors, table, nested list, code and many other important formatting tools so that you could easily format your notes. UpNote syncs notes instantly on all devices. It also works reliably offline, so you could take note anytime, anywhere. If you are a markdown user, UpNote is great for you too. It has intuitive shortcuts based on markdown, which makes it more fun to write notes. You can also export your notes to Markdown or PDF. Try UpNote now and you will fall in love with it! ---- Upgrade to Premium to get full power of UpNote: - Lock your notes and notebooks - Insert table and attachments - Write unlimited number of notes - Elegant themes and notebook covers - Export to text PDF, HTML and Markdown ---- Price may vary by location. Subscriptions will be charged to your credit card through your iTunes account. Your subscription will automatically renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You will not be able to cancel the subscription once activated. Manage your subscriptions in Account Settings after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial peri​od will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription. ---- If you have any question or feedback, we would love to hear it. Send an email to support@getupnote.com, and we would love to get in touch with you! ---- Privacy policy: https://getupnote.com/privacy.html Terms of use: https://getupnote.com/terms.html

Screenshots

Dynalist1 screens
UpNote4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: UpNote at 4.7 against Dynalist's 3.9. UpNote also leads on review sentiment (86% vs 58%) and update cadence (weekly vs monthly). Dynalist's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 8) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.6). On price, ads, monetization model 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. UpNote sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Dynalist asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

UpNote holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: UpNote has 1.1K ratings behind it against 124, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 58% of Dynalist's written reviews are positive against 86% of UpNote's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Dynalist ships an update monthly, UpNote weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Dynalist versus UpNote: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDynalistUpNote
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.9 (124 ratings)4.7 (1.1K ratings) — better
Positive reviews57.8% of reviews85.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1241.1K — better
Update frequencyMonthlyWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFreemiumFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size22 MB81 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDynalist Inc.UpNote Company Limited

Customer experience

Dynalist

All ratings124 ratings
Positive69.4%
Neutral7.3%
Negative23.4%
Written reviews166 reviews
Positive57.8%
Neutral13.3%
Negative28.9%

UpNote

All ratings1,067 ratings
Positive92.5%
Neutral2.8%
Negative4.7%
Written reviews766 reviews
Positive85.9%
Neutral6.0%
Negative8.1%

Bugs and requests

Dynalist

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

UpNote

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Black screen issues
  • Lost notes and data
  • Incompatibility with newer iOS versions
  • Google sign-in not working

Requested features

8 requests
  • Reminders and calendar integration
  • More customization options (fonts, colors, etc.)
  • Improved drawing/handwriting support
  • PDF annotation and embedding
  • Optical character recognition (OCR)
Show 3 more
  • Ability to reorder bullets and lists
  • Improved table editing and formatting
  • Apple Watch app

In-app purchases

None

Dynalist

No in-app purchases

8 purchases

UpNote

Subscriptions1
  • Premium monthly subscription$1.991 Month
One-time7
  • Life-time Upgrade$19.99
  • Life-time Upgrade to Premium$19.99
  • Life-time Upgrade$24.99
Show 4 more
  • Life-time Upgrade to Premium$24.99
  • Life-time Upgrade$29.99
  • Life-time upgrade to Premium$34.99
  • Life-time upgrade to Premium$39.99

Questions

Is Dynalist free?
Dynalist is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is UpNote free?
UpNote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Dynalist or UpNote?
UpNote is rated higher. Dynalist averages 3.9 out of 5 from 124 ratings, while UpNote averages 4.7 from 1.1K ratings.
Do Dynalist or UpNote have ads?
Neither Dynalist nor UpNote shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Dynalist or UpNote?
Dynalist ships an update monthly, and UpNote weekly. Most recently, Dynalist was updated on October 6, 2026 and UpNote on October 13, 2026.

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