Comparison

Split Notes vs Minimal | Notes

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

Head to head
About

Split Notes

A versatile text editor that allows for split-screen viewing in both vertical and horizontal orientations, along with tabbed interfaces. It offers automatic saving, folder management, and advanced search capabilities. Users can also synchronize scrolling between panes and export notes to CSV.

Highlights
  • Split-screen editing (vertical/horizontal)
  • Tabbed interface
  • Synchronized scrolling
  • Automatic saving
  • Folder management
  • Character and regex search
  • Export to CSV
Features
Read full description

This is a simple notepad which can switch between vertical and horizontal screen division, tab use screen. You can synchronize the scrolling of each text view by enabling the magnet button. Notes is saved automatically. Others - Folder management. - Character search, regular expression search. - Undo/Redo - Character count display. - Change font size. - Export to CSV file. - Backup/Restore with iCloud.

About

Minimal | Notes

This app offers a distraction-free writing environment inspired by meditation. It features collaborative writing, note expiration, and the ability to publish notes as websites. Organize tasks with integrated to-do lists and sync across all your Apple devices.

Highlights
  • Note Lifetime reminders
  • Collaborative writing
  • Publish notes as websites
  • Todo lists sync with Calendar
  • Beautiful formatting
  • Sync across Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Features
Read full description

Write with focus. Open your mind with Minimal, a meditation-inspired notes and writing app. Minimal combines thoughtful, modern design with powerful features to deliver a spacious, beautiful writing environment. • Note Lifetime • Collaborative writing • Publish notes as websites • Add Todos to the Calendar app • Beautiful formatting • Sync everywhere: Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch Minimal is a simple yet powerful notes app. Inspired by meditation, nature, and architectural design, Minimal provides a beautiful space to think, write, and organize projects. NOTE LIFETIME The Note Lifetime keeps your notebook fresh and reflective of the present moment. When a note goes unedited for a duration you choose in settings, you’ll be gently notified. This is an opportunity to review the note, act on it, or let it go. COLLABORATIVE WRITING Share notes with friends, family, and teammates. With a gentle design, writing remains focused and tranquil, even as thoughts merge and ideas multiply. Everyone receives changes as notes evolve, and multiple people can make edits at the same time without conflict. FOCUSED + SPACIOUS DESIGN Minimal is designed so only one element is ever in focus. We love the beauty of a blank page – abundant empty space allows for an ease of creative expression. PUBLISH AS WEBSITE Transform notes into beautifully-formatted websites in microseconds. TODO LISTS Todo lists are an effective way to organize projects and complete tasks. Sync with the Calendar app, get things done, and check everything off. BEAUTIFUL FORMATTING Minimal combines Markdown-style formatting with elegant typography. The result is simple, expressive notes that make it easy to think and write. SYNC EVERYWHERE Bring focus to your favorite devices. Minimal is designed for Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Cloud Sync is fast, reliable, and invisible. SHARE, EXPORT, IMPORT You’re in control of your notes. Share directly in iMessage, export as PDF or HTML, and use the system share mechanism to take notes anywhere. Importing links + prose into Minimal is just as easy. CUSTOMIZE EVERYTHING The best notebook is personal. We made everything in Minimal customizable, from fonts + themes to sorting notes + note actions. You can also build custom workflows using the Shortcuts app. A LITTLE GIFT Wow, thanks for reading. As a little gift for tuning in, these are our favorite musicians -> Somi, Snarky Puppy, and London Grammar. They’re jazzy and introspective, just how we like it. Enjoy. —— For help, write us at team@minimal.app or on Twitter at @minimalnotesapp. To learn about our terms + approach to privacy, visit https://minimal.app/terms. We offer a long free trial and make cancellation easy. After that, Minimal costs $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year. These prices are in USD and may vary by region. Cancel in your iTunes account settings at least 24 hours before renewal.

Screenshots

Split Notes4 screens
Minimal | Notes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Split Notes at free with in-app purchases against Minimal | Notes's subscription. Split Notes also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.7). Minimal | Notes's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 4 months). On price, review sentiment, in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Split Notes sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Minimal | Notes sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Split Notes holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Minimal | Notes has 290 ratings behind it against 11, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 83% of Split Notes's written reviews are positive against 81% of Minimal | Notes's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Split Notes ships an update every 4 months, Minimal | Notes every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Split Notes versus Minimal | Notes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSplit NotesMinimal | Notes
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (11 ratings) — better4.7 (290 ratings)
Positive reviews83.3% of reviews — better81.3% of reviews
Number of ratings11290 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size20 MB59 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKAZUTERU YOKOITimeless

Customer experience

Split Notes

All ratings11 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews24 reviews
Positive83.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative16.7%

Minimal | Notes

All ratings290 ratings
Positive91.7%
Neutral3.1%
Negative5.2%
Written reviews375 reviews
Positive81.3%
Neutral6.4%
Negative12.3%

Bugs and requests

Split Notes

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Minimal | Notes

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes when using certain formatting or pasting content
  • Syncing issues between iOS and macOS versions
  • Incompatibility with older macOS versions

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add ability to insert images or attachments
  • Improve iCloud sync reliability
  • Implement a folder-based organization system
  • Add a word/character count feature

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Split Notes

One-time1
  • Remove ads$1.99
3 purchases

Minimal | Notes

Subscriptions3
  • Minimal Monthly14 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Minimal Annual14 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • Minimal Family Plan14 Days trial$79.991 Year

Questions

Is Split Notes free?
Split Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Minimal | Notes free?
Minimal | Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Split Notes or Minimal | Notes?
Split Notes is rated higher. Split Notes averages 4.9 out of 5 from 11 ratings, while Minimal | Notes averages 4.7 from 290 ratings.
Do Split Notes or Minimal | Notes have ads?
Split Notes shows ads; Minimal | Notes does not.
Which is updated more often, Split Notes or Minimal | Notes?
Split Notes ships an update every 4 months, and Minimal | Notes every 3 weeks. Most recently, Split Notes was updated on September 28, 2026 and Minimal | Notes on October 12, 2026.

Other comparisons