Gladys vs FSNotes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Gladys
This app acts as a drag-and-drop shelf to temporarily store various types of information, like links, text, and images, from any app. It allows for quick saving without switching contexts and offers features like search, annotation, and iCloud syncing. It also supports collaboration and advanced data manipulation for technical users.
- Drag-and-drop item saving
- Search and Spotlight integration
- Home screen/Today widget access
- Item annotation and tagging
- iCloud syncing
- Collaborative editing
- Hex viewer for technical users
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Gladys is a drag-and-drop shelf that holds things you want to set aside, such as links, text snippets, map locations, contacts, images, photos, emails, messages and much more (even if the application that the information came from is removed) It works with any app that supports drag-and-drop, and helps keep you focused by letting you quickly set something aside, without having to consider where it needs to be dropped, or having to constantly switch between apps. • Works with any app that supports drag-and-drop, but also provides an extension for apps that don't yet support it, as well as the ability to paste items to & from the clipboard. • Quickly search for items inside the app or via Spotlight. Access your top items from the home screen / Today widget, your Apple Watch, and even iMessage. • Annotate items with notes, custom titles, and tag items with labels that allow you to easily categorise, browse, and sort your collection. • Take your collection with you on your iPhone, and keep it updated by turning on automatic iCloud syncing. • Invite friends to keep items from your own collection in their own collections, and, if you give permission, even collaboratively annotate and edit them. • Import/export/merge collection archives simply by dragging. • Ideal for bookmarking between apps: For example you can quickly return to dropped email items by selecting 'Open' in their info view, quickly share links between different browsers, or use Siri shortcuts to copy often-used items to and from your clipboard. • Experienced users can get details on dropped items and extract or modify specific data components (e.g. extract the URL of an image link, instead of the whole item, add a new image, or edit the title). • Technical users can inspect binary data using the in-built hex viewer, download items pointed to by web links, and even archive web pages. • Contains no analytics, ratings prompts, or noise.
FSNotes
A fast, modern notes manager for macOS and iOS that uses plain text Markdown files. It's designed for speed and keyboard shortcuts, allowing for seamless iCloud syncing and support for images, code blocks, and math.
- Plain text Markdown notes
- Fast launch and operation
- Keyboard shortcuts
- iCloud syncing
- Markdown preview
- Image and code block support
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FSNotes is a fast, modern notes manager for macOS and iOS. Write and organize your notes in pure Markdown with full control over your files. All notes are stored as plain text on disk, so your data stays open, portable, and future-proof. FSNotes is built for speed. It launches instantly, stays lightweight, and works smoothly even with tens of thousands of notes. Designed for keyboard lovers, it lets you capture ideas and find information in seconds using powerful shortcuts. Sync seamlessly via iCloud Drive, preview Markdown, work with images, code blocks, diagrams, and math — all in a clean, distraction-free interface. Fast. Open. Keyboard-driven.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Gladys at Free against FSNotes's $4.99. Gladys also leads on review sentiment (84% vs 66%) and device support (4 vs 2). FSNotes's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 5) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). On rating, ratings volume and ads 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
Gladys is free to download; FSNotes costs $4.99 up front. Gladys sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. FSNotes asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Gladys against 4.7 for FSNotes. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 149 and 86 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 84% of Gladys's written reviews are positive against 66% of FSNotes's.
Gladys ships an update every 2 months, FSNotes fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on July 27, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Gladys | FSNotes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $4.99 |
| Rating | 4.7 (149 ratings) | 4.7 (86 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 83.5% of reviews — better | 65.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 149 — better | 86 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | — | #147 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 22 MB | 27 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Pavlos Tsochantaris | Oleksandr Hlushchenko |
Customer experience
Gladys
FSNotes
In-app purchases
Gladys
- Smile Tip$0.99
- Blush Tip$1.99
- Hug Tip$4.99
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- Gasp Tip$9.99
- Scream Tip$19.99
FSNotes
No in-app purchases









