Standard Notes vs Proton Pass
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Standard Notes
Securely capture and sync your thoughts across all devices with end-to-end encryption. This app offers a simple, lasting place for all your notes, from personal thoughts to sensitive information, with robust privacy features.
- End-to-end encryption
- Cross-device syncing
- Offline access
- Passcode and biometric lock
- Tagging system
- Open-source code
- Optional productivity editors and themes
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Standard Notes is a private and secure end-to-end encrypted notes app. It allows you to write and sync your notes across all your devices, including your iPhone, iPad, Mac, and web browser. Private means your notes are end-to-end encrypted, so only you can read your notes. Even we can't read the contents of your notes. Simple means it does one job and does it well. Standard Notes is a safe and lasting place for your life's work. Our focus is making it easy to write notes wherever you are and syncing them with encryption to all your devices. Our users love us for: • Personal Notes • Tasks & Todos • Passwords & Keys • Code & Technical Procedures • Private Journal • Meeting Notes • Cross-platform Scratchpad • Books, Recipes, & Movies • Health & Fitness Log Standard Notes comes free with: • Seamless sync across all your devices, with easy to use applications on iPhone, iPad, Mac, web browsers, and other platforms. • Offline access, so you can access your downloaded notes even without a connection. • No limit on number of devices. • No limit on number of notes. • Passcode lock protection, along with Touch ID and Face ID protection. • A tagging system to organize your notes (like #work, #ideas, #passwords, #crypto). • The ability to pin, lock, protect, and move notes to trash, which allows you to recover deleted notes until the trash is emptied. Standard Notes is completely open-source, which means when we say your notes are encrypted with industry-leading XChaCha-20 encryption, and that only you can read your notes, you don't have to take our word for it. Our code is open to the world to audit. We made Standard Notes simple because longevity is important to us. We want to make sure we're here, protecting your notes, for the next hundred years. You shouldn't have to find a new notes app every year. To sustain our development, we offer optional paid subscriptions which give you access to powerful tools like: • Productivity editors (like Markdown, Code, Spreadsheets) • Beautiful themes (like Midnight, Focus, Solarized Dark) • Powerful cloud tools including daily backups of your encrypted data delivered to your email inbox every day, or backed up to your cloud provider (like Dropbox and Google Drive). We're always happy to talk, whether it be a question, thought, or issue. Please feel free to email us any time at help@standardnotes.com. When you take the time to send us a message, we'll be sure to do the same. EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Proton Pass
Securely manage your online credentials with end-to-end encryption. This free password manager offers autofill, 2FA code generation, email alias creation, and data breach monitoring across all your devices. Protect your digital identity with robust Swiss privacy laws.
- Autofill logins
- Store unlimited passwords
- Generate 2FA codes
- Create email aliases
- Data Breach Monitoring
- Secure sharing
- End-to-end encryption
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Get Proton Pass, the free password manager created by the team behind Proton Mail. It’s open source, end-to-end encrypted, and protected by Swiss privacy laws. Secure your online identity with Proton Pass. Pass has no ads or data collection and is free forever on all your devices. Create and store unlimited passwords on unlimited devices, autofill logins, generate 2FA codes, create email aliases, and more. WITH PROTON PASS YOU CAN: • Sign in faster with Proton Pass autofill: You no longer need to copy and paste your username and password with our advanced autofill technology. • Store and auto-sync unlimited logins on unlimited devices: Create, store, and manage your credentials from anywhere with our browser extension and mobile apps. • Share any data stored in Proton Pass securely: Share passwords, usernames, credit cards and notes securely with trusted contacts. Your data stays end-to-end encrypted, and you can revoke access anytime. • Enhance your online security: Identify vulnerable accounts with Data Breach Monitoring and Password Health. • Access your data from anywhere, on any device, with seamless synchronization across all your platforms." • Protect your online identity: Whenever you sign up for a new online account, automatically create an alias to keep your actual email address protected. • Add security layers to your accounts: Protect your account with 2FA authentication and custom PIN protection. Activate Proton Sentinel for advanced security against hackers. PROTON PASS FEATURES INCLUDE: • Built in password generator: Generate unlimited secure passwords and safely store them for all your accounts. Avoid weak passwords and never worry about forgetting the complex passwords again. • Built in 2FA authenticator: Enhance your accounts security with 2FA codes, easily generated within the app for any website and autofill when you log in. • Secure Vaults: Organize & share login information, payment details and notes into secure vaults, which you can share with family, friends, or co-workers. • Email Aliases: With Hide-my-email feature, protect your identity by creating email aliases, preventing your personal email address from being disclosed or leaked. • Credit Card Support: Securely store your credit card details for quick access. • Pass Monitor: Identifies weak or reused passwords, inactive 2FA fields and sends immediate alerts on data leaks with dark web monitoring. • End-to-End Encryption: All your login data is protected with end-to-end encryption, ensuring that only you can access it. • Biometric Login Access: Add an extra layer of security to Proton Pass by using your fingerprint or face to unlock the app. • Spotlight Search: Easily find your information, with one click via iPhone Spotlight Search. • Bookmark items: Pin frequently needed items to the top of your Proton Pass app and browser extension to easily find them. • Bulk edition: Activate bulk edition to handle items in a hassle-free way. • Item history: Keep track of your item changes with item history, knowing when you last changed any login information. • Encrypted Notes: Safely store sensitive information within the app, accessible only to you. • Offline Access: Access your stored passwords and notes in Pass from anywhere, even when your device has no internet connection. • Open Source: Trust is built on transparency. Proton Pass is open source, allowing you to verify our security claims for yourself, like all Proton services. • Easily import passwords: Easily import passwords from any password manager or CSV file. • No Ads or Data Collection For more information, visit: https://proton.me/pass Our open-source code base: https://github.com/protonpass/ios-pass Terms of service: https://proton.me/legal/terms Learn more about Proton: https://proton.me
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Standard Notes at 13.0 against Proton Pass's 17.0. On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. Standard Notes sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $119.99 per year and Proton Pass sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $35.90 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Standard Notes against 4.8 for Proton Pass. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3.7K and 7.8K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 63% of Standard Notes's written reviews are positive against 67% of Proton Pass's.
Standard Notes ships an update every 2 weeks, Proton Pass every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Standard Notes | Proton Pass |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (3.7K ratings) | 4.8 (7.8K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 63.4% of reviews | 67.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 3.7K | 7.8K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 92 MB | 246 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Standard Notes Ltd. | Proton AG |
Customer experience
Standard Notes
Proton Pass
User reviews
Standard Notes
From 3.7K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fast and reliable sync
- 🔒 Excellent privacy and security
- 👍 Simple and intuitive interface
- 📚 Great for organizing notes
- 💻 Cross-platform availability
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional bugs and crashes
- 🔑 Frustrating login/authentication issues
- 💰 Expensive premium subscription
- 📱 Limited features in free version
- 🖍️ Lack of formatting options
Proton Pass
From 7.8K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Decent password manager
- 🔒 Secure and encrypted
- 👍 Integrated email alias feature
- 👍 Competitive pricing
- 👍 Attractive and intuitive apps
Room to improve
- 🐛 Autofill issues
- 🐛 Logging out issues
- 🐛 Buggy and unreliable
- 🐛 Missing core features
- 🐛 Compatibility issues
Bugs and requests
Standard Notes
Reported bugs
4 issues- Notes disappearing or getting deleted unexpectedly
- Sync issues between devices
- Keyboard and UI bugs on mobile
- Compatibility problems with older iOS versions
Requested features
5 requests- Add support for images and attachments
- Implement a more robust search function
- Introduce a dark mode option
- Allow for better note organization (folders, nested tags)
- Add undo/redo functionality
Proton Pass
Reported bugs
4 issues- Access token issues
- Freezing and crashing
- Compatibility problems with certain apps and websites
- Randomly logging out users
Requested features
8 requests- Ability to share passwords with non-Pass users
- Password strength indicator
- Passkey login support
- Easier password generator access
- More formatting options for notes
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- Support for storing documents and cards
- Safari extension
- Desktop app
In-app purchases
Standard Notes
- Professional Plan7 Days trial$119.991 Year
Proton Pass
- Pass Plus (12 months)$35.901 Year
- Proton Unlimited 12 months$119.991 Year
- Pass Plus (1 year) (Promo)$15.49
- Pass Plus (1 year)$59.99
- Proton Unlimited$149.99
Questions
Is Standard Notes free?
Is Proton Pass free?
Which has better reviews, Standard Notes or Proton Pass?
Do Standard Notes or Proton Pass have ads?
Which is updated more often, Standard Notes or Proton Pass?
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