Comparison

Standard Notes vs Anytype

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • End-to-end encryption
  • Cross-device syncing
  • Offline access
  • Passcode and biometric lock
  • Tagging system
  • Open-source code
  • Optional productivity editors and themes
Features
Read full description

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/

About

Anytype

This app unifies conversations, documents, notes, files, and databases into a single, private application. It offers powerful, local-first collaboration with end-to-end encryption, offline access, and secure cross-device syncing, ensuring your data always remains yours.

Highlights
  • Unified workspace for conversations, docs, notes, files, and databases
  • End-to-end encrypted and offline accessible
  • Local-first collaboration
  • Create and edit pages with blocks
  • Define custom content types
  • Publish content to the web
  • Manage lists and tasks with properties
Features
Read full description

Anytype is a private, offline-first workspace for notes, docs, tasks, and team collaboration — end-to-end encrypted, with your data stored on your device. No accounts mining your thoughts, no cloud lock-in. A safe haven for your digital life. Flexible Knowledge Anytype adapts to the way your brain works, allowing you to link anything to everything. Create a living map of your ideas. • Capture & Reflect: Rich-media notes, long-form docs, and daily journals. • Plan & Execute: Tasks and projects in Kanban boards, calendars, galleries, and filtered lists. • Organize & Archive: Build personal wikis, research databases, or curated bookmark libraries. Secure Collaboration Collaborate in real-time without surrendering your privacy. You can work offline, sync peer-to-peer, or run entirely on your own network. • Private Collaboration: Shared spaces for teams and family to work together. • Integrated Chat: Chat with friends or have discussions directly on documents. • Share Online: Web publish content so others can access it directly in the browser. Uncompromising Security & Privacy • End-to-End Encrypted: Only you and those you share with can access your data. No exceptions. • Works Offline: No internet? No problem. Access everything offline, use peer-to-peer sync, or run on your own network. • Open Source: Keep your software forever or take your data with you. Zero lock-in. Also available on desktop at anytype.io Anytype — a safe haven for your thoughts, your work, and the people you collaborate with.

Screenshots

Standard Notes4 screens
Anytype4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Standard Notes at 3.8K against Anytype's 245. Standard Notes also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.5) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). Anytype's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 5 weeks). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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. Standard Notes sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $119.99 per year and Anytype sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Standard Notes holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Standard Notes has 3.8K ratings behind it against 245, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 64% and 64% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Standard Notes ships an update every 5 weeks, Anytype fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Standard Notes versus Anytype: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStandard NotesAnytype
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (3.8K ratings) — better4.5 (245 ratings)
Positive reviews64.1% of reviews — better63.8% of reviews
Number of ratings3.8K — better245
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size92 MB274 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStandard Notes Ltd.Any Association

Customer experience

Standard Notes

All ratings3,751 ratings
Positive92.5%
Neutral2.2%
Negative5.3%
Written reviews594 reviews
Positive64.1%
Neutral10.4%
Negative25.4%

Anytype

All ratings245 ratings
Positive85.7%
Neutral5.3%
Negative9.0%
Written reviews138 reviews
Positive63.8%
Neutral13.8%
Negative22.5%

User reviews

Standard Notes

From 3.8K App Store ratings

What 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

Anytype

From 245 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Powerful and flexible
  • 🔒 Privacy-focused and secure
  • 👍 Customizable and adaptable
  • 🚀 Fast and responsive
  • 👍 Comprehensive note-taking features

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and sync issues
  • 🤔 Steep learning curve for new users
  • 🤔 Lack of certain features like calendar and formulas
  • 🔋 Performance issues on mobile devices
  • 🤔 Inconsistent user experience between desktop and mobile

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

Anytype

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashes and freezes on certain devices
  • Sync issues leading to data loss or duplication
  • Inconsistent behavior when working with nested lists
  • Page jumps and cursor positioning problems

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add calendar and scheduling features
  • Improve mobile app performance and stability
  • Implement formulas and automation capabilities
  • Allow more customization options for fonts and UI
  • Add widgets for quick access to notes and data

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Standard Notes

Subscriptions1
  • Professional Plan7 Days trial$119.991 Year
2 purchases

Anytype

Subscriptions2
  • Pro$9.991 Month
  • Builder$119.001 Year

Questions

Is Standard Notes free?
Standard Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Anytype free?
Anytype is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Standard Notes or Anytype?
Standard Notes is rated higher. Standard Notes averages 4.7 out of 5 from 3.8K ratings, while Anytype averages 4.5 from 245 ratings.
Do Standard Notes or Anytype have ads?
Neither Standard Notes nor Anytype shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Standard Notes or Anytype?
Standard Notes ships an update every 5 weeks, and Anytype fortnightly. Most recently, Standard Notes was updated on October 14, 2026 and Anytype on October 13, 2026.

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