Standard Notes vs Discreet Notes
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/
Discreet Notes
This app offers a unique way to manage your notes with a strong emphasis on privacy. You can create truly hidden notes accessible only by their specific passphrase, or opt for visible notes for everyday use. It supports Markdown formatting and iCloud sync across Apple devices.
- Truly private hidden notes
- Visible notes option
- Raw Markdown editor
- Markdown preview toggle
- iCloud sync
- Dark mode
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Your Notes, Your Secrets — Reimagined. Welcome to a different kind of notes app. Designed for privacy, built for simplicity, and powered by a unique approach to hidden notes. # Truly Private Notes Create hidden notes that don’t appear anywhere in the app. No titles, no previews, not even a count. The only way to access them? Enter the exact passphrase you used to create them. If you don’t remember it, it’s like the note never existed. # Visible Notes, If You Want Them Prefer something more traditional? Mark any note as visible, and it will show up in your list. Easily switch between your private thoughts and everyday to-dos. # Raw Markdown + Preview Toggle Write in pure Markdown, and toggle to preview your note beautifully rendered. Focus on content first, then enjoy the polished result—no distractions, no clutter. # iCloud Sync Keep your notes with you, securely synced across all your Apple devices. # Dark Mode Thoughtfully designed for low-light environments, perfect for night writing or discreet journaling. Why You’ll Love It - Journal without leaving a trace. - Store sensitive thoughts or ideas without fear of exposure. - Draft blog posts, code snippets, or creative writing in Markdown. - Keep everyday notes visible, and hidden notes truly hidden. Minimal. Powerful. Private.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Discreet Notes at 100% against Standard Notes's 64%. Discreet Notes also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (every 9 days vs every 5 weeks). Standard Notes's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). On price 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
Both are free to download. Standard Notes sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $119.99 per year. Discreet Notes asks for nothing beyond the download.
Standard Notes ships an update every 5 weeks, Discreet Notes every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Standard Notes | Discreet Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (3.8K ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 64.1% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 3.8K — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks | Every 9 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 92 MB | 9 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Standard Notes Ltd. | Ivan Milicevic |
Customer experience
Standard Notes
Discreet Notes
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
Discreet Notes
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Standard Notes
- Professional Plan7 Days trial$119.991 Year
Discreet Notes
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Standard Notes free?
Is Discreet Notes free?
Do Standard Notes or Discreet Notes have ads?
Which is updated more often, Standard Notes or Discreet Notes?
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