Comparison

Standard Notes vs PlugOS

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

PlugOS

This app securely connects to dedicated hardware for managing sensitive data locally. It ensures privacy by processing and storing all information on the device, without internet access or cloud reliance. Enjoy a secure and private digital experience for various applications.

Highlights
  • Local data processing and storage
  • Hardware-level security isolation
  • No internet connection required
  • Device authentication and status checking
  • Firmware updates
  • Resistant to complex attacks
Features
Read full description

Say goodbye to the worries of data leakage and privacy invasion! PlugOS App is the official companion application for PlugOS smart security hardware, allowing users to securely connect and manage PlugOS devices on their iPhone. PlugOS device is a fingertip-sized smart security hardware equipped with local storage and a dedicated computing unit, designed specifically to provide a secure and private data operation experience. With PlugOS App, you can easily complete device authentication, status checking, secure data display, parameter settings, and firmware updates. All sensitive data is processed and stored locally on the PlugOS device, ensuring that data does not touch the ground, leave traces, or connect to the internet. Core Features 【Hardware Isolation, Pure Security】 All your sensitive operations and data processing are carried out within the secure chip inside the PlugOS hardware, completely physically isolated from your mobile phone or computer device. No data traces are left, no internet connection is made, and no cloud storage is involved, ensuring that your information is always in your control. 【Ultimate Privacy, Never Tracked】 PlugOS adheres to its commitment to privacy: we do not collect any of your user data, do not track your usage behavior, and will never have any advertising disturbances. You can enjoy a truly pure and private digital space on any PlugOS-supported device, including iOS. 【Convenient and Flexible, Plug and Play】 By connecting the hardware through the PlugOS App, you can access the secure services and private data content provided by PlugOS. The PlugOS App makes all this incredibly simple. 【Multifunctional Security Applications】 Whether you are engaging in private communication, managing digital assets, enjoying private audio and video, handling work secrets, or isolating applications, PlugOS can provide you with a secure, private, convenient, and feature-rich operating environment. 【Resistant to Complex Attacks】 The PlugOS hardware and App work together to effectively resist complex software and hardware attacks, ensuring that you can use it with peace of mind. Note: The PlugOS App is only compatible with PlugOS exclusive hardware and does not interfere with iOS security mechanisms. It fully complies with the App Store Review Guidelines.

Screenshots

Standard Notes4 screens
PlugOS2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Standard Notes at 4.7 against PlugOS's 3.7. Standard Notes also leads on ratings volume (3.8K vs 3) and review sentiment (64% vs 50%). PlugOS's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). On price, update cadence, ads and device support 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. PlugOS asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Standard Notes holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Standard Notes has 3.8K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 64% of Standard Notes's written reviews are positive against 50% of PlugOS's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Standard Notes ships an update every 5 weeks, PlugOS monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Standard Notes versus PlugOS: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStandard NotesPlugOS
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (3.8K ratings) — better3.7 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews64.1% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings3.8K — better3
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better16.6
Further details — not scored
Size92 MB41 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStandard Notes Ltd.Shanghai Pingbo Info Tech Co., Ltd.

Customer experience

Standard Notes

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

PlugOS

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

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

PlugOS

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Standard Notes

Subscriptions1
  • Professional Plan7 Days trial$119.991 Year
None

PlugOS

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Standard Notes free?
Standard Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PlugOS free?
PlugOS is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Standard Notes or PlugOS?
Standard Notes is rated higher. Standard Notes averages 4.7 out of 5 from 3.8K ratings, while PlugOS averages 3.7 from 3 ratings.
Do Standard Notes or PlugOS have ads?
Neither Standard Notes nor PlugOS shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Standard Notes or PlugOS?
Standard Notes ships an update every 5 weeks, and PlugOS monthly. Most recently, Standard Notes was updated on October 12, 2026 and PlugOS on October 2, 2026.

Other comparisons