Standard Notes vs Note Fold
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/
Note Fold
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Note Fold is a powerful note-taking app for students, professionals, and lifelong learners who need more than a flat list. Create nested folders, write with rich text formatting, embed photos and videos, and tag notes for instant cross-referencing. • Unlimited Folder Structure • Rich Text Editor • Embed Photos, Videos & Links • Smart Tagging System • Search Everything • Works Offline, No Account Required • Archive & Restore • Import & Export Your Library • Customize Your Workspace UNLIMITED FOLDER STRUCTURE Organize notes in folders within folders. Drag and drop to rearrange instantly. Color-code folders and notes to find what you need at a glance. Perfect for coursework, research projects, creative writing, or building your personal knowledge base. RICH TEXT EDITOR Write beautifully formatted notes with bold, italic, headings, bullet points, numbered lists, blockquotes, and inline code. No markdown syntax required, just tap and type. EMBED PHOTOS, VIDEOS & LINKS Insert images from your camera roll or capture new photos Embed videos directly from your device Paste YouTube links for inline video playback Add web links with automatic preview cards SMART TAGGING SYSTEM Create color-coded tags and apply multiple tags to any note. Browse all notes by tag to find related content across your entire folder structure, perfect for connecting ideas across subjects. SEARCH EVERYTHING Find any note instantly. Search results show the full folder path so you can jump directly to what you need. WORKS OFFLINE, NO ACCOUNT REQUIRED Your notes are stored locally on your device. Write and organize without internet. No sign-up, no cloud. Your data stays on your device. ARCHIVE & RESTORE No accidental deletion. Archived notes are kept safe until you restore or permanently remove them. IMPORT & EXPORT YOUR LIBRARY Back up everything or share individual folders. The .notefold format preserves your complete structure including notes, folders, and tags. CUSTOMIZE YOUR WORKSPACE Light and dark themes Adjustable text sizes Custom colors for folders, notes, and tags NOTE FOLD PRO Unlock the complete experience: • Unlimited folder nesting depth • Embed photos, videos, and YouTube • Rich link preview cards • Import & export functionality • Ad-free note-taking Available as monthly, yearly, or lifetime purchase. Download Note Fold today and organize your notes the way your mind actually works. Privacy Policy: https://barrelofsunshine.com/privacy-policy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Standard Notes at none against Note Fold's shown. Note Fold's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs every 5 weeks) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). On price, in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Standard Notes sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $119.99 per year and Note Fold sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Standard Notes ships an update every 5 weeks, Note Fold every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and September 15, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Standard Notes | Note Fold |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (3.8K ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 64.1% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 3.8K — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 92 MB | 62 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Standard Notes Ltd. | Barrel of Sunshine |
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
Note Fold
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Standard Notes
- Professional Plan7 Days trial$119.991 Year
Note Fold
- Monthly - Note Fold Pro$1.991 Month
- Annual - Note Fold Pro$9.991 Year
- Lifetime - Note Fold Pro$24.99
Questions
Is Standard Notes free?
Is Note Fold free?
Do Standard Notes or Note Fold have ads?
Which is updated more often, Standard Notes or Note Fold?
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