Comparison

Standard Notes vs Fare

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

Fare

Read full description

Fare is a private subscription tracker built for people who want control. Track subscriptions, renewals, free trials, spending, payment notes, and recurring bills in one place. Fare only tracks the information you choose to enter. It does not connect to your bank account, scan your inbox, or read your purchase history. Use Fare as a subscription manager, renewal tracker, bill reminder, trial tracker, spending planner, or simple subscription organizer. Fare+ unlocks more tracking, premium widgets, advanced reminders, premium themes, Cloud Backup, and an ad-free experience. No bank linking. No email scanning. Just a simple way to stay ahead of recurring payments before they surprise you. Terms of Use: https://usefare.app/terms Apple Standard EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://usefare.app/privacy

Screenshots

Standard Notes4 screens
Fare4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Fare at daily against Standard Notes's every 5 weeks. Standard Notes's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). On price, 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 Fare sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Standard Notes ships an update every 5 weeks, Fare daily. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and September 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Standard Notes versus Fare: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStandard NotesFare
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (3.7K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews63.5% of reviews—
Number of ratings3.7K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size92 MB20 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStandard Notes Ltd.Christopher Appio

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

Fare

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Standard Notes

Subscriptions1
  • Professional Plan7 Days trial$119.991 Year
3 purchases

Fare

Subscriptions2
  • Fare+$3.991 Month
  • Fare+$34.991 Year
One-time1
  • Fare+$4.99

Questions

Is Standard Notes free?
Standard Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Fare free?
Fare is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Standard Notes or Fare have ads?
Neither Standard Notes nor Fare shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Standard Notes or Fare?
Standard Notes ships an update every 5 weeks, and Fare daily. Most recently, Standard Notes was updated on October 1, 2026 and Fare on September 13, 2026.

Other comparisons