Joplin vs Minimal | Notes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Joplin
A privacy-focused note-taking and to-do application that allows you to capture multimedia notes, organize them with notebooks and tags, and sync across devices. It offers end-to-end encryption and an offline-first approach for secure and accessible information management.
- Capture multimedia notes (speech, photos, videos, PDFs)
- Organize notes with notebooks and tags
- Create to-dos and set reminders
- End-to-end encryption for privacy
- Cross-device synchronization (Joplin Cloud, Dropbox, OneDrive)
- Offline-first access
- OCR search for text within images and PDFs
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Privacy-first app Capture your thoughts freely and without distractions, tracking, or ads. With Joplin’s end-to-end encryption and open-source code, you can concentrate on your ideas and tasks without worrying about your privacy. Capture multimedia notes Capture multimedia notes effortlessly. In Joplin you can : • create manuscript notes, • transcribe speech to note, • add multimedia: photos, videos, PDFs, and images, • insert documents as attachments, • create math expressions, add tables, write code and insert diagrams, • create to-dos and add reminders. Organise your ideas Organise your notes into notebooks. Connect your notes with tags by subject or priority. Use colours and rich text editor to format your notes with ease. Make task lists, create to-dos and add reminders. Effortlessly find your notes, even within PDFs and images, thanks to the powerful search feature enhanced by Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology. Use Joplin to store your bills, lecture notes, photos or receipts. Reliable synchronisation Access your notes from computer, phone or tablet by synchronising with various services including Joplin Cloud, Dropbox and OneDrive. Seamlessly move from one device to another. Offline-first You can access your notes anytime and anywhere, even without Internet. If you’re using Joplin on multiple devices, they will synchronise and update once you regained the connection. Enhance your productivity across devices Extend your note-taking experience by using Joplin on additional devices such as a desktop computer or tablet. Make the most of each device by using its specific features. On the desktop app, use a web clipper extension, wide-range of community plugins and a Markdown editor. Experience flawless handwriting and drawing on your tablet. Join active community Connect with Joplin’s vibrant community on Joplin Forum. It’s a place where users can share ideas, ask questions, exchange information and give feedback. Joplin’s dynamic community also develops powerful plugins, so you can customise your app to suit your needs.
Minimal | Notes
This app offers a distraction-free writing environment inspired by meditation. It features collaborative writing, note expiration, and the ability to publish notes as websites. Organize tasks with integrated to-do lists and sync across all your Apple devices.
- Note Lifetime reminders
- Collaborative writing
- Publish notes as websites
- Todo lists sync with Calendar
- Beautiful formatting
- Sync across Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
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Write with focus. Open your mind with Minimal, a meditation-inspired notes and writing app. Minimal combines thoughtful, modern design with powerful features to deliver a spacious, beautiful writing environment. • Note Lifetime • Collaborative writing • Publish notes as websites • Add Todos to the Calendar app • Beautiful formatting • Sync everywhere: Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch Minimal is a simple yet powerful notes app. Inspired by meditation, nature, and architectural design, Minimal provides a beautiful space to think, write, and organize projects. NOTE LIFETIME The Note Lifetime keeps your notebook fresh and reflective of the present moment. When a note goes unedited for a duration you choose in settings, you’ll be gently notified. This is an opportunity to review the note, act on it, or let it go. COLLABORATIVE WRITING Share notes with friends, family, and teammates. With a gentle design, writing remains focused and tranquil, even as thoughts merge and ideas multiply. Everyone receives changes as notes evolve, and multiple people can make edits at the same time without conflict. FOCUSED + SPACIOUS DESIGN Minimal is designed so only one element is ever in focus. We love the beauty of a blank page – abundant empty space allows for an ease of creative expression. PUBLISH AS WEBSITE Transform notes into beautifully-formatted websites in microseconds. TODO LISTS Todo lists are an effective way to organize projects and complete tasks. Sync with the Calendar app, get things done, and check everything off. BEAUTIFUL FORMATTING Minimal combines Markdown-style formatting with elegant typography. The result is simple, expressive notes that make it easy to think and write. SYNC EVERYWHERE Bring focus to your favorite devices. Minimal is designed for Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Cloud Sync is fast, reliable, and invisible. SHARE, EXPORT, IMPORT You’re in control of your notes. Share directly in iMessage, export as PDF or HTML, and use the system share mechanism to take notes anywhere. Importing links + prose into Minimal is just as easy. CUSTOMIZE EVERYTHING The best notebook is personal. We made everything in Minimal customizable, from fonts + themes to sorting notes + note actions. You can also build custom workflows using the Shortcuts app. A LITTLE GIFT Wow, thanks for reading. As a little gift for tuning in, these are our favorite musicians -> Somi, Snarky Puppy, and London Grammar. They’re jazzy and introspective, just how we like it. Enjoy. —— For help, write us at team@minimal.app or on Twitter at @minimalnotesapp. To learn about our terms + approach to privacy, visit https://minimal.app/terms. We offer a long free trial and make cancellation easy. After that, Minimal costs $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year. These prices are in USD and may vary by region. Cancel in your iTunes account settings at least 24 hours before renewal.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Minimal | Notes at 4.7 against Joplin's 4.1. Minimal | Notes also leads on review sentiment (81% vs 67%). Joplin's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.0). On price, ratings volume, update cadence 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. Minimal | Notes sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Joplin asks for nothing beyond the download.
Minimal | Notes holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 473 and 290 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Joplin's written reviews are positive against 81% of Minimal | Notes's.
Joplin ships an update monthly, Minimal | Notes every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 20, 2026 and September 19, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Joplin | Minimal | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.1 (473 ratings) | 4.7 (290 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 66.6% of reviews | 81.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 473 — better | 290 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Subscription |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 73 MB | 59 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Laurent Cozic | Timeless |
Customer experience
Joplin
Minimal | Notes
User reviews
Joplin
From 473 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Great app
- 🔒 End-to-end encryption
- 👍 Excellent cross-platform support
- 👍 Intuitive Markdown support
- 👍 Flexible sync options (Dropbox, OneDrive, WebDAV)
Room to improve
- 🐛 Sync issues, especially on iOS
- 🐛 Buggy UI, especially on iOS
- 🐛 Crashes and freezes
- 🐛 Slow performance at times
- 🐛 Confusing interface, not very intuitive
Minimal | Notes
From 290 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Excellent note-taking app
- 👍 Beautiful and simple design
- 🚀 Seamless syncing across devices
- 👍 Customizable appearance and formatting
- 🚀 Responsive and helpful developer
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
- 🔒 Lack of password protection or locking for notes
- 💰 Expensive subscription model
Bugs and requests
Joplin
Reported bugs
5 issues- Sync issues with WebDAV and Dropbox
- Crashes when creating new notes
- Keyboard issues, text getting obscured
- Rendering problems in dark mode
- Compatibility issues with older iOS versions
Requested features
6 requests- Add web clipper functionality on iOS
- Implement nested notebooks on iOS
- Allow password/biometric protection for notes
- Improve text editing experience on mobile
- Add more font and formatting options
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- Implement a trash/recycle bin for deleted notes
Minimal | Notes
Reported bugs
3 issues- Crashes when using certain formatting or pasting content
- Syncing issues between iOS and macOS versions
- Incompatibility with older macOS versions
Requested features
4 requests- Add ability to insert images or attachments
- Improve iCloud sync reliability
- Implement a folder-based organization system
- Add a word/character count feature
In-app purchases
Joplin
No in-app purchases
Minimal | Notes
- Minimal Monthly14 Days trial$4.991 Month
- Minimal Annual14 Days trial$49.991 Year
- Minimal Family Plan14 Days trial$79.991 Year









