# Joplin vs Craft

The clearest difference is rating: Craft at 4.8 against Joplin's 4.1. Craft also leads on review sentiment (85% vs 66%) and update cadence (every 10 days vs monthly). Joplin's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.0). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Craft sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Joplin asks for nothing beyond the download.

Craft holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Craft has 6.6K ratings behind it against 476, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 66% of Joplin's written reviews are positive against 85% of Craft's.

Joplin ships an update monthly, Craft every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Joplin | Craft |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.1 (476 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/joplin/id1315599797/reviews) | **[4.8 (6.6K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/craft-notes-documents-ai/id1487937127/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 476 | **6.6K** |
| Positive reviews | 66.5% of reviews | **84.7% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Monthly | **Every 10 days** |
| Monetization | **Free** | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 73 MB | 314 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.6** | 17.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | **iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Laurent Cozic](https://appshunter.io/developer/1315599796) | [Craft Docs Limited](https://appshunter.io/developer/1487937126) |

## What reviewers say

### Joplin

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/joplin/id1315599797)

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.

**Highlights:** 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

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Great app
- 🔒 End-to-end encryption
- 👍 Excellent cross-platform support
- 👍 Intuitive Markdown support
- 👍 Flexible sync options (Dropbox, OneDrive, WebDAV)

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Sync issues, especially on iOS
- 🐛 Buggy UI, especially on iOS
- 🐛 Crashes and freezes
- 🐛 Slow performance at times
- 🐛 Confusing interface, not very intuitive

**Reported bugs**

- 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**

- 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


### Craft

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/craft-notes-documents-ai/id1487937127)

This app helps you organize your thoughts, manage tasks, and boost productivity with an AI assistant. Create structured documents, plan your day, and connect with other tools for a seamless workflow across all your devices.

**Highlights:** AI Assistant for research and writing, Structured document creation, Native task management system, Daily notes and calendar view, Offline access and sync, Integrations with other tools

**Features:** Family Sharing

**In-app purchases (9)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Plus Monthly Subscription | $9.99 | per month |
| Legacy - Monthly Subscription | $10.99 | per month |
| Family Monthly Subscription | $17.99 | per month |
| Team Monthly Subscription | $59.99 | per month |
| Plus Annual Subscription | $95.99 | per year |
| Legacy - Annual Subscription | $99.99 | per year |
| Family Annual Subscription | $179.99 | per year |
| Business Monthly Subscription | $299.00 | per month |
| Team Annual Subscription | $599.00 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Absolutely amazing
- 👍 Beautiful, clean, simple, increasingly powerful
- 👍 Fantastic Essential App
- 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
- 👍 Seamless sync between devices

**What reviewers complain about**

- 💰 Expensive subscription
- 🐛 Crashes after recent update
- 🔍 Lack of customization options (e.g. font size)
- 🔍 Inconsistent and confusing UI conventions
- 🔍 Lack of basic features like tags and tables

**Reported bugs**

- Crashes when using voice control dictation
- Inconsistent behavior when rearranging notes
- Exporting to PDF creates blank first page

**Requested features**

- Add support for tables and columns
- Implement tagging system for better organization
- Improve text editing and formatting options
- Integrate with more third-party apps and services
- Add graph view for visualizing note connections


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Joplin free?

Joplin is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Craft free?

Craft is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Joplin or Craft?

Craft is rated higher. Joplin averages 4.1 out of 5 from 476 ratings, while Craft averages 4.8 from 6.6K ratings.

### Do Joplin or Craft have ads?

Neither Joplin nor Craft shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Joplin or Craft?

Joplin ships an update monthly, and Craft every 10 days. Most recently, Joplin was updated on September 26, 2026 and Craft on September 28, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*