Comparison

Joplin vs FreeScout

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

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.

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
Read full description

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.

About

FreeScout

This official client provides access to your FreeScout helpdesk on iOS devices. It enables push notifications for important updates when configured with the "Mobile Notifications" module. Contact your administrator for any helpdesk-related issues.

Highlights
  • Official FreeScout client
  • Push notifications
  • iOS compatibility
  • Helpdesk access
Features
Read full description

Official FreeScout helpdesk client for iOS. To enable push notifications, install "Mobile Notifications" module in your FreeScout help desk. When this app shows "FreeScout Would LIke to Send You Notifications" dialog, make sure to click "Allow", otherwise you won't receive push notifications. If you experience any problems when using the help desk inside of the app, please contact your help desk administrator, as this app is not responsible for any issues related to your FreeScout installation.

Screenshots

Joplin4 screens
FreeScout3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Joplin at 67% against FreeScout's 21%. Joplin also leads on rating (4.1 vs 3.0) and update cadence (monthly vs every 15 months). FreeScout's advantage is iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.6). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Joplin holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Joplin has 473 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Joplin's written reviews are positive against 21% of FreeScout's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Joplin ships an update monthly, FreeScout every 15 months. The most recent releases landed on September 20, 2026 and June 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Joplin versus FreeScout: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterJoplinFreeScout
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (473 ratings) — better3.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews66.6% of reviews — better21.4% of reviews
Number of ratings473 — better2
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 15 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.611.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size73 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLaurent CozicJason Rhee

Customer experience

Joplin

All ratings473 ratings
Positive77.2%
Neutral6.3%
Negative16.5%
Written reviews494 reviews
Positive66.6%
Neutral9.3%
Negative24.1%

FreeScout

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews14 reviews
Positive21.4%
Neutral7.1%
Negative71.4%

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
Show 1 more
  • Implement a trash/recycle bin for deleted notes

FreeScout

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Joplin

No in-app purchases

None

FreeScout

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Joplin free?
Joplin is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is FreeScout free?
FreeScout is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Joplin or FreeScout?
Joplin is rated higher. Joplin averages 4.1 out of 5 from 473 ratings, while FreeScout averages 3.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Joplin or FreeScout have ads?
Neither Joplin nor FreeScout shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Joplin or FreeScout?
Joplin ships an update monthly, and FreeScout every 15 months. Most recently, Joplin was updated on September 20, 2026 and FreeScout on June 1, 2026.

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