Comparison

Joplin vs Scan Now

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

Scan Now

Effortlessly scan documents with a fast and simple mobile application. Its user-friendly interface and advanced capabilities allow for quick document capture and sharing. Designed with privacy in mind, it ensures your data remains secure.

Highlights
  • Fast document scanning
  • Easy-to-use interface
  • Advanced scanning capabilities
  • Quick document sharing
  • Privacy-focused design
  • Secure data handling
Read full description

ScanNow is a fast and simple app for scanning documents on iOS. With its easy-to-use interface and advanced scanning capabilities, you can quickly and easily scan documents and send them to any place you want. Whether you're at the office or on the go, ScanNow has you covered. Plus, with its privacy-focused design, you can trust that your data is safe and secure. Try ScanNow today and experience the convenience and efficiency of professional document scanning on your iPhone or iPad.

Screenshots

Joplin4 screens
Scan Now1 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Scan Now at 5.0 against Joplin's 4.1. Scan Now also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 66%). Joplin's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 27 months) and ratings volume (476 vs 7). 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

Scan Now holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Joplin has 476 ratings behind it against 7, 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 100% of Scan Now's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Joplin ships an update monthly, Scan Now every 27 months. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Joplin versus Scan Now: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterJoplinScan Now
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (476 ratings)5.0 (7 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.5% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings476 — better7
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 27 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.614.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size73 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLaurent CozicMarcin Stepnowski

Customer experience

Joplin

All ratings476 ratings
Positive76.7%
Neutral6.3%
Negative17.0%
Written reviews495 reviews
Positive66.5%
Neutral9.3%
Negative24.2%

Scan Now

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

Scan Now

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Joplin

No in-app purchases

None

Scan Now

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Joplin free?
Joplin is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Scan Now free?
Scan Now is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Joplin or Scan Now?
Scan Now is rated higher. Joplin averages 4.1 out of 5 from 476 ratings, while Scan Now averages 5.0 from 7 ratings.
Do Joplin or Scan Now have ads?
Neither Joplin nor Scan Now shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Joplin or Scan Now?
Joplin ships an update monthly, and Scan Now every 27 months. Most recently, Joplin was updated on October 17, 2026 and Scan Now on October 2, 2026.

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