# Joplin vs Note Fold

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Joplin at none against Note Fold's 3. Joplin also leads on ads (none vs shown). Note Fold's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs monthly) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.6). On price and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Note Fold sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Joplin asks for nothing beyond the download.

Joplin ships an update monthly, Note Fold every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Joplin | Note Fold |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.1 (476 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/joplin/id1315599797/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **476** | — |
| Positive reviews | 66.5% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | Monthly | **Every 3 days** |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Size | 73 MB | 62 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | **13.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Laurent Cozic](https://appshunter.io/developer/1315599796) | [Barrel of Sunshine](https://appshunter.io/developer/1774936914) |

## 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


### Note Fold

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/note-fold-structured-notes/id6757318935)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly - Note Fold Pro | $1.99 | per month |
| Annual - Note Fold Pro | $9.99 | per year |
| Lifetime - Note Fold Pro | $24.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Joplin free?

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

### Is Note Fold free?

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

### Do Joplin or Note Fold have ads?

Note Fold shows ads; Joplin does not.

### Which is updated more often, Joplin or Note Fold?

Joplin ships an update monthly, and Note Fold every 3 days. Most recently, Joplin was updated on October 8, 2026 and Note Fold on October 2, 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.*