# Joplin vs Rool

The clearest difference is rating: Rool at 5.0 against Joplin's 4.1. Rool also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs monthly). Joplin's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and ratings volume (476 vs 3). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Rool sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $12.99 per month. Joplin asks for nothing beyond the download.

Rool 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 3, so its average is the more settled of the two.

Joplin ships an update monthly, Rool fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Joplin | Rool |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.1 (476 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/joplin/id1315599797/reviews) | **[5.0 (3 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/rool/id6768030742/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **476** | 3 |
| Positive reviews | 66.5% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Monthly | **Fortnightly** |
| Monetization | **Free** | Freemium |
| Size | 73 MB | 13 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | **15.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | [Laurent Cozic](https://appshunter.io/developer/1315599796) | [Lightpost One Limited](https://appshunter.io/developer/1896532453) |

## 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


### Rool

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/rool/id6768030742)

This app provides a private cloud-based AI assistant to help you with tasks, projects, and file management. It allows you to chat with an AI, create and edit files, generate content, and collaborate with others in isolated project environments.

**Highlights:** Private cloud computer, AI-powered task completion, File upload and management, Content generation (text, code, images), Persistent project memory, Collaborative work environments, Data export

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Plus | $12.99 | per month |
| Pro | $29.99 | per month |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Joplin free?

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

### Is Rool free?

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

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

Rool is rated higher. Joplin averages 4.1 out of 5 from 476 ratings, while Rool averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.

### Do Joplin or Rool have ads?

Neither Joplin nor Rool shows ads.

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

Joplin ships an update monthly, and Rool fortnightly. Most recently, Joplin was updated on October 17, 2026 and Rool on October 18, 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.*