Joplin vs Orbit Down
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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.
Orbit Down
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Orbit Down is a free, ad-free countdown app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Use it without ads, tracking, or an account. Track launches, birthdays, trips, exams, bills, holidays, weddings, goals, appointments, and milestones. No app account, ads, analytics SDK, or third-party tracking. Make each countdown feel right. Choose collections, tags, notes, locations, links, searchable custom SF Symbols, typed hex color palettes, typography, photos, progress starts, milestones, urgency badges, repeat rules, completion behavior, reminder presets, actionable reminder notifications: Snooze 1 Hour, Snooze 1 Day, Snooze Tomorrow Morning, time zones, business-day units, total time units, and standard, short, or digital labels. Use 10 curated one-tap style presets. Start from built-in templates for travel, project deadlines, tax deadlines, visa renewals, concerts, dinner reservations, subscription renewals, paydays, baby due dates, retirement, moving day, birthdays, holidays, exams, and goals; then save your own templates and palettes. Widgets are central. Add small, medium, large, extra-large, and accessory widgets where supported. A single widget asks for Countdown and optional Layout; Upcoming asks for Source, optional Collection, and Rows; Collection Dashboard asks only for Collection. Widgets inherit saved countdown appearances and open matching app detail when tapped. Mutation controls stay in Live Activities, Control Center, Shortcuts, notifications, and the app. Create countdowns quickly from natural language. Quick Add, Siri, Shortcuts, Share Extension, and macOS Services all use the same parser for phrases such as "Dinner tomorrow at noon", "Launch brief by EOD", "Payday every other Friday", "Trip in 5 business days", "Countdown to Thanksgiving", "7/10/26 at 6pm", "#Launch #VIP", or multi-line pasted lists. You can include reminders, links, locations, collections, tags, favorite status, time zones, style presets, symbols, typography, units, milestones, and visual settings in the text before saving; New Countdown and Quick Add also respect the current collection or tag context unless explicit collection or tag details are supplied. Default creation collection, default creation tags, default creation style, default creation appearance, default creation progress details, default creation reminders, default creation completion behavior, default creation favorite, default creation repeat, default creation progress start, default creation units, default creation time labels, default creation typography, and default creation time zone settings keep blank, Quick Add, and Siri-created countdowns organized. Shortcuts can also duplicate countdowns, reschedule dates, rename or remove tags, set typography, copy visual styles between countdowns, use clipboard text, create countdowns from link page text, and create or review countdowns from text-bearing files. Bring Apple apps into the flow. Import upcoming Calendar events, dated Reminders, and Contacts birthdays or anniversaries with review screens and Shortcuts actions. Add countdown targets back to Calendar or Reminders, refresh imported countdowns from their source, open calendar invite files, and share countdowns as text or Markdown with progress percentage and elapsed/remaining context, a visual card, a calendar invite, a QR code, or a portable Countdown File. Live Activities and Dynamic Island keep important countdowns visible with Skip, Postpone, and Done / Next controls. Native system entry points include iOS quick actions, Control Center controls, file opening, macOS Services, the command menu, and the menu bar glance. The menu bar supports New Countdown, Quick Add, clickable Next rows, Skip, Postpone 1 Day, Done / Next, Undo Completion, and Clear History. Data stays local by default. Optional iCloud sync uses your Apple ID; backups with import summary, portable files, and Erase Local Data keep you in control.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Joplin at 15.6 against Orbit Down's 17.0. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Joplin ships an update monthly, Orbit Down fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Joplin | Orbit Down |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.1 (480 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 66.5% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 480 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 73 MB | 38 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Laurent Cozic | Joaquin Zelnick |
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
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- Implement a trash/recycle bin for deleted notes
Orbit Down
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Joplin
No in-app purchases
Orbit Down
No in-app purchases









