Comparison

Joplin vs LightHouse Notes

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

LightHouse Notes

Features
Read full description

LightHouse is a calm, private place for notes, documents and ideas on iPhone, iPad and Mac. Write with rich text, checklists, tables, images and attachments. Organize work into Harbors, tags, pinned notes and visual cards. Connect related notes, create calendar events, scan documents, review earlier versions and export or back up your work. Anchor keeps everyday note-taking free with unlimited notes and up to three Harbors. Beacon and Harbor Lifetime unlock unlimited Harbors, fast cross-device synchronization, editing protection, locked notes, scanning, revision history, templates, custom themes and advanced tools. Beacon is an annually renewing subscription; Harbor Lifetime is a one-time purchase for the current LightHouse app and product generation, including LightHouse 2.0. Synchronization uses Apple iCloud and CloudKit with the user’s own Apple Account. LightHouse has no separate developer-operated notes server, no advertising and no third-party behavioral analytics. Document recognition runs on device. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Joplin4 screens
LightHouse Notes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Joplin at none against LightHouse Notes's 2. Joplin also leads on iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.0). On price, update cadence, ads and device support 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. LightHouse Notes sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $22.99 per year. Joplin asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Joplin ships an update monthly, LightHouse Notes every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Joplin versus LightHouse Notes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterJoplinLightHouse Notes
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (480 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews66.5% of reviews—
Number of ratings480 — better—
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS15.6 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size73 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLaurent CozicGiorgio Bellini

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

LightHouse Notes

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Joplin

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

LightHouse Notes

Subscriptions1
  • Beacon$22.991 Year
One-time1
  • Harbor Lifetime$44.99

Questions

Is Joplin free?
Joplin is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is LightHouse Notes free?
LightHouse Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Joplin or LightHouse Notes have ads?
Neither Joplin nor LightHouse Notes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Joplin or LightHouse Notes?
Joplin ships an update monthly, and LightHouse Notes every 3 weeks. Most recently, Joplin was updated on November 2, 2026 and LightHouse Notes on November 6, 2026.

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