Comparison

Simpletext vs Airlist

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Simpletext

This app offers a minimalist writing experience, focusing solely on plain text. It provides a distraction-free environment with beautiful typography and native performance across Apple devices. Ideal for those who want to concentrate on their words without unnecessary features.

Highlights
  • Zero clutter interface
  • Beautiful typography with professional fonts
  • Plain text only support
  • Fully native Apple app
  • Supports custom fonts
Features
Read full description

The Simplest Writing App for Mac, iPad and iPhone There are many writing apps for you to choose from today, so why bother with yet another one? Because Simpletext is simpler. Its single-minded commitment to simplicity means you’ll get a no-frills writing app that works well and looks great, forever. Simpletext started as a passion project because I couldn’t find what I was looking for. Most apps were trying to do too much and ended up bloated with features I never needed. So I built Simpletext based on a simple premise — what if there’s an app that refuses to do more, choosing instead to do just one thing, and do it well? For Simpletext, that one thing is writing. Why Simpletext? Most people would say Simpletext is lacking in features, and they’re right. In fact, Simpletext began the opposite way — by listing down everything I didn’t want in a writing app. The goal is to create a dumbed-down writing app that inspires you to do nothing else but write. In order to achieve this, I designed Simpletext around four cornerstone principles: 1. Zero Clutter Simpletext is unobtrusive. It provides a blank canvas to write with absolutely nothing to distract you from writing. There’s no visual clutter — the intent is to create a quiet space that helps you connect with your voice, get into the flow, and simply write. With zero clutter, Simpletext lets your words take centre stage. 2. Beautiful Typography Simpletext comes with three professional fonts for you to choose from, handpicked to provide the finest writing experience. They are: (1) Akkurat Mono by Lineto (Monospaced); (2) Graphik by Commercial Type (Sans Serif); and (3) Tiempos Text by Klim Type Foundry (Serif). And if you have a personal favourite font, you can use it in Simpletext too. 3. Plain Text Only Simpletext supports only plain text, which is fast, lightweight and platform-independent. It will never have formatting options, so your files will never be filled with unnecessary attributes. Plain text also ensures your files are always accessible on any device, now and in the future. 4. Fully Native Simpletext is a fully native app developed in Swift and runs natively on Apple silicon. It uses only Apple’s framework and UI components, just as they were intended to be used without any custom workarounds. This approach results in less code, less bugs and better overall performance. Here's What Others Have to Say “I just wanted to thank you for developing Simpletext. It’s perfect. I’ve enjoyed its simplicity and smoothness for quite some time, but now that I can use my favourite font in it (Sina Nova, free on Fontspring) it has truly become not just the best app to write in, but my favourite app period. Thank you for creating and maintaining it.” - Bart “This app does everything it says on the tin. It is not meant to do a lot, but what it does it does very well. It is well designed and suits well those who want to focus on writing and avoid dealing with formatting, proprietary file types and hidden saving locations. It produces and edits .txt files, which will probably be around for as long as there are computers, and saves them in plain sight. Five stars.” - Fernando “I’ve tried all sorts of writing apps but Simpletext is definitely the best of all. So grateful for your dedication and those productivity tips in the blog post are so good. Simpletext is such a joy to use.” - LWL Art Studio “A writing app that is as simple as stated, beautiful to write with and opens and closes wherever you want. Simple tweaks are easily accessible, if required, and only add to the minimalistic perfection. Good job.” - Tuntle Get Back to Basics In a world full of feature-rich, subscription-based apps, I wanted to create something that goes back to basics. Simpletext is intentionally simple, yet it has everything you need. It’s an app I use every single day. I hope you will too. Best wishes, Yeow Jin P.S. Simpletext comes with a promise — find out more at simpletext.app/promise

About

Airlist

Organize your thoughts, ideas, and tasks with an intuitive outliner. Create nested lists for groceries, projects, or anything else, and sync them across all your Apple devices. Features include widgets, dark mode, and advanced search.

Highlights
  • Infinitely nested lists
  • Cross-device syncing
  • Home and Lock Screen widgets
  • Dark Mode support
  • Advanced saved searches
  • Easy export and import
Read full description

A delightful outliner for your dreams, ideas, lists, and projects. == Native iOS app - Built natively for iPhone, iPad and Mac == Delightful, beautiful lists - Easily create beautiful infinitely nested lists of groceries to buy, movies to watch, books to read, projects to complete, or anything you can dream of. - Zoom in on any note, showing only what you need to focus on. == Sync everywhere and stay organized on all your devices - Airlist syncs across all your iOS devices. == Dates Done Right - Start and Due Dates? Yes. - Start and Due TIMES? You bet. - Repeat after complete or custom schedule? Of course. == Loaded with features not distractions - Get in, get out. Beautiful design. Intuitive UI. - Airlist is simple at its core and advanced where you need. == Plus so much more - Widgets (Home and Lock Screen) - Unlimited Items. Infinite Zoom. - Dark Mode - Automatic Sync - Drag and Drop - Backlinks and References - Keyboard Shortcuts - Tags - Easy export and import - Beautiful formatting - Advanced Saved Searches Privacy Policy: https://airlist.app/privacy Terms of Service: https://airlist.app/terms

Screenshots

Simpletext4 screens
Airlist4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Airlist at Free against Simpletext's $14.99. Airlist also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.1) and update cadence (monthly vs every 3 months). Simpletext's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and chart position (#169 vs unranked). On ratings volume, 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

Airlist is free to download; Simpletext costs $14.99 up front. Airlist sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Simpletext asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Airlist holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 23 and 15 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 73% of Simpletext's written reviews are positive against 85% of Airlist's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Simpletext ships an update every 3 months, Airlist monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and June 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Simpletext versus Airlist: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSimpletextAirlist
Price$14.99Free — better
Rating4.1 (23 ratings)4.7 (15 ratings) — better
Positive reviews73.3% of reviews84.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings23 — better15
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
Best chart rank#169 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB29 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperYeow Jin GanLogerhaus, LLC

Customer experience

Simpletext

All ratings23 ratings
Positive73.9%
Neutral8.7%
Negative17.4%
Written reviews30 reviews
Positive73.3%
Neutral13.3%
Negative13.3%

Airlist

All ratings15 ratings
Positive93.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative6.7%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive84.6%
Neutral7.7%
Negative7.7%

In-app purchases

None

Simpletext

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Airlist

Subscriptions2
  • Airlist Premium Monthly1 Month trial$2.991 Month
  • Airlist Premium Yearly1 Month trial$24.991 Year

Questions

Is Simpletext free?
Simpletext costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Airlist free?
Airlist is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Simpletext or Airlist?
Airlist is rated higher. Simpletext averages 4.1 out of 5 from 23 ratings, while Airlist averages 4.7 from 15 ratings.
Do Simpletext or Airlist have ads?
Neither Simpletext nor Airlist shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Simpletext or Airlist?
Simpletext ships an update every 3 months, and Airlist monthly. Most recently, Simpletext was updated on September 22, 2026 and Airlist on June 1, 2026.

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