Simpletext vs Strongbox Zero
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Zero clutter interface
- Beautiful typography with professional fonts
- Plain text only support
- Fully native Apple app
- Supports custom fonts
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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
Strongbox Zero
This app securely stores and protects your passwords with a master password. It supports open-source formats and offers advanced security features like biometric unlock and hardware token protection. It's designed for users who prefer a local-only password management solution.
- Local-only password storage
- Biometric and PIN unlock
- YubiKey hardware token protection
- Military-grade cryptography
- Password auditing for weak passwords
- Secure document attachment viewer
- Import/Export via Files app and Email
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Strongbox Zero is a version of the well known and loved Strongbox with all of the networking code and as many third party libraries stripped out as we could! Think of it as the Drag Racer version of Strongbox! If you're a fan of Local Only password managers this could be the right choice for you. We recommend you get to know (and love!) the regular Strongbox first through the Freemium app. Once you're happy and sure you want to go local only, go for Strongbox Zero... Strongbox Zero is an application for keeping all your passwords safely stored and protected by one master password. Supporting the open source Password Safe and KeePass formats. *** Features *** - Face ID/Touch ID Unlock for the ultimate in convenience, security and speed. - PIN Code Unlock with a Duress PIN option for those tricky situations. - YubiKey protection - secure your databases with a hardware token. - Secure - protected by time tested military grade cryptography. - Private - Isolated In-App attachments viewer for your sensitive documents, photos & videos. - Audit your passwords - Automatically check your database for weak passwords - Search your entire set of passwords and secrets instantly and powerfully, with deep search. Autocomplete new entries, and auto generate secure passwords. - Compatible - Import/Export by Files app, Email, CSV, iTunes File Sharing - Standards compliant - using the time tested Password Safe and KeePass formats so you can import any existing password safe you have. - Features galore - Incredibly configurable password generation including Diceware (XKCD) & regular passwords. - Timed Auto Clear Clipboard. - Entry History. - KeePass Field References, Tags & Custom Icons. - Two Factor Authentication codes (TOTP) - QR Code, Steam & Manual. --------------------------------------------------------------------- • Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase • Strongbox Privacy Policy may be found here: https://strongboxsafe.com/privacy-policy/ • Strongbox Terms of Use may be found here: https://strongboxsafe.com/terms/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Simpletext at $14.99 against Strongbox Zero's $99.99. Strongbox Zero's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 3 months) and rating (4.3 vs 4.1). On review sentiment, ratings volume, 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
Simpletext costs $14.99 and Strongbox Zero $99.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Strongbox Zero holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 23 and 21 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 73% of Simpletext's written reviews are positive against 75% of Strongbox Zero's.
Simpletext ships an update every 3 months, Strongbox Zero every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Simpletext | Strongbox Zero |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $14.99 — better | $99.99 |
| Rating | 4.1 (23 ratings) | 4.3 (21 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 73.3% of reviews | 75.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 23 — better | 21 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 96 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Yeow Jin Gan | Phoebe Code Limited |
Customer experience
Simpletext
Strongbox Zero
In-app purchases
Simpletext
No in-app purchases
Strongbox Zero
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Simpletext free?
Is Strongbox Zero free?
Which has better reviews, Simpletext or Strongbox Zero?
Do Simpletext or Strongbox Zero have ads?
Which is updated more often, Simpletext or Strongbox Zero?
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