Comparison

Agenda vs NotePlan

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

Head to head
About

Agenda

This app organizes notes by placing them on a timeline alongside your calendar. Capture decisions, prepare for meetings, and review past events in a single view. It offers a robust text editor and allows attaching files and photos to notes.

Highlights
  • Notes on a timeline
  • Calendar event integration
  • Real text editor with formatting
  • File and photo attachments
  • Project and category organization
  • Cross-device sync
  • Real-time collaboration
Features
Read full description

Most notes apps lose track of time. You write something, it disappears into a folder, and a week later you can't remember why you made that decision or what you prepared for that meeting. Agenda fixes this. Every note lives on a timeline alongside your calendar. Prepare for next week's client meeting, capture decisions as they happen, and look back at exactly what led you here — all in one view. "It's my favorite new app in years." — John Gruber, daringfireball.net "Every notes app should work like Agenda." — Khoi Vinh, subtraction.com "One of the most interesting note-taking apps I've used." — John Voorhees, MacStories YOUR NOTES, CONNECTED TO YOUR CALENDAR Attach any note to a date or link it directly to a calendar event. Mark notes as "On the Agenda" to surface them in a dedicated overview — your shortlist of what matters right now. A REAL TEXT EDITOR Headings, lists, tables, checklists, indented blocks, and preformatted text — with the simplicity of plain text input. Focus on what you're writing; Agenda handles how it looks. FILES, PHOTOS, AND LINKS Attach files and images to any note. Everything syncs across your devices and can be previewed inline. PROJECTS AND CATEGORIES Group notes into projects, group projects into categories. Drag to reorder, collapse to focus, or let the timeline do the organizing for you. MAC, IPAD, AND IPHONE Agenda syncs across all your devices via iCloud or Dropbox. Share individual notes for real-time collaboration — useful for team meetings or shared lists. FREE TO USE, FOREVER Agenda is free with no time limits. Premium features are available through a yearly subscription — and you keep every feature you unlock, even if you cancel. A one-time lifetime purchase is also available.

About

NotePlan

Organize your tasks, notes, and calendar in one unified app. Quickly plan your day with Markdown, link notes bi-directionally, and stay on top of your to-dos with powerful review and search features. Seamlessly integrates with your existing calendars and syncs across all your Apple devices.

Highlights
  • Unified task, note, and calendar view
  • Markdown for quick task and note creation
  • Bi-directional note linking
  • Calendar integration (iCloud, Google, Exchange)
  • Flexible recurring tasks
  • Global Command Bar for fast navigation
  • Plaintext note storage
Features
Read full description

Having trouble planning your day, managing your to-do list, and organizing your notes? Always jumping between apps and losing track of what to do and where you put things? Say hello to NotePlan! NotePlan lets you manage everything in one place: your tasks, notes, and calendar. Perfect for project managers, designers, researchers, writers, students, or anyone who wants to be organized and efficient. QUICKLY PLAN YOUR DAY WITH MARKDOWN • Plan your day by seeing your calendar, notes, and tasks in a single view • Create tasks and notes quickly with Markdown • Add #tags to organize tasks and notes • Use @mentions to find people • Reschedule to-do items easily • Create flexible recurring tasks • Work faster with autocomplete BUILD YOUR NETWORK OF NOTES • Create your own network of notes • Organize any way you want to: from simple folders over P.A.R.A. to a Zettelkasten system • Bi-directional notes: link your calendar and your notes in any direction, automatically • Cross-reference and link notes easily STAY ON TOP OF THINGS WITH REVIEW • Search all tasks and notes, instantly • See all open tasks with the click of a button • Get a list of overdue to-do items • See upcoming tasks at a glance • Create custom filters with your own queries using status, #tags, @mentions, or even text SEAMLESS INTEGRATION WITH YOUR CALENDAR • Create events and reminders right in NotePlan • Support for iCloud, Google, and Exchange calendars • Time-block tasks on your calendar simply by typing AVAILABLE ON MAC, IPHONE & IPAD • Sync everything between your Apple devices • Use any sync method you like: CloudKit or iCloud Drive • A single subscription for all your devices OPEN, PRIVATE & FAST • All your notes are stored in plaintext so you're never locked in • Your information is private and cannot be accessed • Enjoy lightning speed thanks to local files and native apps ANY THEME YOU WANT • Choose from a variety of built-in themes • Work with light or dark versions • Create your own custom theme SHORTCUTS FOR MAXIMUM SPEED • Extended Markdown syntax support with customization options • Move around without ever leaving the keyboard • Find everything with the Global Command Bar NotePlan is developed independently and prioritizes user features and requests. We have long-term roadmaps and listen to customers to improve the apps. - - - - - Price may vary by location. Subscriptions will be charged to your credit card through your iTunes account. Your subscription will automatically renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. After purchase, manage your subscriptions in App Store Account Settings. - - - - - Email: hello@noteplan.co Web: noteplan.co Discord: https://discord.gg/D4268MT Twitter: NotePlanApp Reddit: reddit.com/r/NotePlanApp Learn NotePlan course: https://noteplan.eo.page/newsletter Terms of use: http://noteplan.co/tos/ Privacy policy: https://noteplan.co/privacy/

Screenshots

Agenda4 screens
NotePlan4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Agenda at freemium against NotePlan's subscription. Agenda also leads on update cadence (weekly vs monthly). NotePlan's advantage is review sentiment (85% vs 64%). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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. Agenda sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $39.99 per year and NotePlan sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

NotePlan holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3.7K and 1.5K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 64% of Agenda's written reviews are positive against 85% of NotePlan's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Agenda ships an update weekly, NotePlan monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Agenda versus NotePlan: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAgendaNotePlan
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (3.7K ratings)4.8 (1.5K ratings) — better
Positive reviews63.8% of reviews85.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3.7K — better1.5K
Update frequencyWeekly — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size123 MB204 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperMomenta B.V.NotePlan LLC

Customer experience

Agenda

All ratings3,684 ratings
Positive91.5%
Neutral3.4%
Negative5.1%
Written reviews878 reviews
Positive63.8%
Neutral14.5%
Negative21.8%

NotePlan

All ratings1,517 ratings
Positive95.3%
Neutral1.9%
Negative2.8%
Written reviews478 reviews
Positive85.1%
Neutral4.6%
Negative10.3%

User reviews

Agenda

From 3.7K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Powerful features
  • 📅 Excellent calendar integration
  • 💻 Seamless sync across devices
  • 🗓 Date-focused note-taking
  • 🔍 Helpful search and tagging

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and crashes
  • 🤔 Steep learning curve for some
  • 🔍 Difficult to find specific notes
  • 💰 Expensive premium subscription
  • 🖌 Lack of Apple Pencil support

NotePlan

From 1.5K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Powerful note-taking and task management
  • 👍 Seamless calendar and reminders integration
  • 💡 Flexible and customizable workflow
  • 🔒 Secure and open-format data storage
  • 👍 Responsive and helpful developer

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive subscription model
  • 🐛 Occasional sync and performance issues
  • 👤 Limited collaboration and sharing features

Bugs and requests

Agenda

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Sync issues between devices
  • Text formatting inconsistencies
  • Unresponsive UI in certain cases

Requested features

5 requests
  • Handwriting and drawing support
  • Ability to insert images and files
  • Project templates and subfolders
  • Google Calendar integration
  • Improved note formatting options

NotePlan

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Inconsistent sync between devices
  • Crashes when opening certain files

Requested features

4 requests
  • Improved iPad and mobile app experience
  • Better integration with other productivity apps
  • More automation and scripting capabilities
  • Weekly or monthly calendar view

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Agenda

Subscriptions2
  • Premium Subscription macOS+iOS7 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • Premium Features iPadOS+iOS$44.991 Year
One-time3
  • Premium Features iOS & iPadOS$14.99
  • Premium macOS, iOS & iPadOS$34.99
  • Lifetime Premium Features$179.00
8 purchases

NotePlan

Subscriptions8
  • Personal Weekly$4.997 Days
  • Personal Monthly$6.991 Month
  • Personal Monthly1 Month trial$11.991 Month
Show 5 more
  • Personal Monthly2 variants$12.001 Month
  • Personal Annual7 Days trial$59.991 Year
  • Personal Annual7 Days trial2 variants$99.991 Year
  • Personal Annual1 Month trial$119.991 Year
  • Business Class1 Month trial$199.991 Year

Questions

Is Agenda free?
Agenda is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is NotePlan free?
NotePlan is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Agenda or NotePlan?
NotePlan is rated higher. Agenda averages 4.6 out of 5 from 3.7K ratings, while NotePlan averages 4.8 from 1.5K ratings.
Do Agenda or NotePlan have ads?
Neither Agenda nor NotePlan shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Agenda or NotePlan?
Agenda ships an update weekly, and NotePlan monthly. Most recently, Agenda was updated on November 9, 2026 and NotePlan on November 7, 2026.

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