Comparison

UpNote vs NotePlan

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

Head to head
About

UpNote

This app provides a clean and beautiful interface for writing and organizing notes, journals, and to-do lists. It offers rich formatting options, an intuitive organization system, and instant syncing across devices, with offline capabilities. Premium features include enhanced security and export options.

Highlights
  • Rich text editor with formatting tools
  • Intuitive organizing system (notebooks, pins, links)
  • Secure note locking with Touch/Face ID
  • Instant cross-device syncing and offline access
  • Markdown support and export
  • Task management and to-do lists
Features
Read full description

UpNote is a clean and beautiful app for writing and organizing. It's easy to use with rich features and delightful experience. UpNote is designed to help you take notes easily and stay focused on what matters most. UpNote has beautiful fonts and elegant themes that you can adjust to make your writing experience most comfortable and pleasant. UpNote is an ideal place to keep your diary and journal. It has a powerful lock feature so that you can rest assured that your notes stay private and secure. You can also use Touch ID or Face ID to securely unlock your notes. UpNote’s intuitive organizing system will keep your note space neat and light. There are many ways to organize your notes: putting them into notebooks, pinning your notes to the top of the note list, bookmarking them for quick reference or linking to other notes. You can also close any notebooks to focus on only most important one. UpNote’s rich editor makes it perfect for planning and managing your tasks. Simply write down your to-do list and have them synced to all your devices. UpNote offers highlight, text colors, table, nested list, code and many other important formatting tools so that you could easily format your notes. UpNote syncs notes instantly on all devices. It also works reliably offline, so you could take note anytime, anywhere. If you are a markdown user, UpNote is great for you too. It has intuitive shortcuts based on markdown, which makes it more fun to write notes. You can also export your notes to Markdown or PDF. Try UpNote now and you will fall in love with it! ---- Upgrade to Premium to get full power of UpNote: - Lock your notes and notebooks - Insert table and attachments - Write unlimited number of notes - Elegant themes and notebook covers - Export to text PDF, HTML and Markdown ---- 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. You will not be able to cancel the subscription once activated. Manage your subscriptions in Account Settings after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial peri​od will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription. ---- If you have any question or feedback, we would love to hear it. Send an email to support@getupnote.com, and we would love to get in touch with you! ---- Privacy policy: https://getupnote.com/privacy.html Terms of use: https://getupnote.com/terms.html

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

UpNote4 screens
NotePlan4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: UpNote at freemium against NotePlan's subscription. UpNote also leads on update cadence (weekly vs monthly). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. UpNote sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month 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

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for UpNote against 4.8 for NotePlan. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.1K and 1.5K respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 86% and 85% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

UpNote ships an update weekly, NotePlan monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
UpNote versus NotePlan: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUpNoteNotePlan
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (1.1K ratings)4.8 (1.5K ratings) — better
Positive reviews85.9% of reviews — better85.0% of reviews
Number of ratings1.1K1.5K — better
Update frequencyWeekly — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS15.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size82 MB210 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperUpNote Company LimitedNotePlan LLC

Customer experience

UpNote

All ratings1,059 ratings
Positive92.5%
Neutral2.8%
Negative4.6%
Written reviews752 reviews
Positive85.9%
Neutral6.1%
Negative8.0%

NotePlan

All ratings1,506 ratings
Positive95.2%
Neutral1.9%
Negative2.9%
Written reviews472 reviews
Positive85.0%
Neutral4.7%
Negative10.4%

User reviews

UpNote

From 1.1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Seamless syncing across devices
  • 🚀 Fast and responsive
  • 💡 Nested notebooks and tags for organization
  • 👍 Clean and intuitive interface
  • 💡 Lifetime premium option

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and crashes
  • 🐛 Issues with image/attachment handling
  • 🐛 Formatting problems with pasted content
  • 🐛 Syncing problems between devices
  • 🔒 Lack of end-to-end encryption

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

UpNote

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Black screen issues
  • Lost notes and data
  • Incompatibility with newer iOS versions
  • Google sign-in not working

Requested features

8 requests
  • Reminders and calendar integration
  • More customization options (fonts, colors, etc.)
  • Improved drawing/handwriting support
  • PDF annotation and embedding
  • Optical character recognition (OCR)
Show 3 more
  • Ability to reorder bullets and lists
  • Improved table editing and formatting
  • Apple Watch app

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

8 purchases

UpNote

Subscriptions1
  • Premium monthly subscription$1.991 Month
One-time7
  • Life-time Upgrade$19.99
  • Life-time Upgrade to Premium$19.99
  • Life-time Upgrade$24.99
Show 4 more
  • Life-time Upgrade to Premium$24.99
  • Life-time Upgrade$29.99
  • Life-time upgrade to Premium$34.99
  • Life-time upgrade to Premium$39.99
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 UpNote free?
UpNote 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, UpNote or NotePlan?
NotePlan is rated higher. UpNote averages 4.7 out of 5 from 1.1K ratings, while NotePlan averages 4.8 from 1.5K ratings.
Do UpNote or NotePlan have ads?
Neither UpNote nor NotePlan shows ads.
Which is updated more often, UpNote or NotePlan?
UpNote ships an update weekly, and NotePlan monthly. Most recently, UpNote was updated on September 22, 2026 and NotePlan on September 23, 2026.

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