# UpNote vs Private Notes.

The clearest difference is review sentiment: UpNote at 86% against Private Notes.'s 14%. UpNote also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months). Private Notes.'s advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 8) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.6). On price and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. UpNote sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Private Notes. asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpNote ships an update weekly, Private Notes. every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and August 22, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | UpNote | Private Notes. |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.7 (1.1K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/upnote-notes-diary-journal/id1389634515/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **1.1K** | — |
| Positive reviews | **85.9% of reviews** | 14.3% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | **Weekly** | Every 2 months |
| Monetization | Freemium | **Ad-supported** |
| Size | 82 MB | 16 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | **12.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [UpNote Company Limited](https://appshunter.io/developer/1347759263) | [WALABOK LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/913827467) |

## What reviewers say

### UpNote

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/upnote-notes-diary-journal/id1389634515)

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:** Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (8)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Premium monthly subscription | $1.99 | per month |
| Life-time Upgrade | $19.99 | one-time |
| Life-time Upgrade to Premium | $19.99 | one-time |
| Life-time Upgrade | $24.99 | one-time |
| Life-time Upgrade to Premium | $24.99 | one-time |
| Life-time Upgrade | $29.99 | one-time |
| Life-time upgrade to Premium | $34.99 | one-time |
| Life-time upgrade to Premium | $39.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

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

**What reviewers complain about**

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

**Reported bugs**

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

**Requested features**

- Reminders and calendar integration
- More customization options (fonts, colors, etc.)
- Improved drawing/handwriting support
- PDF annotation and embedding
- Optical character recognition (OCR)


### Private Notes.

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/private-notes/id1539765495)

Securely store your personal thoughts, ideas, and text with a passcode or biometric authentication. This app offers intuitive text editing tools and a straightforward interface for organizing timestamped notes.

**Highlights:** Biometric and passcode security, Intuitive copy/paste/cut, Text formatting (underline, bold, italic), Timestamped notes, Straightforward user interface

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is UpNote free?

UpNote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Private Notes. free?

Private Notes. is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Do UpNote or Private Notes. have ads?

Private Notes. shows ads; UpNote does not.

### Which is updated more often, UpNote or Private Notes.?

UpNote ships an update weekly, and Private Notes. every 2 months. Most recently, UpNote was updated on September 28, 2026 and Private Notes. on August 22, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*