Comparison

UpNote vs Roam

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

Roam

Features
Read full description

Roam blocks distracting apps and websites where you need to focus, and lets them go when you leave. Pick a place (home, office, library, school) and what to block there. When you arrive, Roam locks it. When you leave, it comes back. No timers to remember. Set a schedule for each place: work hours at the office, evenings at home. Need to focus right now? Start a Quick Block for the apps and websites you choose. Need a breather? Take a 5-minute break. Really need in? Type a pause code, so every unlock is on purpose. Pick Gentle, Firm or Strict, or set your own. Roam uses Apple's Screen Time and your location. Your rules follow your day without you thinking about them. Try everything free for 14 days. After that, one schedule stays free; places and unlimited schedules need a subscription ($29.99 a year or $4.99 a month). Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

UpNote4 screens
Roam4 screens

Verdict

The call

UpNote and Roam are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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 5 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Roam sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

UpNote ships an update weekly, Roam every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
UpNote versus Roam: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUpNoteRoam
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (1.1K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews85.9% of reviews—
Number of ratings1.1K — better—
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.615.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size81 MB30 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperUpNote Company LimitedJIAN KUANG

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

Roam

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

5 purchases

UpNote

Subscriptions1
  • Premium monthly subscription$1.991 Month
One-time4
  • Life-time Upgrade to Premium$24.99
  • Life-time Upgrade$29.99
  • Life-time upgrade to Premium$34.99
Show 1 more
  • Life-time upgrade to Premium$39.99
3 purchases

Roam

Subscriptions2
  • Roam Plus$4.991 Month
  • Roam Plus$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • Roam Lifetime$49.99

Questions

Is UpNote free?
UpNote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Roam free?
Roam is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do UpNote or Roam have ads?
Neither UpNote nor Roam shows ads.
Which is updated more often, UpNote or Roam?
UpNote ships an update weekly, and Roam every 5 days. Most recently, UpNote was updated on November 6, 2026 and Roam on November 5, 2026.

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