# Minimal | Notes vs Paper

The clearest difference is monetization model: Paper at free with in-app purchases against Minimal | Notes's subscription. Paper also leads on ratings volume (1.7K vs 290) and iOS requirement (15 vs 17.0). Minimal | Notes's advantage is review sentiment (81% vs 72%). On price, rating, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Minimal | Notes sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Paper sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Minimal | Notes against 4.7 for Paper. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Paper has 1.7K ratings behind it against 290, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 81% of Minimal | Notes's written reviews are positive against 72% of Paper's.

Minimal | Notes ships an update every 3 weeks, Paper monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Minimal | Notes | Paper |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.7 (290 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/minimal-notes/id1442727443/reviews) | [4.7 (1.7K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/paper-writing-app-notes/id1476984841/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 290 | **1.7K** |
| Positive reviews | **81.3% of reviews** | 72.2% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 3 weeks** | Monthly |
| Monetization | Subscription | **Free with in-app purchases** |
| Size | 59 MB | 85 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | **15** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch** | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Timeless](https://appshunter.io/developer/1183067513) | [Mihhail Lapushkin](https://appshunter.io/developer/1143513743) |

## What reviewers say

### Minimal | Notes

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/minimal-notes/id1442727443)

This app offers a distraction-free writing environment inspired by meditation. It features collaborative writing, note expiration, and the ability to publish notes as websites. Organize tasks with integrated to-do lists and sync across all your Apple devices.

**Highlights:** Note Lifetime reminders, Collaborative writing, Publish notes as websites, Todo lists sync with Calendar, Beautiful formatting, Sync across Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch

**Features:** Family Sharing, Apple Watch app, iMessage stickers, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Minimal Monthly | $4.99 | per month |
| Minimal Annual | $49.99 | per year |
| Minimal Family Plan | $79.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Excellent note-taking app
- 👍 Beautiful and simple design
- 🚀 Seamless syncing across devices
- 👍 Customizable appearance and formatting
- 🚀 Responsive and helpful developer

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
- 🔒 Lack of password protection or locking for notes
- 💰 Expensive subscription model

**Reported bugs**

- Crashes when using certain formatting or pasting content
- Syncing issues between iOS and macOS versions
- Incompatibility with older macOS versions

**Requested features**

- Add ability to insert images or attachments
- Improve iCloud sync reliability
- Implement a folder-based organization system
- Add a word/character count feature


### Paper

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/paper-writing-app-notes/id1476984841)

This app offers a clean and configurable writing environment for various creative projects. It supports Markdown and plain text, syncs with iCloud, and integrates with other tools. Users can publish drafts to popular blogging platforms and export documents in multiple formats.

**Highlights:** Gorgeous writing space, Silky-smooth typing, Deep personalization (Pro), Markdown or Plain Text support, iCloud sync, Publish to Medium, WordPress, Ghost, Export to PDF, HTML, DOCX, ePub

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

**In-app purchases (6)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pro Features — Discounted | $14.99 | per month |
| Pro Features | $29.99 | per month |
| Pro Features — Discounted | $49.99 | per year |
| Pro Features | $99.99 | per year |
| Pro Features — Discounted | $99.99 | one-time |
| Pro Features | $199.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 💗 Fantastic app
- 🎀 Great tool for writers
- 👍 Clean writing app
- 🤩 Awesome app
- 👍 Cute animations

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Glitchy and unreliable
- 💰 Paywalled features
- 🐛 Lost files and documents
- 🐛 Cursor issues
- 🐛 Buggy and unstable

**Reported bugs**

- Files randomly disappearing
- Cursor issues causing freezes
- Syncing and iCloud integration problems

**Requested features**

- Add image support
- Improve file management and recovery
- Expand font and customization options
- Implement team/collaborative writing features
- Add text formatting options like italics and bold


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Minimal | Notes free?

Minimal | Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Paper free?

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

### Which has better reviews, Minimal | Notes or Paper?

Minimal | Notes and Paper are both rated 4.7 out of 5 on the App Store, from 290 and 1.7K ratings respectively.

### Do Minimal | Notes or Paper have ads?

Neither Minimal | Notes nor Paper shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Minimal | Notes or Paper?

Minimal | Notes ships an update every 3 weeks, and Paper monthly. Most recently, Minimal | Notes was updated on October 12, 2026 and Paper on October 10, 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.*