Minimal | Notes vs WriteFreely
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Minimal | Notes
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.
- Note Lifetime reminders
- Collaborative writing
- Publish notes as websites
- Todo lists sync with Calendar
- Beautiful formatting
- Sync across Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
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Write with focus. Open your mind with Minimal, a meditation-inspired notes and writing app. Minimal combines thoughtful, modern design with powerful features to deliver a spacious, beautiful writing environment. • Note Lifetime • Collaborative writing • Publish notes as websites • Add Todos to the Calendar app • Beautiful formatting • Sync everywhere: Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch Minimal is a simple yet powerful notes app. Inspired by meditation, nature, and architectural design, Minimal provides a beautiful space to think, write, and organize projects. NOTE LIFETIME The Note Lifetime keeps your notebook fresh and reflective of the present moment. When a note goes unedited for a duration you choose in settings, you’ll be gently notified. This is an opportunity to review the note, act on it, or let it go. COLLABORATIVE WRITING Share notes with friends, family, and teammates. With a gentle design, writing remains focused and tranquil, even as thoughts merge and ideas multiply. Everyone receives changes as notes evolve, and multiple people can make edits at the same time without conflict. FOCUSED + SPACIOUS DESIGN Minimal is designed so only one element is ever in focus. We love the beauty of a blank page – abundant empty space allows for an ease of creative expression. PUBLISH AS WEBSITE Transform notes into beautifully-formatted websites in microseconds. TODO LISTS Todo lists are an effective way to organize projects and complete tasks. Sync with the Calendar app, get things done, and check everything off. BEAUTIFUL FORMATTING Minimal combines Markdown-style formatting with elegant typography. The result is simple, expressive notes that make it easy to think and write. SYNC EVERYWHERE Bring focus to your favorite devices. Minimal is designed for Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Cloud Sync is fast, reliable, and invisible. SHARE, EXPORT, IMPORT You’re in control of your notes. Share directly in iMessage, export as PDF or HTML, and use the system share mechanism to take notes anywhere. Importing links + prose into Minimal is just as easy. CUSTOMIZE EVERYTHING The best notebook is personal. We made everything in Minimal customizable, from fonts + themes to sorting notes + note actions. You can also build custom workflows using the Shortcuts app. A LITTLE GIFT Wow, thanks for reading. As a little gift for tuning in, these are our favorite musicians -> Somi, Snarky Puppy, and London Grammar. They’re jazzy and introspective, just how we like it. Enjoy. —— For help, write us at team@minimal.app or on Twitter at @minimalnotesapp. To learn about our terms + approach to privacy, visit https://minimal.app/terms. We offer a long free trial and make cancellation easy. After that, Minimal costs $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year. These prices are in USD and may vary by region. Cancel in your iTunes account settings at least 24 hours before renewal.
WriteFreely
A minimalist blogging app for seamless web publishing. Write in a distraction-free editor and publish to your blog or any compatible writing community. Supports offline drafting and synchronization with your WriteFreely account.
- Distraction-free editor
- Offline drafting and editing
- Sync posts with WriteFreely account
- Publish to multiple blogs
- Dark mode option
- Open source platform
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WriteFreely for iOS gives you a seamless way to publish your thoughts on the web. Write your thoughts in its clean, distraction-free editor, and then publish to your blog or any writing community powered by the WriteFreely software. WriteFreely for iOS supports Write.as and self-hosted WriteFreely instances. If you're not hosting your own instance, visit https://writefreely.org/instances to find a community to join! # Just Write WriteFreely for iOS includes only what you need to write and publish, so you can focus on your words. It launches straight to the editor, so you can get your thoughts down before they vanish. # Write Offline Draft and edit blog posts offline on your iPhone or iPad, and publish whenever you're ready. If you don't publish a post, it remains safe and private on your device. # Stay Synchronized Log in to any WriteFreely instance you have an account on, and sync posts from your WriteFreely account to your device. # Publish Widely Publish to multiple blogs on your account, and move posts between blogs and Drafts with a few quick taps. # Light Customization Make it your own by choosing a default font for your posts, and whether or not you'd like to write in dark mode. # Freedom The WriteFreely platform is built entirely on open source software, from the server-side to this iOS app. Rest easy knowing you ultimately control your publishing tools, and visit https://writefreely.org/contribute to find out how you can contribute.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Minimal | Notes at Free against WriteFreely's $11.99. Minimal | Notes also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.1) and review sentiment (81% vs 44%). WriteFreely's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and chart position (#199 vs unranked). On ads and device support 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
Minimal | Notes is free to download; WriteFreely costs $11.99 up front. Minimal | Notes sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. WriteFreely asks for nothing beyond the download.
Minimal | Notes holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Minimal | Notes has 290 ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 81% of Minimal | Notes's written reviews are positive against 44% of WriteFreely's.
Minimal | Notes ships an update every 3 weeks, WriteFreely every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and August 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Minimal | Notes | WriteFreely |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $11.99 |
| Rating | 4.7 (290 ratings) — better | 4.1 (8 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 81.3% of reviews — better | 44.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 290 — better | 8 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Subscription | Paid — better |
| Best chart rank | — | #199 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 14.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 59 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Timeless | Musing Studio LLC |
Customer experience
Minimal | Notes
WriteFreely
Bugs and requests
Minimal | Notes
Reported bugs
3 issues- Crashes when using certain formatting or pasting content
- Syncing issues between iOS and macOS versions
- Incompatibility with older macOS versions
Requested features
4 requests- Add ability to insert images or attachments
- Improve iCloud sync reliability
- Implement a folder-based organization system
- Add a word/character count feature
WriteFreely
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Minimal | Notes
- Minimal Monthly14 Days trial$4.991 Month
- Minimal Annual14 Days trial$49.991 Year
- Minimal Family Plan14 Days trial$79.991 Year
WriteFreely
No in-app purchases









