Comparison

Minimal | Notes vs (beat) for iOS

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

Head to head
About

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.

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
Read full description

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.

About

(beat) for iOS

This screenwriting app offers a distraction-free environment for writers to focus on their craft. It supports Fountain markup for portable and future-proof documents, with features like automatic scene numbering and auto-completion for efficient writing.

Highlights
  • Distraction-free UI
  • Fountain markup support
  • Automatic scene numbering
  • Auto-complete for scene headings and character names
  • PDF export
  • Final Draft import/export
  • Novel mode
Features
Read full description

An elegant Fountain screenwriting app, created by a screenwriter for screenwriters. The perfect companion for full macOS version of Beat. Beat lets you write in a flow: Just start typing and let Beat take care of the formatting. There are as little distractions as possible to let you concentrate on writing. The app uses Fountain markup to store your documents, so everything you write is portable and future-proof. Your files are stored only on your own accounts and devices, and they are kept completely private. • Distraction-free UI • Index cards • Automatic scene numbering • Auto complete for scene headings and character names • PDF export • Final Draft import and export • Revision/edit tracking • Novel mode • Collection of templates for a quick start

Screenshots

Minimal | Notes4 screens
(beat) for iOS4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Minimal | Notes at Free against (beat) for iOS's $11.99. Minimal | Notes also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.3) and ratings volume (290 vs 44). (beat) for iOS's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). On review sentiment, ads and iOS requirement 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

Minimal | Notes is free to download; (beat) for iOS costs $11.99 up front. Minimal | Notes sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. (beat) for iOS asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Minimal | Notes holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Minimal | Notes has 290 ratings behind it against 44, 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 80% of (beat) for iOS's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Minimal | Notes ships an update every 3 weeks, (beat) for iOS weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Minimal | Notes versus (beat) for iOS: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMinimal | Notes(beat) for iOS
PriceFree — better$11.99
Rating4.7 (290 ratings) — better4.3 (44 ratings)
Positive reviews81.3% of reviews — better80.0% of reviews
Number of ratings290 — better44
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationSubscriptionPaid — better
Best chart rank—#128 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.016.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size59 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTimelessLauri-Matti Parppei

Customer experience

Minimal | Notes

All ratings290 ratings
Positive91.7%
Neutral3.1%
Negative5.2%
Written reviews374 reviews
Positive81.3%
Neutral6.4%
Negative12.3%

(beat) for iOS

All ratings44 ratings
Positive81.8%
Neutral4.5%
Negative13.6%
Written reviews40 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral7.5%
Negative12.5%

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

(beat) for iOS

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Minimal | Notes

Subscriptions3
  • Minimal Monthly14 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Minimal Annual14 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • Minimal Family Plan14 Days trial$79.991 Year
None

(beat) for iOS

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Minimal | Notes free?
Minimal | Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is (beat) for iOS free?
(beat) for iOS costs $11.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Minimal | Notes or (beat) for iOS?
Minimal | Notes is rated higher. Minimal | Notes averages 4.7 out of 5 from 290 ratings, while (beat) for iOS averages 4.3 from 44 ratings.
Do Minimal | Notes or (beat) for iOS have ads?
Neither Minimal | Notes nor (beat) for iOS shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Minimal | Notes or (beat) for iOS?
Minimal | Notes ships an update every 3 weeks, and (beat) for iOS weekly. Most recently, Minimal | Notes was updated on September 19, 2026 and (beat) for iOS on September 23, 2026.

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