Minimal | Notes vs Scienze
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.
Scienze
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Understand difficult academic papers, don't just summarise them. Scienze turns any paper into swipeable cards and explains each paragraph in plainer language, one level at a time, until it clicks. SWIPE TO SIMPLIFY Swipe left on any card and that paragraph is explained in plainer language. Still not clear? Swipe again. Each swipe goes a level simpler, so you decide how far to go, and Scienze remembers how many passes each passage needed. Unlike a summary, you still follow the whole argument, just in words that work for you. READING IN A SECOND LANGUAGE? Academic writing is hard enough in your first language. Plainer explanations and instant definitions help you follow dense papers without stopping to translate every sentence. BUILT FOR A PHONE SCREEN • Papers split into focused cards: abstract, methods, figures, results • No endless scrolling and no pinch-zooming • Cards keep your place and show your progress through the paper • Select any word or phrase for an instant, in-context definition • Tap a figure reference and the chart opens beside the text, with its caption ADD A PAPER ANY WAY YOU LIKE • Upload a PDF • Paste a URL • Photograph printed pages from a book or journal, and Scienze extracts the text and builds the cards for you MAKE IT YOURS • Add your own notes to any card • Bookmark the passages worth returning to • Jump straight between sections READ ANYWHERE Saved papers and reading progress live on your device, so you can keep reading on the train, on a flight, or wherever the signal drops. WHO IT'S FOR Undergraduates, PhD students, early-career researchers, students reading in a second language, and anyone curious enough to open a scientific paper and honest enough to admit that some paragraphs need a second pass. Or a seventh. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://scienze.co.uk/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Scienze at 15.0 against Minimal | Notes's 17.0. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Minimal | Notes sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Scienze sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $12.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Minimal | Notes ships an update monthly, Scienze every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Minimal | Notes | Scienze |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (297 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 81.4% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 297 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Subscription | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 59 MB | 17 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Timeless | Scienze Limited |
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
Scienze
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
Scienze
- Scienze Classic$12.991 Month
- Scienze Premium$17.991 Month
- Scienze Classic - Termly$29.993 Months
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- Scienze Classic$109.991 Year
- Scienze Premium$179.991 Year
Questions
Is Minimal | Notes free?
Is Scienze free?
Do Minimal | Notes or Scienze have ads?
Which is updated more often, Minimal | Notes or Scienze?
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