Comparison

Notebooks vs SideNotes Mobile

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

Head to head
About

Notebooks

This app helps you write, organize, and manage documents, tasks, and files. It offers flexible writing modes, robust organization tools, and task management features, all while ensuring your data remains accessible and under your control.

Highlights
  • Formatted text, plain text, and Markdown writing
  • Create documents with styles, tables, and attachments
  • Organize with nested hierarchies and 'books'
  • Task management with due dates and checklists
  • Wiki-style linking and backlinks
  • Full-text search
  • Cross-device synchronization
Features
Read full description

Own your notes — forever. Notebooks is a writing and organization app with no subscription, no lock-in, and no worries. Your documents are stored as standard files you can always access, export, or move freely. Pay once. Use for life. Use Notebooks as a personal wiki, Zettelkasten, document archive, task manager, or long-term writing space. Capture quick notes, turn them into actionable tasks, combine text fragments into chapters, organize research, or keep business documents separate from personal journals — without ever switching apps. Designed to help you stay focused and work at your own pace, Notebooks grows with your needs and is always ready to support you. WRITE AND CREATE Create beautifully formatted documents with styles, attachments, tables, checklists, and optional tables of contents. Choose from ready-made styles or design your own. Write in different ways: Formatted text (WYSIWYG) Plain text, with smart handling of lists, automatic character pairing, and a focused writing view Markdown, supporting MultiMarkdown and Discount, with syntax highlighting, dedicated keyboard keys, wiki-style links, and interactive checklists Sketch ideas or annotate images and PDFs using Apple Pencil. STORE AND ORGANIZE Notebooks stores all documents as regular files in standard formats. You always remain in control — no lock-in, no export worries, fully compatible across devices and over time. Organize your work in books and nested hierarchies without limits. Import PDFs, emails, web pages, MS Office and iWork documents, images, audio, video, and more. Use full-text search to find even the most deeply nested document. PLAN AND ACT Turn books into project lists and documents into tasks. Assign due dates and alerts, create nested projects, and track progress naturally — right where your work lives. Use simple checklists in formatted documents or Markdown for lightweight task tracking. STAY FOCUSED Link documents together to build knowledge over time. Use wiki-style links, backlinks, contexts, and smart books to keep everything connected and within reach. When you rename or move documents, links stay intact. A PLACE YOU CAN RELY ON Sync your documents between iPhone, iPad, Mac, and PC. Work on documents stored in other apps, compile selections into PDFs or eBooks, scan documents and extract text using OCR, and trust that your data stays accessible — now and in the future. With time, Notebooks often becomes the one place users rely on to keep everything that matters close at hand. WHAT USERS SAY “Notebooks is a wonderful app — sophisticated in an unassuming way. I feel more productive without spending time managing the app itself.” “You are GTD in every way that makes it efficient — and makes me efficient.”

About

SideNotes Mobile

Capture thoughts and to-dos on the go with this mobile note-taking app. It offers iCloud sync, Markdown formatting, and customizable themes for a personalized experience. Easily access notes from other applications.

Highlights
  • iCloud Synchronization
  • Markdown Formatting
  • Task Management
  • Customizable Themes
  • Note and Folder URLs
  • Note Colors
Features
Read full description

SideNotes Mobile is a fast notes app for iPhone and iPad. Capture notes, tasks, links, and snippets in seconds, then access them across devices with iCloud sync. Version 1.2 brings a major upgrade: - A new editor with hidden Markdown markup - the same as in SideNotes for macOS - Refreshed iOS 26-style interface (Liquid Glass look) - Note folding - Note & Folder pinning - Simple drag-and-drop reordering - New contextual menu - New formatting options - Add Note action for the iPhone Action Button - New translations: Chinese (Simplified), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, and Spanish - UI polish, bug fixes, and quality improvements Core features: - iCloud sync across iPhone, iPad, and Mac - Themes and note colors for personalization - Tasks and checklists for daily work - Folder organization and quick search - Note and folder URLs for fast access from other apps - Text settings for comfortable writing and reading - One-time purchase (paid per major version). No subscription. Note: SideNotes Mobile is a companion app to SideNotes for macOS. SideNotes for macOS is sold separately.

Screenshots

Notebooks4 screens
SideNotes Mobile4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: SideNotes Mobile at $9.99 against Notebooks's $17.99. SideNotes Mobile also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 4). Notebooks's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.2) and ratings volume (1.1K vs 29). On review sentiment, update cadence, ads and monetization model 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

Notebooks costs $17.99 and SideNotes Mobile $9.99 up front. Notebooks sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. SideNotes Mobile asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Notebooks holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notebooks has 1.1K ratings behind it against 29, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 82% of Notebooks's written reviews are positive against 88% of SideNotes Mobile's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly monthly. Both last shipped on November 7, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Notebooks versus SideNotes Mobile: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotebooksSideNotes Mobile
Price$17.99$9.99 — better
Rating4.7 (1.1K ratings) — better4.2 (29 ratings)
Positive reviews82.3% of reviews88.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.1K — better29
Update frequencyMonthlyMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#159 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017
Further details — not scored
Size48 MB10 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlfons SchmidApptorium

Customer experience

Notebooks

All ratings1,069 ratings
Positive94.0%
Neutral2.7%
Negative3.3%
Written reviews215 reviews
Positive82.3%
Neutral5.6%
Negative12.1%

SideNotes Mobile

All ratings28 ratings
Positive82.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative17.9%
Written reviews43 reviews
Positive88.4%
Neutral0.0%
Negative11.6%

Bugs and requests

Notebooks

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Data loss after iOS upgrades
  • Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions

Requested features

4 requests
  • Improved Markdown support
  • More font and color customization options
  • Better Apple Watch integration
  • Export to Word format

SideNotes Mobile

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Notebooks

One-time4
  • Small Tip$0.99
  • Custom Storage Locations$2.99
  • Medium Tip$2.99
Show 1 more
  • Generous Tip$4.99
None

SideNotes Mobile

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Notebooks free?
Notebooks costs $17.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is SideNotes Mobile free?
SideNotes Mobile costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Notebooks or SideNotes Mobile?
Notebooks is rated higher. Notebooks averages 4.7 out of 5 from 1.1K ratings, while SideNotes Mobile averages 4.2 from 29 ratings.
Do Notebooks or SideNotes Mobile have ads?
Neither Notebooks nor SideNotes Mobile shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Notebooks or SideNotes Mobile?
Notebooks ships an update monthly, and SideNotes Mobile monthly. Most recently, Notebooks was updated on November 7, 2026 and SideNotes Mobile on November 7, 2026.

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