Comparison

NotePlan vs Chronicling

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

Head to head
About

NotePlan

Organize your tasks, notes, and calendar in one unified app. Quickly plan your day with Markdown, link notes bi-directionally, and stay on top of your to-dos with powerful review and search features. Seamlessly integrates with your existing calendars and syncs across all your Apple devices.

Highlights
  • Unified task, note, and calendar view
  • Markdown for quick task and note creation
  • Bi-directional note linking
  • Calendar integration (iCloud, Google, Exchange)
  • Flexible recurring tasks
  • Global Command Bar for fast navigation
  • Plaintext note storage
Features
Read full description

Having trouble planning your day, managing your to-do list, and organizing your notes? Always jumping between apps and losing track of what to do and where you put things? Say hello to NotePlan! NotePlan lets you manage everything in one place: your tasks, notes, and calendar. Perfect for project managers, designers, researchers, writers, students, or anyone who wants to be organized and efficient. QUICKLY PLAN YOUR DAY WITH MARKDOWN • Plan your day by seeing your calendar, notes, and tasks in a single view • Create tasks and notes quickly with Markdown • Add #tags to organize tasks and notes • Use @mentions to find people • Reschedule to-do items easily • Create flexible recurring tasks • Work faster with autocomplete BUILD YOUR NETWORK OF NOTES • Create your own network of notes • Organize any way you want to: from simple folders over P.A.R.A. to a Zettelkasten system • Bi-directional notes: link your calendar and your notes in any direction, automatically • Cross-reference and link notes easily STAY ON TOP OF THINGS WITH REVIEW • Search all tasks and notes, instantly • See all open tasks with the click of a button • Get a list of overdue to-do items • See upcoming tasks at a glance • Create custom filters with your own queries using status, #tags, @mentions, or even text SEAMLESS INTEGRATION WITH YOUR CALENDAR • Create events and reminders right in NotePlan • Support for iCloud, Google, and Exchange calendars • Time-block tasks on your calendar simply by typing AVAILABLE ON MAC, IPHONE & IPAD • Sync everything between your Apple devices • Use any sync method you like: CloudKit or iCloud Drive • A single subscription for all your devices OPEN, PRIVATE & FAST • All your notes are stored in plaintext so you're never locked in • Your information is private and cannot be accessed • Enjoy lightning speed thanks to local files and native apps ANY THEME YOU WANT • Choose from a variety of built-in themes • Work with light or dark versions • Create your own custom theme SHORTCUTS FOR MAXIMUM SPEED • Extended Markdown syntax support with customization options • Move around without ever leaving the keyboard • Find everything with the Global Command Bar NotePlan is developed independently and prioritizes user features and requests. We have long-term roadmaps and listen to customers to improve the apps. - - - - - Price may vary by location. Subscriptions will be charged to your credit card through your iTunes account. Your subscription will automatically renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. After purchase, manage your subscriptions in App Store Account Settings. - - - - - Email: hello@noteplan.co Web: noteplan.co Discord: https://discord.gg/D4268MT Twitter: NotePlanApp Reddit: reddit.com/r/NotePlanApp Learn NotePlan course: https://noteplan.eo.page/newsletter Terms of use: http://noteplan.co/tos/ Privacy policy: https://noteplan.co/privacy/

About

Chronicling

This app provides a flexible way to monitor habits, health, mood, and daily activities. It offers customizable tracking options, quick logging methods, and insightful data visualization to help users identify patterns and maintain consistency. Secure syncing and data export are also available.

Highlights
  • All-in-one habit and health tracking
  • Fully customizable categories
  • Fast and effortless logging
  • Smart reminders for goals
  • Detailed data logging (notes, numbers)
  • Visual insights and trends
  • Private and secure iCloud sync
Features
Read full description

Log habits, chores, symptoms or anything else in life you want to keep an eye on. Chronicling shows you how often things happen, when they tend to happen and how long it's been since the last time. Some things happen every day, like coffee, a walk or your medication. Others come and go: changing the bed sheets, a headache, calling home. Chronicling handles both, so everything you want to keep track of lives in one place. LOG IT IN A TAP - Add events from widgets, Control Center, the Lock Screen, Siri and Shortcuts - Record a number or a note too, such as cups, miles, pages or how you felt - Automate logging with Shortcuts, from workouts to arriving home SEE HOW OFTEN, AND WHEN - Time since last logged, average gap and longest gap for every category - Heatmaps, charts and trends over weeks, months and years - Spot patterns by weekday and time of day - An annual Wrapped to look back at your year GENTLE REMINDERS - Time Since Last Event: get a nudge when it's been too long since you last logged something, from a few hours to a few months - Daily Goal: pick a time of day, and you'll only be notified if you haven't hit that day's goal - Rolling Goal: aim for a number over the last few days or weeks, with a daily check that only notifies you if you're falling short YOUR CATEGORIES, YOUR WAY - Create your own categories with emoji or symbols and your own colors - Choose the period each category's stats cover - Organize them into groups and filter by Focus ON ALL YOUR DEVICES - iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro - Private iCloud sync between your devices - Export to CSV or a single-file backup at any time - your data is yours "If you're looking for a flexible approach to tracking events in your life and want to try an app with an excellent, modern design that supports the latest iOS and iPadOS technologies, be sure to give Chronicling a try." - MacStories If you have questions, suggestions or any other feedback, please contact me at support@chroniclingapp.com. Subscriptions to Chronicling Premium will automatically renew unless canceled within 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Any unused portion of a free trial will be forfeited if you purchase a subscription. For more information, see https://chroniclingapp.com/terms-of-use/ and https://chroniclingapp.com/privacy-policy/.

Screenshots

NotePlan4 screens
Chronicling4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Chronicling at freemium against NotePlan's subscription. Chronicling also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs monthly). NotePlan's advantage is ratings volume (1.5K vs 185) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.4). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads 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

Both are free to download. NotePlan sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days and Chronicling sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for NotePlan against 4.8 for Chronicling. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: NotePlan has 1.5K ratings behind it against 185, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 85% of NotePlan's written reviews are positive against 79% of Chronicling's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

NotePlan ships an update monthly, Chronicling every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
NotePlan versus Chronicling: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotePlanChronicling
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (1.5K ratings)4.8 (185 ratings)
Positive reviews85.0% of reviews — better79.3% of reviews
Number of ratings1.5K — better185
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscriptionFreemium — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, MaciPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Vision Pro
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.4
Further details — not scored
Size210 MB95 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNotePlan LLCRebecca Owen

Customer experience

NotePlan

All ratings1,506 ratings
Positive95.2%
Neutral1.9%
Negative2.9%
Written reviews474 reviews
Positive85.0%
Neutral4.6%
Negative10.3%

Chronicling

All ratings185 ratings
Positive94.6%
Neutral1.1%
Negative4.3%
Written reviews58 reviews
Positive79.3%
Neutral6.9%
Negative13.8%

Bugs and requests

NotePlan

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Inconsistent sync between devices
  • Crashes when opening certain files

Requested features

4 requests
  • Improved iPad and mobile app experience
  • Better integration with other productivity apps
  • More automation and scripting capabilities
  • Weekly or monthly calendar view

Chronicling

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

8 purchases

NotePlan

Subscriptions8
  • Personal Weekly$4.997 Days
  • Personal Monthly$6.991 Month
  • Personal Monthly1 Month trial$11.991 Month
Show 5 more
  • Personal Monthly2 variants$12.001 Month
  • Personal Annual7 Days trial$59.991 Year
  • Personal Annual7 Days trial2 variants$99.991 Year
  • Personal Annual1 Month trial$119.991 Year
  • Business Class1 Month trial$199.991 Year
3 purchases

Chronicling

Subscriptions2
  • Premium Monthly14 Days trial$0.991 Month
  • Premium Annual14 Days trial$9.991 Year
One-time1
  • Premium Lifetime$39.99

Questions

Is NotePlan free?
NotePlan is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Chronicling free?
Chronicling is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, NotePlan or Chronicling?
NotePlan and Chronicling are both rated 4.8 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1.5K and 185 ratings respectively.
Do NotePlan or Chronicling have ads?
Neither NotePlan nor Chronicling shows ads.
Which is updated more often, NotePlan or Chronicling?
NotePlan ships an update monthly, and Chronicling every 2 weeks. Most recently, NotePlan was updated on October 15, 2026 and Chronicling on October 12, 2026.

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