Comparison

NotePlan vs Retain AI

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

Retain AI

Capture voice memos on the go and transform them into organized tasks. This app understands context from calls, documents, and messages to proactively generate drafts for your review and approval.

Highlights
  • Voice memo capture
  • Task organization
  • AI-powered context understanding
  • Automatic draft generation
  • Cross-device syncing
  • User control over output
Features
Read full description

Your best ideas don't wait for a desk. Capture a voice memo on the go and Retain turns it into organized tasks before you're back at your keyboard. You're in back-to-back calls. Decisions are made. Action items pile up. And then the real work begins. Retain changes that. It listens to your calls, reads your docs, and tracks your threads. It understands what just happened, not just the words but the decisions, the commitments, the context. Then it gets to work before you do. Right format. Right draft. Ready before you ask. Your job? Choose what to run with. Edit what you want. Hit send. That's it. What Retain does for you: Understands your calls, documents, and messages in real time. Predicts what you need to produce before you ask. Builds drafts automatically, in the right format. Keeps you in control of everything that goes out. Syncs your context seamlessly across all your devices.

Screenshots

NotePlan4 screens
Retain AI3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Retain AI at none against NotePlan's 10. Retain AI also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.8). NotePlan's advantage is ratings volume (1.5K vs 2) and device support (4 vs 2). On price 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. Retain AI asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Retain AI holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: NotePlan has 1.5K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
NotePlan versus Retain AI: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotePlanRetain AI
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (1.5K ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews85.1% of reviews—
Number of ratings1.5K — better2
Update frequencyMonthly—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationSubscriptionFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size210 MB23 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperNotePlan LLCRyan Rapp

Customer experience

NotePlan

All ratings1,506 ratings
Positive95.2%
Neutral1.9%
Negative2.9%
Written reviews476 reviews
Positive85.1%
Neutral4.6%
Negative10.3%

Retain AI

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

Retain AI

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
None

Retain AI

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is NotePlan free?
NotePlan is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Retain AI free?
Retain AI is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, NotePlan or Retain AI?
Retain AI is rated higher. NotePlan averages 4.8 out of 5 from 1.5K ratings, while Retain AI averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do NotePlan or Retain AI have ads?
Neither NotePlan nor Retain AI shows ads.

Other comparisons