NotePlan vs OWL Alerts
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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/
OWL Alerts
This app acts as an alert layer for your email, allowing you to set custom rules to receive push notifications only for urgent messages. It helps you stay present by filtering out non-essential emails, so you don't have to constantly check your inbox.
- Customizable email alert rules
- Sender, domain, and keyword filtering
- Scheduled rule activation
- Push notifications with sender and subject
- In-app email context up to 10,000 characters
- Web-based rule management
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WHY Because being reachable shouldn’t mean being constantly interrupted. HOW OWL turns interruptions into something you control. You choose exactly which emails are urgent by setting simple rules (senders, domains, keywords, or specific threads) and optional schedules for when those rules are allowed to alert you. WHAT OWL is an alert layer for your existing Gmail/Outlook accounts—not another inbox. When new mail arrives, OWL checks it in the background and sends a push alert only when an email matches your rules. Everything else stays quiet, so you can stop checking “just in case.” What you’ll see in the push alert • Rule label (e.g., “Boss”) • Sender • Subject line What push alerts do NOT include • Email body content • Attachments • Full inbox access inside the app Alert Details (in-app and on the web) When you open an alert, OWL can show up to 10,000 characters of context for that matched email—so you can decide quickly without opening your full inbox. Attachments are never included. Rule setup • Create and manage rules in the app or on the OWL website (vip.foundopportunity.com). Built for “can’t-check-right-now” moments Meetings, dinner, sleep, driving, and anything else where you want to stay present without missing the one email that matters. Important This is a companion app and requires an active OWL subscription. You must first sign up and connect your email account through the OWL website (vip.foundopportunity.com). Privacy & security Email processing happens server-side on the secure OWL platform. Push alerts contain only the rule label, sender, and subject. OWL does not include email bodies or attachments in push notifications.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: OWL Alerts at none against NotePlan's 10. OWL Alerts also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs monthly) and review sentiment (100% vs 85%). NotePlan's advantage is ratings volume (1.5K vs 1) and device support (4 vs 2). On price, ads, monetization model 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
Both are free to download. NotePlan sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days. OWL Alerts asks for nothing beyond the download.
OWL Alerts 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 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 85% of NotePlan's written reviews are positive against 100% of OWL Alerts's.
NotePlan ships an update monthly, OWL Alerts every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and June 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | NotePlan | OWL Alerts |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (1.5K ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 85.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1.5K — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Subscription | Subscription |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 210 MB | 23 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | NotePlan LLC | Kevin Koplin |
Customer experience
NotePlan
OWL Alerts
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
OWL Alerts
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
NotePlan
- Personal Weekly$4.997 Days
- Personal Monthly$6.991 Month
- Personal Monthly1 Month trial$11.991 Month
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- 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
OWL Alerts
No in-app purchases









