Comparison

CROSSNote HLM vs Head

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

Head to head
About

CROSSNote HLM

Features
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CROSSNote: your life, connected. Calendar, tasks, ideas, notes, health and goals in one place. Because your life doesn't happen in separate apps. CROSSNote is a personal operating system for the Apple ecosystem. It helps you organize your day, preserve what matters and understand how you spend your time and energy. YOUR DAY, ALL CONNECTED Plan and see what's ahead without separating your tasks from your activities. - Calendar and tasks in one unified view. - Day, week and month views. - Workouts integrated into your schedule. - Priorities, deadlines and subtasks. - Areas and lists to organize your projects. MORE THAN A TASK A meeting can include notes, a recording and decisions. A project can bring together files, images and ideas. In CROSSNote, everything stays connected to the relevant record. - Add notes, photos, drawings, files and audio. - Record and transcribe conversations with speaker separation; rename participants and edit the transcript. - Organize records with AI assistance. - Capture ideas without having to classify them immediately. - Record directly on Apple Watch and send audio to My Ideas/Inbox; where supported, give it a title by voice. - Find what you've saved with text or semantic search. Capture now. Find it later. SEE HOW YOU LIVE Where does your time really go? Which areas of your life take up the most space? Life Model brings your activities together and organizes them by life area, showing how you spend your time across weeks, months and years. A perspective for reflection, not judgment. UNDERSTAND YOUR HEALTH IN CONTEXT Your calendar shows what you do. Your body tells another part of the story. CROSSNote brings information from Apple Health and compatible devices into a more complete picture: - Sleep, sleep stages and efficiency. - Heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV). - Workouts, training load and estimated recovery. - Energy, stress and mental focus indicators. - Charts and trends over time. Health indicators are estimates for informational purposes and are not medical diagnoses. LIVE WITH INTENTION It's not about doing more and more. Set intentions for your day, week or longer periods, record how you feel and keep the things that truly matter to you in sight. FIND WHAT YOU THOUGHT YOU'D FORGOTTEN Ideas, meetings, conversations, notes and projects can remain valuable long after they happened. With semantic search, you can find records by meaning, even when you don't remember the exact words you used. AN ASSISTANT WITH CONTEXT CROSSNote's AI assistant can access selected information from your calendar, tasks and health to answer questions about your day, help you review a task or explain how you slept. It's not here to make decisions for you, but to help you better understand your information. YOUR LIFE. YOUR DATA. Your personal records are stored on your device and in your iCloud, not on CROSSNote's own servers. Some AI features send the necessary context to external providers to process your requests. Privacy, autonomy and user control are built into the design. Start by organizing your day. Discover everything you can connect over time. CROSSNote. Your life, connected. Terms and Conditions: https://www.crossnote.net/termsandconditions Privacy Policy: https://www.crossnote.net/privacy-policy Apple Standard EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Head

Organize your creative inspirations by saving links, files, and ideas. This app acts as a digital inventory for creators, allowing you to store various media and notes in a browsable format. It also offers tools for journaling, planning, and music playback.

Highlights
  • Save links and files as cards
  • Organize content on shelves
  • Voice-to-text saving
  • Integrated music playback
  • Searchable inventory
  • Shareable shelves
  • Built-in productivity tools
Features
Read full description

Head-Light is an inventory for creators: what moves you, and the words it inspires. ■ Turn links and files into cards on a shelf ・Save links to videos, social posts, music, books, and websites as cards with covers. ・Keep your own photos, PDFs, text, Word, and audio files on the same shelves. ・Browse in a grid, or flip through your collection one card at a time. ■ Just talk to save an idea When an idea hits, tap the big microphone on the home screen, talk, and say "send it" at the end to save. You can type, too. ・Your saved words, photos, and completed activities line up in your Journal, day by day. ・Say a plan with a date and time, and Head-Light offers to add it to your calendar. ■ Enjoy music like a record collection Bring music links from Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, and other services together on the same shelf. Line up their covers, browse your collection, and pick what fits your mood. ・With supported Apple Music albums, flip them over and play from Side A or Side B. Meet a familiar album again, starting from Side B. ・Shuffle the supported Apple Music and music-library tracks saved on a shelf. ・Playback for other services depends on the linked service and content. Your music service's library stays untouched. ・Apple Music playback requires an active subscription and permission. ■ Find what you saved, and put it to use ・Search across all your shelves, including text inside supported PDFs and images. ・Copy or move saved cards to another shelf for your next project. ・Find your saved cards through Siri and Spotlight, too. ■ Share a whole shelf with one link No matter how many videos it holds, you send just one link. Anyone with the link can view the shared shelf in a browser—no app needed. ・Only the shelf name and link-card information are shared, never your personal notes or photos. ・Playback depends on the linked service and content. ■ 20+ everyday tools, free ・Routines, timers (Pomodoro, workouts, meditation), and a to-do list ・Mood, sleep, and medication logs ・An idea jar and a venting jar ・Pick the tools you need and keep them on your home screen. ■ Ask any AI Copy your saved words in one go and paste them into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. ■ Choose how to add more Basic capture, the Journal, tools, and up to three shelves are free. ・High Beam (optional subscription): AI sorting, conversation, and summaries. After the free trial, you can create as many shelves as you like while subscribed. ・One-time purchase: add shelves 10 at a time. Subscriptions renew automatically. You can cancel anytime in your Apple Account settings. ■ Your records are yours No ads. No tracking. Your records stay on your device and can be protected with Face ID. Only when you use a cloud AI feature—and after a screen explains what is sent and who receives it, and you agree—are those words and photos sent to Anthropic for processing. You can decline and keep using Head-Light, and withdraw consent anytime in Settings. When you share a shelf, its name and link-card information are published through a shareable link. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://head-light.app/privacy.html

Screenshots

CROSSNote HLM4 screens
Head4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Head at 17.0 against CROSSNote HLM's 26.0. 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. CROSSNote HLM sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month and Head sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

CROSSNote HLM ships an update every 4 days, Head every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 7 level
CROSSNote HLM versus Head: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCROSSNote HLMHead
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 5 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS26.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size101 MB66 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperOS3e Technologies LLCKAI SONODA

In-app purchases

3 purchases

CROSSNote HLM

Subscriptions3
  • CROSSNote Plus Monthly$6.991 Month
  • CROSSNote Plus Annual$49.991 Year
  • CROSSNote Founding Annual$129.991 Year
3 purchases

Head

Subscriptions2
  • High Beam Monthly$5.991 Month
  • High Beam Yearly7 Days trial$49.991 Year
One-time1
  • More shelves$5.99

Questions

Is CROSSNote HLM free?
CROSSNote HLM is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Head free?
Head is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do CROSSNote HLM or Head have ads?
Neither CROSSNote HLM nor Head shows ads.
Which is updated more often, CROSSNote HLM or Head?
CROSSNote HLM ships an update every 4 days, and Head every 5 days. Most recently, CROSSNote HLM was updated on November 11, 2026 and Head on November 1, 2026.

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