Comparison

Collected Notes vs Lockbook

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

Head to head
About

Collected Notes

A note-taking platform that allows users to create private notes, share them publicly, and build a blog with a custom domain. It focuses on a simple, native experience with live Markdown previews and no ads or tracking.

Highlights
  • Markdown with live preview
  • Create private notes
  • Share notes publicly
  • Build a blog with custom domain
  • Native iPhone experience
  • No ads or tracking
Read full description

Upload your thoughts. The simplest, and most powerful note-taking blogging platform ever made. Create private notes, share them publicly and create your blog with a custom domain. ■ Markdown with live preview Live Markdown previews allow you to see the final result in real-time as you type. ■ Simplicity Every app out there eventually tries to do more than they should. We believe in doing less, but better. ■ Native experience The iPhone app allows for a fast native-first experience. Just open the app and go right into writing mode. ■ No nonsense No ads. No feature creep. No tracking. No annoying emails. No data sold. No comments. No vanity metrics. No proprietary formats. You'll never see popups, clutter, subscription up-sells, or anything that interferes with the reading experience. Collected Notes is a reading-first experience. Your attention matters. Terms of use: https://collectednotes.com/blog/terms

About

Lockbook

A secure, open-source note-taking app prioritizing user privacy. It encrypts all your data locally, ensuring only you and authorized users can access your notes. Offers seamless syncing and sharing across devices, with a developer-friendly command-line interface.

Highlights
  • End-to-end encryption
  • Open-source code
  • Cross-device syncing
  • Note sharing
  • Developer CLI
  • No personal data collection
Features
Read full description

Lockbook is an end-to-end encrypted notes app for writing, sketching, storing files, syncing across devices, and collaborating in real time. Your notes are encrypted before they leave your device, so even we can't read them. Lockbook is 100% open source: https://github.com/lockbook/lockbook Fast & Native: We built Lockbook for everyday use because we use Lockbook every day. Our native apps feel at home on every platform, with fast sync, offline support, and a polished Markdown editor for serious notes. Secure: Keep your thoughts to yourself. Lockbook encrypts your notes with keys generated on your devices. Only you and the people you share with can access your notes, folders, sketches, and files. Private: Know your customer? We sure don't. We don't collect your email, phone number, or name. We don't need a password. Lockbook is for people with better things to worry about than privacy. Collaborative: Share folders, edit notes together, and see live updates from collaborators without giving up end-to-end encryption. Open: Write in Markdown, sketch in SVG, and keep your work in formats you can actually use. Honest: Be the customer, not the product. We sell a note-taking app, not your data. Developer Friendly: The Lockbook CLI fits right into your favorite chain of piped-together Unix commands. Search your notes with fzf, edit them with vim, and schedule backups with cron. When scripting doesn't cut it, use our Rust library for a robust programmatic interface. Website: https://lockbook.net Terms of Service: https://lockbook.net/tos License Agreement: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://lockbook.net/privacy-policy

Screenshots

Collected Notes4 screens
Lockbook4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Lockbook at 5.0 against Collected Notes's 4.7. Lockbook also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 87%). Collected Notes's advantage is ratings volume (43 vs 14) and iOS requirement (18.0 vs 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. Collected Notes sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and Lockbook sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Lockbook holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 43 and 14 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 87% of Collected Notes's written reviews are positive against 100% of Lockbook's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Collected Notes ships an update every 2 weeks, Lockbook weekly. Both last shipped on October 2, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Collected Notes versus Lockbook: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCollected NotesLockbook
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (43 ratings)5.0 (14 ratings) — better
Positive reviews86.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings43 — better14
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS18.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB80 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlfajor Co.Lockbook LLC

Customer experience

Collected Notes

All ratings43 ratings
Positive90.7%
Neutral2.3%
Negative7.0%
Written reviews15 reviews
Positive86.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative13.3%

Lockbook

All ratings14 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Collected Notes

Subscriptions2
  • Collected Notes Basic7 Days trial$0.991 Month
  • Collected Notes Premium7 Days trial$4.991 Month
1 purchases

Lockbook

Subscriptions1
  • 30GB$2.991 Month

Questions

Is Collected Notes free?
Collected Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Lockbook free?
Lockbook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Collected Notes or Lockbook?
Lockbook is rated higher. Collected Notes averages 4.7 out of 5 from 43 ratings, while Lockbook averages 5.0 from 14 ratings.
Do Collected Notes or Lockbook have ads?
Neither Collected Notes nor Lockbook shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Collected Notes or Lockbook?
Collected Notes ships an update every 2 weeks, and Lockbook weekly. Most recently, Collected Notes was updated on October 2, 2026 and Lockbook on October 2, 2026.

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