Comparison

Collected Notes vs Metanote

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

Metanote

A privacy-focused offline editor that supports Org mode for writing, task management, and knowledge wikis. It offers real-time editing of rich content and seamless synchronization across devices.

Highlights
  • Privacy-first offline editor
  • Full Org mode support
  • Real-time rich content editing
  • Seamless synchronization
  • Integrated task management
  • Full-text search
Read full description

Metanote is a privacy-first offline editor that supports org mode. In Metanote, everything is text, everything is editable. Supports real-time editing and rendering of images, hyperlinks, tables, Latex mathematical formulas, source code blocks, attachments and other rich content with the text markup language 'org mode'. Literary creation, academic papers, literary programming, task management, knowledge wiki and other usage scenarios can be easily handled. *** Freedom & Private 100% work offline, no account required, no network required, no private document formats, no data collection, your data and privacy are completely under your control. *** Writing every where Whether on the go or in your bedroom, you can create, view and edit your documents anytime, anywhere, and with built-in synchronization, everything will be there when you return to your desk. *** A silky-smooth editing experience Pure native development, lightweight and smooth, rejecting any lag, even for large files! *** Thinking better Through the structured editing function, ideas come to life on screen. It is not only a beautiful outline, but also efficient thinking. *** Never miss a thing There is no more free task management system than this. Notes are to-dos, and to-dos are notes. Everything is plain-text and everything can be edited. Capture inspiration on the go with 'capture' and keep everything in sight with 'agenda view's. *** Org mode Metanote fully supports org mode 9.3.6 syntax, including features like Capture and Agenda View, allowing for a perfect and even enhanced org mode experience on smartphones. - An incredibly smooth editing experience. - Sync using WebDAV(Apache WebDAV Server, ownCloud, Yandex.disk, etc.), Dropbox, OneDrive, Git, iCloud. - Support for adding Obsidian and Logseq working directories, integrating and managing them in a unified manner - Supports full-text search. - Support images, tables and LaTeX. - Support hyperlinks and attachments. 1. Supports internal links and external links. 2. Click on the attachment link to preview and edit, the following types are supported: 1. iWork and Microsoft Office documents 2. Images 3. Live Photos 4. Text files 5. PDFs 6. Audio and video files - Supports multi-window editing. - Customizable startup page - Supports mini buffer. - Compatible with org mode version 9.3.6 - Todo notifications support - View agenda views by year, month, and day - Customizable workflows - Support for custom capture, custom agenda view, refile, log note, and other features. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Collected Notes4 screens
Metanote4 screens

Verdict

The call

Collected Notes and Metanote both sit at 4.7 stars, but that hides the real split: 87% of Collected Notes's written reviews are positive against 73% of Metanote's. Collected Notes also leads on ratings volume (43 vs 11). Metanote's advantage is iOS requirement (14.0 vs 18.0). On price, rating, update cadence 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. Collected Notes sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and Metanote sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Collected Notes holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 43 and 11 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 87% of Collected Notes's written reviews are positive against 73% of Metanote's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 14, 2026 and September 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Collected Notes versus Metanote: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCollected NotesMetanote
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (43 ratings) — better4.5 (11 ratings)
Positive reviews86.7% of reviews — better72.7% of reviews
Number of ratings43 — better11
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS18.014.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB16 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlfajor Co.雪双 陈

Customer experience

Collected Notes

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

Metanote

All ratings11 ratings
Positive81.8%
Neutral9.1%
Negative9.1%
Written reviews11 reviews
Positive72.7%
Neutral9.1%
Negative18.2%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Collected Notes

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

Metanote

Subscriptions2
  • Metanote Premium$1.991 Month
  • Metanote Premium$12.991 Year
One-time1
  • One-time purchase$19.99

Questions

Is Collected Notes free?
Collected Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Metanote free?
Metanote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Collected Notes or Metanote?
Collected Notes is rated higher. Collected Notes averages 4.7 out of 5 from 43 ratings, while Metanote averages 4.5 from 11 ratings.
Do Collected Notes or Metanote have ads?
Neither Collected Notes nor Metanote shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Collected Notes or Metanote?
Collected Notes ships an update every 2 weeks, and Metanote every 2 weeks. Most recently, Collected Notes was updated on September 14, 2026 and Metanote on September 3, 2026.

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