Comparison

Ikes vs Formbook

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

Head to head
About

Ikes

Capture and organize text or image ideas with a dynamic feed. Intelligent search and discovery help you find inspiration and make unexpected connections. Syncs seamlessly across devices and prioritizes your privacy.

Highlights
  • Quick capture for text and images
  • Dynamic Idea Feed for discovery
  • Tag, source, and color organization
  • Intelligent search by meaning
  • Automatic idea discovery
  • Shuffle for serendipity
  • iCloud sync across devices
Read full description

Ikes is not your ordinary note app. It's built for capturing ideas and finding them again — fast. Got an idea? Read a great quote? Snapped a page from a book? Just throw it all into Ikes. Text, images, and links drop into a single feed, and you add tags, sources, and sparkles to whatever matters. Later, filters and search bring anything back in seconds. Now with a new unified export: send your whole library — or just the ideas matching your current filter — out as TXT, CSV, TSV, JSON, or YAML. JSON and YAML are designed for AI and RAG workflows, ready to drop straight into your pipeline. - Save text, images, and links instantly, with tags, sources, and sparkles. - Works inside Safari, X/Twitter, book readers, and other apps via the share extension. - Filter bar, tag/source browsers, and full-text search surface what you need. - Shuffle and random idea views bring forgotten ideas back to the top. - iCloud sync across iPhone, iPad, and Mac — included for free. - Place your favorite quotes on your Home Screen with widgets. [ Premium features ] - Intelligent Search — semantic search across your entire idea feed. - Intelligent Discovery — surface related ideas you had forgotten. - Unified Export to TXT / CSV / TSV / JSON / YAML (Export All or Export Filtered). - Text recognition (OCR) on captured images — perfect for reading physical books. - Filter which ideas appear in widgets. - Custom color schemes and app icons. [ Ikes at a glance ] - Free iCloud sync - Text, images, and links with tags, sources, and sparkles - Share extension for 3rd-party apps - Filter bar + tag cloud - Shuffle / random view - Home Screen widgets - Dark mode - Universal: iPhone, iPad, and Mac

About

Formbook

This app allows you to create structured notes that function like database forms, saving you time and providing instant chart statistics. It supports collaboration, cross-device synchronization, and AI-powered form building with numerous field types.

Highlights
  • Form-based note creation
  • Instant chart statistics
  • Notebook sharing for collaboration
  • AI-powered automated form builder
  • 30+ form field types
  • Cross-device synchronization
  • Export to PDF and CSV
Read full description

Formbook: the revolutionary personal database app. Formbook is a new generation database app in which you create form based notes to easily store information. Formbook is the perfect app for structured information note taking. With Formbook, notes behave like database forms: create a notebook and define the fields you need to store your information. Form based notes have amazing benefits: - Gain a huge amount of time while taking notes as you just need to fill in form fields. - Instantly obtain chart stats on the data contained in your notebooks. - Share notebooks for collaboration with other Formbook users. Here are some usage examples. Create notebooks to: - Keep track of your progress in sport training. - Remember your favorite restaurants in places you visit. - Store your recipes. - Follow to do tasks. - Prepare a trip by describing the places to visit. - Keep track of any object inventory (with barcode reader). Formbook comes with a powerful dashboard feature that visually displays charts on your data. Personalize your charts and analyse data in detail. Formbook is cross device: notes are automatically synchronized on your iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch via iCloud. Formbook is also available on your Apple Watch: access your notes and notebooks directly from you Apple Watch. Formbook is powered by AI: save time with the new automated form builder. Enter your notebook name and Formbook infers the database fields. Choose among 30 form field types when conceiving your notebook structure: - Short text field - Long text field - Secret text field revealed by FaceID or TouchID - Code text field (programming languages) - Number - Currency - Stepper (number) - Slider (number) - Calculation (using the data from other fields) - Yes/No button - Date and Time fields - Duration - Images and photos - List of elements (with optional checkboxes) - List of tags - Rating (with stars) - Email (with compose button) - Address (with map access) - Phone number (with compose button) - URL (with browse button) - Barcode and QR code (with scan button) - Current location (latitude, longitude, address) Export your notes as PDF file and CSV file to use the data with spreadsheet apps.

Screenshots

Ikes4 screens
Formbook4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Formbook at every 4 days against Ikes's every 2 weeks. Ikes's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.5) and review sentiment (93% vs 80%). On price, ratings volume, 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. Ikes sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Formbook sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Ikes holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 30 and 26 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 93% of Ikes's written reviews are positive against 80% of Formbook's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Ikes ships an update every 2 weeks, Formbook every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on September 8, 2026 and August 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Ikes versus Formbook: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterIkesFormbook
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (30 ratings) — better4.5 (26 ratings)
Positive reviews92.9% of reviews — better80.3% of reviews
Number of ratings30 — better26
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS17.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size284 MB10 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperINCREDIBLE FOX, Inc.Mathieu Morgensztern

Customer experience

Ikes

All ratings31 ratings
Positive93.5%
Neutral3.2%
Negative3.2%
Written reviews14 reviews
Positive92.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative7.1%

Formbook

All ratings26 ratings
Positive88.5%
Neutral11.5%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews132 reviews
Positive80.3%
Neutral14.4%
Negative5.3%

Bugs and requests

Ikes

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Formbook

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • Crashes on macOS Ventura and newer
  • Crashes when validating fields in new notes
  • Export functionality issues with CSV and PDF
  • Barcode field scans but cannot search by barcode
  • Star rating field too sensitive to accidental changes
Show 7 more
  • Performance degradation with photos in notes
  • Text field labels not visible in note panel
  • Syncing issues between devices
  • Import duplicates data instead of updating
  • Occasional freezing and slowness
  • Watch app syncing problems
  • In-app purchase requires repurchase after updates

Requested features

30 requests
  • Field-specific search functionality
  • Advanced multi-criteria filtering
  • Table/spreadsheet view for data
  • Password/biometric app protection
  • Rich text formatting (bold, italic, colors)
Show 25 more
  • File attachment support (PDFs, documents)
  • Drag-and-drop image insertion
  • Move notes between notebooks
  • Duplicate notebook without content
  • Advanced calculated fields with date math
  • Print functionality for records and lists
  • Customizable PDF export templates
  • Folder organization for notebooks
  • Read-only mode for records
  • Barcode scanning search capability
  • Calendar integration
  • Reminder/alert field with notifications
  • Multiple image support per field
  • Keyboard shortcuts/Shortcuts app integration
  • Collaborative sharing between users
  • Template creation for notebooks
  • Undo/backup functionality
  • Batch operations (edit, delete multiple)
  • Tag autocomplete with global tag list
  • Sub-tags support
  • Column/card view options
  • Adjustable font sizes
  • Home button for quick navigation
  • Bulk import with update option
  • Android version

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Ikes

One-time1
  • Ikes PREMIUM$9.99
2 purchases

Formbook

One-time2
  • Notebook sharing$3.99
  • Additional fields pack$3.99

Questions

Is Ikes free?
Ikes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Formbook free?
Formbook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Ikes or Formbook?
Ikes is rated higher. Ikes averages 4.7 out of 5 from 30 ratings, while Formbook averages 4.5 from 26 ratings.
Do Ikes or Formbook have ads?
Neither Ikes nor Formbook shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Ikes or Formbook?
Ikes ships an update every 2 weeks, and Formbook every 4 days. Most recently, Ikes was updated on September 8, 2026 and Formbook on August 17, 2026.

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