Comparison

Lockbook vs Notebox

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

Head to head
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

About

Notebox

This app offers a secure, block-based editor with Markdown support for local note-taking. For cross-device synchronization and real-time updates, a subscription unlocks cloud features with zero-knowledge encryption.

Highlights
  • Zero-knowledge encryption
  • Block-based editor
  • Markdown support
  • Local-only mode
  • Cross-device sync
  • Real-time updates
Read full description

# V2 Ultimate Privacy - All user data is stored with D2D zero-knowledge encryption - Block based flexible editor - Supports Markdown - Local-only use on iPhone, iPad and Mac is FREE. # Subscribe to Sync - Across all devices - Real time - Conflict-Free - Complete Security All personal data is stored in personal iCloud. All synchronization is processed on user device locally. --- privacy policy: https://notebox.cloud/privacy-policy terms of use: https://notebox.cloud/terms-of-use

Screenshots

Lockbook4 screens
Notebox4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Lockbook at 5.0 against Notebox's 4.3. Lockbook also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 86%). Notebox's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs weekly) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). 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. Lockbook sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $2.99 per month and Notebox sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 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 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 14 and 6 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Lockbook's written reviews are positive against 86% of Notebox's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Lockbook ships an update weekly, Notebox every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on September 14, 2026 and June 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Lockbook versus Notebox: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLockbookNotebox
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (14 ratings) — better4.3 (6 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better85.7% of reviews
Number of ratings14 — better6
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS26.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size81 MB49 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLockbook LLCGuap Inc.

Customer experience

Lockbook

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

Notebox

All ratings6 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative16.7%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive85.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative14.3%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Lockbook

Subscriptions1
  • 30GB$2.991 Month
2 purchases

Notebox

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Cloud Subscription7 Days trial$1.491 Month
  • Yearly Cloud Subscription1 Month trial$14.991 Year

Questions

Is Lockbook free?
Lockbook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Notebox free?
Notebox is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Lockbook or Notebox?
Lockbook is rated higher. Lockbook averages 5.0 out of 5 from 14 ratings, while Notebox averages 4.3 from 6 ratings.
Do Lockbook or Notebox have ads?
Neither Lockbook nor Notebox shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Lockbook or Notebox?
Lockbook ships an update weekly, and Notebox every 2 days. Most recently, Lockbook was updated on September 14, 2026 and Notebox on June 2, 2026.

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