Comparison

Lockbook vs Auer Notes

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

Auer Notes

This is a straightforward note-taking application focused on speed, ease of use, and privacy. It prioritizes a minimalist interface and local data storage, ensuring offline access and preventing other apps from accessing your notes.

Highlights
  • Fast and easy to use
  • Minimalist user interface
  • Local data storage
  • Offline access
  • Plain text notes
  • Private and secure
Read full description

Auer Notes is a note-taking application designed to be fast, easy to use, and stay out of the way until you need it. Simple and clear, Auer Notes is intentional, focusing on less, instead of more. It does one thing, the simplest possible way. Local Data: Your data is stored locally and it's always available, even when you are offline. The app doesn't use iCloud. There is no cloud or vendor preventing you from accessing your data. Also, no other apps have access to your notes. Minimal: Auer Notes has a modern and minimalist user interface designed to be simple. It is aggressively mute on purpose. The application was built to be lightweight, and to utilize less device resources. Auer Notes: A plain text and private notes app.

Screenshots

Lockbook4 screens
Auer Notes3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Lockbook at 100% against Auer Notes's 0%. Lockbook also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.5). Auer Notes's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and iOS requirement (18.2 vs 26.0). On price, ratings volume, 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. Lockbook sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $2.99 per month. Auer Notes asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Lockbook holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 14 and 8 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Lockbook's written reviews are positive against 0% of Auer Notes's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Lockbook ships an update weekly, Auer Notes every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on September 14, 2026 and July 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Lockbook versus Auer Notes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLockbookAuer Notes
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (14 ratings) — better4.5 (8 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings14 — better8
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.018.2 — better
Further details — not scored
Size81 MB0 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLockbook LLCUri Fridman

Customer experience

Lockbook

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

Auer Notes

All ratings8 ratings
Positive87.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative12.5%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Lockbook

Subscriptions1
  • 30GB$2.991 Month
None

Auer Notes

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Lockbook free?
Lockbook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Auer Notes free?
Auer Notes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Lockbook or Auer Notes?
Lockbook is rated higher. Lockbook averages 5.0 out of 5 from 14 ratings, while Auer Notes averages 4.5 from 8 ratings.
Do Lockbook or Auer Notes have ads?
Neither Lockbook nor Auer Notes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Lockbook or Auer Notes?
Lockbook ships an update weekly, and Auer Notes every 4 days. Most recently, Lockbook was updated on September 14, 2026 and Auer Notes on July 8, 2026.

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