Comparison

Lockbook vs Brain Dump

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

Brain Dump

This minimalist note-taking app lets you capture ideas instantly with a distraction-free interface. It offers AI-powered answers to your notes and can transform them into various formats like summaries, to-do lists, or emails.

Highlights
  • Instant writing on launch
  • AI-powered questions and answers from notes
  • Create summaries, lists, emails, and more from notes
  • Minimalist, distraction-free interface
  • Organize notes with folders
  • Merge notes easily
  • iCloud backup for cross-device access
Read full description

A thought shows up while you're in the middle of something else. By the time you've opened a notes app and picked a folder, it's gone. Brain Dump opens straight to a blank note. Write it down, get back to what you were doing, and sort it out later. Made for ADHD brains and anyone who switches tasks all day. WRITE FIRST, SORT LATER • Opens on a new note, or right where you left off. You choose. • Freewriting space: empty your head across as many notes as you need, then save them all to a folder at once. • No title, no folder, no setup needed before you start typing. CAPTURE FROM WHEREVER YOU ARE • Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets for a new note, your last note, or Freewriting • Control Center and Action Button controls (iOS 18 and later) • Siri and Shortcuts: "New note", "Resume note" • Share sheet: save text and links from other apps • Menu bar access on Mac GET BACK ON TRACK • Jump back into your last note from a widget, a control, or Siri • Reminders on any note, so it comes back when you need it • Alarms that ring even with a Focus mode on (iOS 26 and later) • Location reminders when you arrive at or leave a place (iPhone and iPad, Premium) • Checklists with tappable checkboxes • Search, pinned notes, tags, and nested folders for when you're ready to organize TURN A MESSY DUMP INTO SOMETHING USEFUL • Create: turn notes into a to-do list, summary, email, meeting report, flashcards, and more • Ask: ask questions about what you've written • Rewrite and fix grammar in Freewriting • Merge several notes into one, in the order you choose The free plan includes 3 AI uses every month. CALM BY DESIGN • Three looks: Standard, Minimal, or Essential with no icons and no color • High-focus and dyslexia-friendly fonts, adjustable text size • Background sounds while you write • Light and dark mode YOUR NOTES, EVERYWHERE • iCloud sync across iPhone, iPad, and Mac • Optional Brain Dump account: back up your notes and sync them across your devices • Brain Dump on the web at app.getbraindump.com • Share a note or folder by link: anyone can read and edit in their browser, no account needed • Import from Apple Notes and Evernote • Export to plain text, HTML, RTF, Markdown, or Word (Markdown and Word with Premium) WHAT PEOPLE SAY "Finally, a notes app that gets how my brain works." (App Store review) FREE TO START Writing, quick capture, Freewriting, and merging notes are free. Brain Dump Focus unlocks unlimited reminders and alarms, location reminders, more AI, unlimited tags, and more export formats. Or get Lifetime for everything except AI, with a one-time purchase. Brain Dump is a notes app. It isn't a medical device or a treatment. Questions or ideas? Write to braindump.help@gmail.com

Screenshots

Lockbook4 screens
Brain Dump4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Lockbook at 5.0 against Brain Dump's 4.3. Lockbook also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 71%). Brain Dump's advantage is ratings volume (64 vs 14) and iOS requirement (16.0 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. Lockbook sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $2.99 per month and Brain Dump sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per 7 days. 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 64 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Lockbook's written reviews are positive against 71% of Brain Dump's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Lockbook versus Brain Dump: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLockbookBrain Dump
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (14 ratings) — better4.3 (64 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better71.4% of reviews
Number of ratings1464 — better
Update frequencyWeeklyWeekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS26.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size67 MB85 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLockbook LLCFrancesco Leoni

Customer experience

Lockbook

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

Brain Dump

All ratings64 ratings
Positive82.8%
Neutral4.7%
Negative12.5%
Written reviews28 reviews
Positive71.4%
Neutral7.1%
Negative21.4%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Lockbook

Subscriptions1
  • 30GB$2.991 Month
7 purchases

Brain Dump

Subscriptions5
  • Weekly$3.997 Days
  • Pro: Monthly Clarity$3.991 Month
  • Monthly$10.991 Month
Show 2 more
  • Pro: Yearly Serenity$34.991 Year
  • Yearly$99.991 Year
One-time2
  • BrainDump Ask Drops$4.99
  • Lifetime$39.99

Questions

Is Lockbook free?
Lockbook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Brain Dump free?
Brain Dump is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Lockbook or Brain Dump?
Lockbook is rated higher. Lockbook averages 5.0 out of 5 from 14 ratings, while Brain Dump averages 4.3 from 64 ratings.
Do Lockbook or Brain Dump have ads?
Neither Lockbook nor Brain Dump shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Lockbook or Brain Dump?
Lockbook ships an update weekly, and Brain Dump weekly. Most recently, Lockbook was updated on October 18, 2026 and Brain Dump on October 14, 2026.

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