Lockbook vs Bodcat Notebook
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- End-to-end encryption
- Open-source code
- Cross-device syncing
- Note sharing
- Developer CLI
- No personal data collection
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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
Bodcat Notebook
A private, encrypted journaling and note-taking app designed for personal reflection and sensitive records. It offers AI-assisted suggestions and organization tools, with optional PRO features available via subscription.
- Encrypted notes and journal entries
- Organize with notebooks and tags
- Privacy-first design
- AI-assisted suggestions
- iCloud Drive backup
- Empathy Studio and Decoder
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Bodcat Notebook is a calm, privacy-first encrypted notes app for personal writing, reflection, communication review, sticky ideas, and sensitive records. Create everyday notes, organize notebooks and tags, protect private vault content, back up through iCloud Drive, and choose English, Simplified Chinese, or Follow System. Optional AI-assisted suggestions and analyses follow the selected app language. Bodcat Notebook includes Empathy Studio and Empathy Decoder for structured self-reflection. AI output is for personal reflection only and is not medical, therapeutic, legal, financial, or other professional advice. Bodcat Notebook PRO is available as an auto-renewable yearly subscription for USD $29.99/year in the U.S. storefront, with localized pricing shown by the App Store purchase sheet. Payment and renewal are handled by Apple. Privacy Policy: https://www.hcjworld.com/apps/bodcat-ios-en/privacy/ Terms of Service: https://www.hcjworld.com/apps/bodcat-ios-en/terms/ Apple Standard EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ratings volume: Lockbook at 14 against Bodcat Notebook's 1. Bodcat Notebook's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs weekly) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, rating, review sentiment 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
Both are free to download. Lockbook sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $2.99 per month and Bodcat Notebook sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $29.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Lockbook against 5.0 for Bodcat Notebook. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Lockbook has 14 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
Lockbook ships an update weekly, Bodcat Notebook every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Lockbook | Bodcat Notebook |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (14 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 14 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 80 MB | 6 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Lockbook LLC | Beijing Huichengjia Technology Co., Ltd |
Customer experience
Lockbook
Bodcat Notebook
In-app purchases
Lockbook
- 30GB$2.991 Month
Bodcat Notebook
- Bodcat PRO Yearly$29.991 Year
Questions
Is Lockbook free?
Is Bodcat Notebook free?
Which has better reviews, Lockbook or Bodcat Notebook?
Do Lockbook or Bodcat Notebook have ads?
Which is updated more often, Lockbook or Bodcat Notebook?
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