Purnote vs Nook
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
Purnote
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Notes you actually own. Purnote keeps every note as a plain Markdown file in your own iCloud Drive โ no database, no proprietary format, no lock-in. Every note is an ordinary .md file in a folder called purnote, so you can open, edit, search, back up or move your notes with any tool you like โ on your Mac, in any text editor, forever. Write a note on your phone and it is on your Mac a moment later. Edit it on your Mac and it changes on your phone while you are looking at it. If you ever stop using Purnote, you still have your notes. That is the whole idea. โข Free โ no subscription, no ads, no accounts โข Plain Markdown files, stored in iCloud Drive where you can see them โข Share from any app into Purnote โ save a post or link as a note, in the folder you choose โข Organise notes in folders, with #tags and Smart Folders โข Add photos to a note โ saved as plain files beside it, never locked in โข Create tables from the formatting bar โข Drag a note onto a folder to move it โข Formatting buttons above the keyboard โ headings, bold, italic, lists, checklists, quotes, links โ so you do not need to know Markdown to write it โข Notes are named after their first line, so the folder makes sense on your Mac โข Rendered notes with headings, tables, task lists and code blocks โข Full text search across every note โข Works without iCloud too, keeping notes on this iPhone Purnote collects nothing. There are no accounts, no analytics, and no servers other than your own iCloud.
Nook
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Nook is an RSS reader for people who would rather choose what they read. Add a feed, or paste a website and let Nook find the feed for you. Your subscriptions, what you have read, and what you have starred live on your device. There is no account to create, and nothing about your reading is sent anywhere. A READER THAT GETS OUT OF THE WAY Articles render natively, with real typography rather than a web page squeezed into a phone. Headings, quotes, code, tables, nested lists, images, and video all keep their structure. Set the font, size, line height, letter spacing, and colours, and switch any single feed to a full-page reader or the original site when its own layout is worth keeping. WORKS WITHOUT A NETWORK Nook is offline-first, not offline-capable. It launches, lists, and reads with no connection. Choose the articles to keep for later and decide when they expire. SYNC WITHOUT AN ACCOUNT Point Nook at a folder in iCloud Drive, Dropbox, or anywhere else that syncs files, and your feeds, read state, stars, categories, and folders follow you between devices. The folder service moves the files; Nook merges them, per device, so two devices changed at once do not overwrite each other. No server of ours is involved, because there isn't one. TRANSLATION, ON YOUR TERMS Translate a full article or just the titles in a list. Apple Intelligence runs on the device and costs nothing. Gemini is opt-in and uses an API key you provide, kept in this device's Keychain and never placed in the sync folder. ORGANISE IT HOWEVER YOU THINK Folders for feeds, colour-coded categories for articles, keyword rules, and text filters that collect what you would rather not see instead of deleting it. Optionally let Apple Intelligence or Gemini sort new articles by subject. QUIET BY DEFAULT No advertising, no tracking, no analytics, and no engagement mechanics. Badges and new-article notifications start off, and Nook asks for permission only after you turn one on โ never at launch. PUBLISHING (BETA, INVITATION ONLY) Nook can also publish what you write. Articles are stored as records in an AT Protocol repository that belongs to you, and served as a web page with a real feed others can subscribe to. You can export every record and delete it at any time, including while publishing is suspended. This part of Nook is in beta and needs an invitation; everything above works without one.
Screenshots
Verdict
Purnote and Nook are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters โ price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them โ neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Purnote ships an update every 6 days, Nook every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Purnote | Nook |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 6 days | Every 3 days โ better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad โ better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 18.0 |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 16 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Sasa Mitrovic | KANG SEUNGHYUN |
In-app purchases
Purnote
No in-app purchases
Nook
No in-app purchases









