Purnote vs Inkstone Notes
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.
Inkstone Notes
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Inkstone keeps your notes as what they already are: plain Markdown files, in a folder you choose, on your own device. There is no database, no import step and no proprietary format. A vault another Markdown app created opens here, and a vault created here opens there. If Inkstone disappeared tomorrow, you would still have a folder of Markdown. WRITING Headings, bold, quotes, callouts, checkboxes, tables and code all render in place as you type, with the syntax revealed only on the line the cursor is on. Reading mode is a separate, read-only view for when you want the page without the scaffolding. Body font, code font and their sizes are set independently. LINKING [[Note]], [[Note#Heading]], [[Note^block]], ![[Embeds]] and aliases declared in frontmatter all resolve into one index. Every note shows what points at it, what it points at, and which of its links have no target yet. Rename a note and every link that pointed at it is rewritten across the whole vault, in the same action. SEEING THE SHAPE The graph view draws your notes as nodes joined by their links, and the simulation is deterministic โ the same vault draws the same picture every time, so you can learn its layout instead of re-reading it on every open. SPATIAL NOTES The canvas puts cards, files and connections on an infinite sheet, saved as JSON Canvas 1.0 โ the same open format other implementations read and write. FINDING THINGS A fuzzy switcher opens over every note with one gesture. Full-text search understands tag: and path:, and tags work inline or in frontmatter, nested, in any script. TYPOGRAPHY THAT HANDLES CJK Chinese sets solid โ no word spaces โ so a Latin word dropped into a Han sentence collides with it. Inkstone sets the gap between scripts properly, and lets you choose fonts and sizes that suit both. TWO DEVICES Sync a vault through iCloud, or push it to a GitHub repository with conflicts settled once rather than left as two copies. Per-file-type filters decide whether attachments and media travel with it. PRIVATE BY CONSTRUCTION No account. No telemetry. No network call you did not ask for. Your files are on your device and go only where you send them. Interface in English, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Purnote at 18.0 against Inkstone Notes's 26.0. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
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.
| Parameter | Purnote | Inkstone Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 6 days | โ |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad โ better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 โ better | 26.0 |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 15 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Sasa Mitrovic | Orris |
In-app purchases
Purnote
No in-app purchases
Inkstone Notes
No in-app purchases









