Comparison

Beacon Hound vs Notesnook

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Beacon Hound

Read full description

Register your Beacons (BLE/Beacon Devices) in the in the PeopleTray cloud application, then use Beacon Hound to scan for devices to track the location of people working in the vicinity of your Beacons. This is useful for businesses that wish to confirm the presence of workers and contractors in locations of interest, including calculating the amount of time spent in each location. Can also be used to detect the presence of people in hazardous locations. Beacon Hound has several features that differentiate it from other BLE scanning Apps. 1. When scanning, Beacon Hounds sends signals to the PeopleTray database to indicate the App is ON and is in scanning mode. This is useful to confirm the App is on and scanning in situation where no Beacons are being detected. 2. Beacon Hound records the detection of multiple Beacons (up to three), recording the Beacons that have the strongest signals. This allows you use a mix of long range (for example 100 metres) and short range (12 metres) Beacons where the long range Beacons detect presence in a large area, whereas the presence in rooms of special interest is indicated by the shorter range Beacons. 3. Beacon Hound includes a built-in interface to send detections to the PeopleTray cloud database (www.peopletray.com) for maps and reporting. Please contact PeopleTray if you would like to link Beacon Hound to a different database. Beacon Hound can be used to detect the BLE Devices without any set up, always sorting the detected Beacons by signal strength. But the real power is in registering your Beacons, placing them in known locations and using the PeopleTray reporting tools to verify and analyse visits to those locations.

About

Notesnook

This open-source app offers secure, encrypted note-taking and organization across all your devices. It features a robust editor, to-do lists, and a private journal with advanced security to protect your personal information.

Highlights
  • Military-grade encryption
  • Cross-platform synchronization
  • To-do lists and task management
  • Private journal with media support
  • Rich text and Markdown editor
  • Notebook organization
  • App lock with fingerprint support
Features
Read full description

Your notes are yours. Notesnook encrypts every one of them on your device before it ever reaches the cloud — so no one can read them. Not advertisers, not us. UNLIMITED NOTES. EVERY DEVICE. FREE. Most note apps cap the free plan until it hurts. Others stop after a few dozen notes. Notesnook never limits how much you write or how many devices you sync. A REAL EDITOR Headings, tables, code blocks, maths, outlines, Markdown and full-quality images. Notes that hold up whether you are writing a shopping list or a thesis chapter. ORGANISED AT ANY SIZE Nested notebooks, tags, colours, pinned and favourite notes, and search that stays instant at 10,000 notes. Link notes to each other and build your own private wiki. PRIVACY YOU CAN CHECK YOURSELF • End-to-end encryption is always on — you cannot switch it off, so you cannot forget • Encrypted on your device, in transit and at rest, using XChaCha20-Poly1305 and Argon2 • Even your notebook and tag names are encrypted • 100% open source under AGPLv3 — read every line, or run your own sync server • Recommended by Privacy Guides IMPORT YOUR OLD NOTES Bring your notes, notebooks and tags with you. Import from your previous notes app, plus plain Markdown and HTML files. EVERYWHERE YOU WRITE iPhone, iPad, Mac and the web. Sync is instant, and encrypted the whole way. ALSO INSIDE • Web clipper — save any article, ad-free and offline • Reminders across all your devices • Note version history, so nothing is ever really lost • Publish a note to a shareable link • Dark mode and custom themes FREE FOREVER Unlimited notes, unlimited devices, 50 notebooks, 50 tags and full end-to-end encryption. No ads. No trial countdown. PAID PLANS Add task lists, callouts, recurring reminders, more storage, and — on Pro — app lock, an encrypted vault and full-quality images. From $19.99 a year. Questions or feedback: support@streetwriters.co Privacy policy: https://notesnook.com/privacy Terms: https://notesnook.com/terms

Screenshots

Beacon Hound3 screens
Notesnook4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Beacon Hound at none against Notesnook's 20. Beacon Hound also leads on iOS requirement (10.0 vs 15.6). On price, update cadence, ads and device support 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. Notesnook sells 17 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Beacon Hound asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Beacon Hound ships an update every 2 weeks, Notesnook every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Beacon Hound versus Notesnook: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBeacon HoundNotesnook
PriceFreeFree
Rating—4.7 (672 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—78.8% of reviews
Number of ratings—672 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 8 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
Monetization—Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS10.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size87 MB96 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPeopleTray Pty LtdStreetwriters LLC

Bugs and requests

Beacon Hound

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Notesnook

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes on launch on older iOS devices
  • Sync issues leading to data loss
  • Unreliable login and verification process

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved search functionality
  • Reminders and calendar integration
  • Handwriting and drawing support
  • Multilingual support
  • Improved table and spreadsheet features

In-app purchases

None

Beacon Hound

No in-app purchases

17 purchases

Notesnook

Subscriptions17
  • Notesnook Pro$0.991 Month
  • Notesnook Essential Plan7 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Notesnook Pro$2.491 Month
Show 14 more
  • Notesnook Pro Plan7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Notesnook Pro3 variants$4.491 Month
  • Notesnook Pro1 Month trial$4.491 Month
  • Notesnook Pro Plan7 Days trial$6.991 Month
  • Notesnook Believer Plan7 Days trial$8.991 Month
  • Notesnook Pro$9.991 Year
  • Notesnook Essential Plan14 Days trial$19.991 Year
  • Notesnook Pro$24.991 Year
  • Notesnook Pro Plan14 Days trial$29.901 Year
  • Notesnook Pro Yearly$49.991 Year
  • Notesnook Pro2 variants$49.991 Year
  • Notesnook Pro1 Year trial$49.991 Year
  • Notesnook Pro Plan14 Days trial$69.991 Year
  • Notesnook Believer Plan14 Days trial$89.991 Year

Questions

Is Beacon Hound free?
Beacon Hound is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Notesnook free?
Notesnook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Beacon Hound or Notesnook have ads?
Neither Beacon Hound nor Notesnook shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Beacon Hound or Notesnook?
Beacon Hound ships an update every 2 weeks, and Notesnook every 8 days. Most recently, Beacon Hound was updated on September 30, 2026 and Notesnook on October 16, 2026.

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