Comparison

Notesnook vs mDone

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

Head to head
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

About

mDone

A native iOS task manager designed for self-hosted Vikunja servers. It offers smart lists, project organization, home screen widgets, and a focus timer with Live Activities. Enjoy offline support and a privacy-first approach with no tracking.

Highlights
  • Smart Lists (Today, Upcoming, Overdue)
  • Projects and Favorites
  • Home Screen & Lock Screen Widgets
  • Focus Timer with Live Activities
  • Repeating Tasks
  • Calendar View
  • Offline Support
Features
Read full description

Take control of your tasks with mDone, a native task manager for iPhone, iPad and Mac, built for your self-hosted Vikunja server. If you run your own Vikunja instance and want a polished, native way to manage your tasks, mDone is made for you: a thoughtful, focused interface for your self-hosted productivity setup. KEY FEATURES Quick Add That Understands You Type "Buy milk tomorrow at 5pm +Home !2 *shopping" and mDone files it in the right project, with the due date, priority and label already set. Everything it picks up shows as a chip before you add the task, so nothing happens by surprise. Switch it on in Settings. Smart Lists Stay on top of what matters. Today, Upcoming and Overdue views organise your tasks, so you always know what to focus on next. Current Tasks Keep long-running work top of mind. Mark a task as Current and it stays pinned above Today, with a progress bar you can update and a gentle nudge when it has sat untouched for too long. Kanban Boards Open any project as a board. Drag cards between columns and reorder them, exactly as they appear in Vikunja's web app. Subtasks, Checklists and Labels Break big tasks into subtasks, link related tasks, tick off checklists written in a task's description, and add or create labels without leaving the app. Projects and Favorites Organise tasks into projects and sub-projects, sort them by date, priority or your own manual order, and keep the ones you use most one tap away. Siri, Hands-Free Say "Add a task in mDone" and Siri adds it without opening the app. Works over CarPlay, on AirPods and on Apple Watch. Home Screen and Lock Screen Widgets See your tasks at a glance: today's agenda, what is coming up, and anything overdue. Focus Timer with Live Activities Work through a task with purpose. Live Activities keep the timer on your Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island. Repeating Tasks Daily, weekly, monthly or custom intervals. Completing a repeating task schedules its next occurrence. Calendar View See your tasks across days and weeks alongside your calendar events. Spot the gaps and plan ahead. Offline Support mDone caches your tasks so you can keep working without a connection. Changes sync back to your server when you are online again. Privacy First Zero analytics, zero tracking, zero third-party SDKs. mDone talks only to your Vikunja server, and your data stays entirely under your control. Available in English and Simplified Chinese. REQUIREMENTS - A self-hosted Vikunja server (vikunja.io) - An account on that server mDone is open source. Visit the GitHub repository to report issues, request features, or contribute.

Screenshots

Notesnook4 screens
mDone4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: mDone at none against Notesnook's 20. mDone also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 79%) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). Notesnook's advantage is ratings volume (672 vs 7) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 18.0). 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. mDone asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

mDone holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notesnook has 672 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 79% of Notesnook's written reviews are positive against 100% of mDone's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Notesnook ships an update every 8 days, mDone weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Notesnook versus mDone: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotesnookmDone
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (672 ratings)5.0 (7 ratings) — better
Positive reviews78.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings672 — better7
Update frequencyEvery 8 daysWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS15.6 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size96 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStreetwriters LLCMarcus Williams

Customer experience

Notesnook

All ratings672 ratings
Positive93.0%
Neutral2.4%
Negative4.6%
Written reviews399 reviews
Positive78.7%
Neutral6.5%
Negative14.8%

mDone

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and 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

mDone

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

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
None

mDone

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Notesnook free?
Notesnook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is mDone free?
mDone is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Notesnook or mDone?
mDone is rated higher. Notesnook averages 4.7 out of 5 from 672 ratings, while mDone averages 5.0 from 7 ratings.
Do Notesnook or mDone have ads?
Neither Notesnook nor mDone shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Notesnook or mDone?
Notesnook ships an update every 8 days, and mDone weekly. Most recently, Notesnook was updated on October 13, 2026 and mDone on October 10, 2026.

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