Comparison

Notesnook vs TextQuay

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

TextQuay

Features
Read full description

Turn files into clean Markdown. TextQuay brings documents, spreadsheets, images and data into a format you can read, copy and use with your own AI and writing tools. CONVERT YOUR FILES Import PDFs, DOCX Word documents, XLSX spreadsheets, rich text, HTML, plain text, source code and structured data such as JSON, XML, CSV and TSV. Extract text from supported images with on-device OCR, or bring in text from a website URL. Legacy DOC conversion is available on Mac; use DOCX on iPhone and iPad. KEEP THE ORIGINAL TextQuay stores the source file alongside its Markdown result. Find earlier conversions in Store, preview the content and copy or share it when you need it. Your original remains available. PREPARE CONTENT FOR YOUR OWN TOOLS Copy Markdown into the AI assistant, editor or workflow you already use. TextQuay prepares the file content; you choose where it goes. Conversion results depend on the source, and image-only PDF pages may need a separate OCR step. WORK ACROSS IPHONE, IPAD AND MAC Use the familiar Convert, Store, Home and Settings workflow with layouts that adapt to the available space. Keep your preferred appearance and accent colours. PART OF FORGE FOR AI TextQuay is the file conversion app in the Forge for AI family. Its new document mark gives it a distinct identity, with the familiar charcoal, gold and orange style still available. Free for 14 days, then purchase once for continued access. No subscription, analytics or adverts. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Notesnook4 screens
TextQuay4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Notesnook at every 8 days against TextQuay's every 6 weeks. Notesnook also leads on iOS requirement (15.6 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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 and TextQuay sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Notesnook ships an update every 8 days, TextQuay every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Notesnook versus TextQuay: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotesnookTextQuay
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (672 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews78.8% of reviews—
Number of ratings672 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 8 days — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS15.6 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size96 MB14 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperStreetwriters LLCASHLEY DRURY

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

TextQuay

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
1 purchases

TextQuay

One-time1
  • Forge Lifetime$2.99

Questions

Is Notesnook free?
Notesnook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is TextQuay free?
TextQuay is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Notesnook or TextQuay have ads?
Neither Notesnook nor TextQuay shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Notesnook or TextQuay?
Notesnook ships an update every 8 days, and TextQuay every 6 weeks. Most recently, Notesnook was updated on October 18, 2026 and TextQuay on October 14, 2026.

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