Comparison

Zavala vs Metanote

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

Head to head
About

Zavala

This app offers a modern approach to outlining, providing a full suite of features. It supports gestures, keyboard shortcuts, and multiple windows for efficient organization and content creation. Easily import and export in various formats, sync across devices, and customize your outlining experience.

Highlights
  • OPML Import & Export
  • Markdown Export
  • iCloud Syncing & Sharing
  • Nested Tags
  • Image Embedding
  • Keyboard Shortcuts
  • Drag and Drop
Features
Read full description

Zavala is a modern take on a traditional outliner. It is a full featured app. It takes full advantage of your device by leveraging gestures, keyboard shortcuts, and multiple windows. Other features: * OPML import & export * Markdown import & export * HTML import & export * iCloud syncing * iCloud sharing with other iCloud users * Encrypted outlines and encrypted iCloud sync * Nested Tags for organizing Outlines * Support for embedding images * Print support * Drag and drop * Text formatting * Links * Completed items * Notes * Customizable fonts and sizes * Backlinks * Shortcuts support * Web clipper share extension * Typewriter scrolling * Automatic row numbering including Decimal and Legal numbering

About

Metanote

A privacy-focused offline editor that supports Org mode for writing, task management, and knowledge wikis. It offers real-time editing of rich content and seamless synchronization across devices.

Highlights
  • Privacy-first offline editor
  • Full Org mode support
  • Real-time rich content editing
  • Seamless synchronization
  • Integrated task management
  • Full-text search
Read full description

Metanote is a privacy-first offline editor that supports org mode. In Metanote, everything is text, everything is editable. Supports real-time editing and rendering of images, hyperlinks, tables, Latex mathematical formulas, source code blocks, attachments and other rich content with the text markup language 'org mode'. Literary creation, academic papers, literary programming, task management, knowledge wiki and other usage scenarios can be easily handled. *** Freedom & Private 100% work offline, no account required, no network required, no private document formats, no data collection, your data and privacy are completely under your control. *** Writing every where Whether on the go or in your bedroom, you can create, view and edit your documents anytime, anywhere, and with built-in synchronization, everything will be there when you return to your desk. *** A silky-smooth editing experience Pure native development, lightweight and smooth, rejecting any lag, even for large files! *** Thinking better Through the structured editing function, ideas come to life on screen. It is not only a beautiful outline, but also efficient thinking. *** Never miss a thing There is no more free task management system than this. Notes are to-dos, and to-dos are notes. Everything is plain-text and everything can be edited. Capture inspiration on the go with 'capture' and keep everything in sight with 'agenda view's. *** Org mode Metanote fully supports org mode 9.3.6 syntax, including features like Capture and Agenda View, allowing for a perfect and even enhanced org mode experience on smartphones. - An incredibly smooth editing experience. - Sync using WebDAV(Apache WebDAV Server, ownCloud, Yandex.disk, etc.), Dropbox, OneDrive, Git, iCloud. - Support for adding Obsidian and Logseq working directories, integrating and managing them in a unified manner - Supports full-text search. - Support images, tables and LaTeX. - Support hyperlinks and attachments. 1. Supports internal links and external links. 2. Click on the attachment link to preview and edit, the following types are supported: 1. iWork and Microsoft Office documents 2. Images 3. Live Photos 4. Text files 5. PDFs 6. Audio and video files - Supports multi-window editing. - Customizable startup page - Supports mini buffer. - Compatible with org mode version 9.3.6 - Todo notifications support - View agenda views by year, month, and day - Customizable workflows - Support for custom capture, custom agenda view, refile, log note, and other features. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Zavala2 screens
Metanote4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Zavala at none against Metanote's 3. Zavala also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.5) and review sentiment (88% vs 73%). Metanote's advantage is iOS requirement (14.0 vs 26.0). 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. Metanote sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Zavala asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Zavala holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Zavala has 67 ratings behind it against 11, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 88% of Zavala's written reviews are positive against 73% of Metanote's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and September 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Zavala versus Metanote: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterZavalaMetanote
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (67 ratings) — better4.5 (11 ratings)
Positive reviews87.7% of reviews — better72.7% of reviews
Number of ratings67 — better11
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS26.014.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size18 MB16 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperVincode, Inc雪双 陈

Customer experience

Zavala

All ratings67 ratings
Positive97.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative3.0%
Written reviews65 reviews
Positive87.7%
Neutral3.1%
Negative9.2%

Metanote

All ratings11 ratings
Positive81.8%
Neutral9.1%
Negative9.1%
Written reviews11 reviews
Positive72.7%
Neutral9.1%
Negative18.2%

In-app purchases

None

Zavala

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Metanote

Subscriptions2
  • Metanote Premium$1.991 Month
  • Metanote Premium$12.991 Year
One-time1
  • One-time purchase$19.99

Questions

Is Zavala free?
Zavala is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Metanote free?
Metanote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Zavala or Metanote?
Zavala is rated higher. Zavala averages 4.8 out of 5 from 67 ratings, while Metanote averages 4.5 from 11 ratings.
Do Zavala or Metanote have ads?
Neither Zavala nor Metanote shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Zavala or Metanote?
Zavala ships an update every 2 weeks, and Metanote every 2 weeks. Most recently, Zavala was updated on September 19, 2026 and Metanote on September 3, 2026.

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