Filen vs PrivacyNotes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Filen
Securely store photos, videos, and documents with military-grade encryption. Access files on any device, share them easily, and enjoy features like offline access and encrypted notes. Offers a free tier with 10 GB storage.
- 10 GB free storage
- Unlimited pro storage
- Secure client-side encryption
- Offline file access
- Cross-device file access
- Encrypted notes and chats
- Automatic camera upload
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Filen is everything you need for storing your photos, videos and documents secure and encrypted in the cloud. Get 10 GB storage for free when you create an account. Features: - Get 10 GB when you create an account - Get unlimited storage with our pro offerings - Easily share files with family, friends and colleagues, even if they are not Filen users - Military grade client sided AES 256 bit encryption, your files truly belong to you - only you - Make files available offline for easy access wherever, whenever - Stream and preview your photos, documents, images and audio files straight from the cloud - Access your files on every device - Encrypted notes - Encrypted chats - Clean, easy to use interface for easy file management - Dark mode available for those who work at night or just love the darker look! - Automatic camera upload - Share target - Files app integration Terms of service: https://filen.io/terms Privacy policy: https://filen.io/privacy
PrivacyNotes
Securely manage your notes, tasks, and journal with end-to-end encryption. This app ensures your data is private by design, with no trackers or ads. It works offline and syncs encrypted across your devices without requiring an account.
- Zero-knowledge encryption
- Markdown-native notes
- Task management
- Private journaling
- Offline functionality
- Cross-device sync
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Your notes app knows everything about you. PrivacyNotes does not. Notes, tasks, calendar, journal and passwords, encrypted on your device. Not mined, not sold, not shown to anyone. WHY PEOPLE SWITCH - Always encrypted, on your phone and on the way to our servers in Switzerland - No ads, no trackers, no analytics. You are not the product - Open source: anyone can check what the app does - Sign up with a 12-word phrase instead of an email - Lock the app with Face ID or a PIN - Works offline, syncs across your devices EVERYTHING IN ONE PLACE - Notes: a rich editor, tags, links between notes, instant search - Tasks: every checkbox from every note, in one list - Calendar: events, repeats and birthdays, with reminders on Pro - Journal: track your mood, sleep and medication - Vault: passwords, cards and SSH keys - Files: photos, documents, audio and video - Bookmarks: your saved links, with their icons - Contacts: an address book that stays private BRING YOUR NOTES ALONG Import from Apple Notes, Evernote, Google Keep, Obsidian, Standard Notes, Joplin, Notesnook, UpNote, Samsung Notes and plain Markdown files. Export everything, any time. FREE FOREVER Free on 2 devices, with no time limit and no credit card. Pro is a one-time purchase, not a subscription: unlimited devices, 500 MB of encrypted storage, reminders, note history and more. ABOUT THE APP PRIVACY LABEL Apple asks us to list everything that can reach our server, even when it arrives encrypted. User Content is your notes, encrypted on your device. Identifiers are a key made from your recovery phrase and a device hash, not your name. Contact Info is an email, only if you sign in with Apple, Google or GitHub. Purchases is your Pro status. Nothing is shared, sold or used for ads. Privacy Policy: https://lifetimelabs.dev/privacy/ Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: PrivacyNotes at 100% against Filen's 48%. PrivacyNotes also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.8) and update cadence (every 3 days vs fortnightly). Filen's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and ratings volume (126 vs 10). On price, ads, monetization model 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
Both are free to download. PrivacyNotes sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per year. Filen asks for nothing beyond the download.
PrivacyNotes holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Filen has 126 ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 48% of Filen's written reviews are positive against 100% of PrivacyNotes's.
Filen ships an update fortnightly, PrivacyNotes every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Filen | PrivacyNotes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.8 (126 ratings) | 5.0 (10 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 47.7% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 126 — better | 10 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 17.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 103 MB | 15 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Filen Cloud Dienste UG (haftungsbeschraenkt) | Lifetime Labs LLC |
Customer experience
Filen
PrivacyNotes
Bugs and requests
Filen
Reported bugs
18 issues- App crashes when uploading photos/videos
- Music pauses when app is minimized
- Photo upload stuck at specific file counts (e.g., 42 photos)
- Notes lose data during sync
- Note type conversion deletes text content
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- Video thumbnails not displaying correctly
- Cannot open audio files in app
- App stuck on opening screen
- Login credentials not working on iOS despite working elsewhere
- Upload progress not visible in latest update
- File upload stalls at 'finishing' stage
- Camera upload fails with VPN enabled
- Rich text editor loses data on sync
- Share public link toggle does nothing
- Media not found error when uploading images
- App unable to load albums page
- Password reset link not sending
- Automatic account deletion after inactivity
Requested features
12 requests- Video streaming/playback within app
- Read-only file mode option
- Back-sync feature (delete from phone, delete from cloud)
- Multi-select file upload capability
- iPad split-screen view support
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Shared folder system like Dropbox/Google Drive
- Album-to-folder mapping for camera uploads
- iOS Files app integration/mounting
- Audio file playback within app
- Dark mode following system settings
- Magnetic link download support
- Better gallery navigation and filtering
PrivacyNotes
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Filen
No in-app purchases
PrivacyNotes
- 1 GB Encrypted Storage$4.991 Year
- 2 GB Encrypted Storage$8.991 Year
- 5 GB Encrypted Storage$17.991 Year
- PrivacyNotes Pro$49.99









