Comparison

Purelist vs Note

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

Head to head
About

Purelist

This app helps organize thoughts and manage tasks with a minimalist approach. It focuses on core functionality for productivity, offering features like sorting, widgets, and indentation. An optional Pro version unlocks advanced features like reminders and iCloud sync.

Highlights
  • Free item sorting
  • Home screen widget
  • Mark important items
  • Indentation for outlines
  • Search by item
  • Swipe to complete/delete
  • Add item descriptions
Read full description

Purelist is a thought organizer for those who are serious about their work or studies. Purelist prioritizes your focus on what's important, not adding extra features or decorations to get your attention. If you are looking for a motivational tool, Purelist may not be for you. However, if you need something simple to help you achieve your goals, it may be perfect for you. Purelist can be used for daily planning, task management, and note taking. It's helpful for habit checklists, lecture notes, and shopping lists. Its clean interface won't steal your time. There are no ads, and it doesn't collect your data. Purelist has no checkboxes in the list and is completed by swiping, so it can be used for both task management and idea capture. The star icon indicates the urgency of tasks or the importance of ideas. Purelist is designed to do more with less, so you don't get confused and lose the features you need. Use Purelist to increase your productivity! Key Features: • Sort tasks and items freely. • Show your list on your home screen at any time with the widget. • Mark important items to mark them more prominently. • Use indentation for easier writing and reading outlines. • No need to title your lists and tasks. • Easily search by item. • Smooth completion and deletion as you work with each item. • Add descriptions to items to manage items in detail. For Pro: • Sync lists between your iPhone, iPad, and Mac via iCloud. • Set reminders for tasks and items. • View and manage reminders by date. • Quickly set reminders using date presets. • Send system notifications at set times. • Can repeat reminders on a daily, weekly, monthly, or annually schedule. • The list can be divided into groups to organize the list in more detail. • Subgroups can be added to a group.

About

Note

This minimalist to-do list app helps declutter your life by focusing on essential tasks. Organize your day with priorities, areas, and estimates, and use a proven method to distinguish between must-do items and those that can wait. Achieve more by focusing on what truly matters.

Highlights
  • Minimalist design
  • Task prioritization
  • Assign areas and estimates
  • Must/wish/should/later method
  • Focus on important tasks
Features
Read full description

note is a clean, minimal and a powerful todo list, which will will help you to live a better life with less clutter and more fun. it's designed to make your life easier by only serving you what's needed. add your tasks smoothly and assign priorities, areas and estimates to your tasks effortlessly if you're willing to. finally organize life and finish your tasks with the proven must/wish/should/later method. after using the note app you'll realize that most of your tasks in your todo lists should have wish/later priority and have been blocking you to do the actual must/should tasks. note app will help you to focus on and done what's really important.

Screenshots

Purelist4 screens
Note4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Note at none against Purelist's 6. Note also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 75%) and rating (4.8 vs 4.6). Purelist's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 10 months) and ratings volume (41 vs 4). On price, 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. Purelist sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $0.49 per month. Note asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Note holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Purelist has 41 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 75% of Purelist's written reviews are positive against 100% of Note's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Purelist ships an update fortnightly, Note every 10 months. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Purelist versus Note: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPurelistNote
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (41 ratings)4.8 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews75.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings41 — better4
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 10 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS16.014.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size28 MB3 MB
Age rating4++4
DeveloperShintaro MiyakeEngcraft, LLC

Customer experience

Purelist

All ratings41 ratings
Positive87.8%
Neutral7.3%
Negative4.9%
Written reviews28 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral14.3%
Negative10.7%

Note

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Purelist

Subscriptions4
  • Purelist Pro for Students14 Days trial$0.491 Month
  • Purelist Pro14 Days trial$0.991 Month
  • Purelist Pro for Students14 Days trial$4.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Purelist Pro14 Days trial$9.991 Year
One-time2
  • Purelist Pro for Students$24.99
  • Purelist Pro$49.99
None

Note

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Purelist free?
Purelist is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Note free?
Note is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Purelist or Note?
Note is rated higher. Purelist averages 4.6 out of 5 from 41 ratings, while Note averages 4.8 from 4 ratings.
Do Purelist or Note have ads?
Neither Purelist nor Note shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Purelist or Note?
Purelist ships an update fortnightly, and Note every 10 months. Most recently, Purelist was updated on October 6, 2026 and Note on September 25, 2026.

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