Formbook vs smrtkbd
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Formbook
This app allows you to create structured notes that function like database forms, saving you time and providing instant chart statistics. It supports collaboration, cross-device synchronization, and AI-powered form building with numerous field types.
- Form-based note creation
- Instant chart statistics
- Notebook sharing for collaboration
- AI-powered automated form builder
- 30+ form field types
- Cross-device synchronization
- Export to PDF and CSV
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Formbook: the revolutionary personal database app. Formbook is a new generation database app in which you create form based notes to easily store information. Formbook is the perfect app for structured information note taking. With Formbook, notes behave like database forms: create a notebook and define the fields you need to store your information. Form based notes have amazing benefits: - Gain a huge amount of time while taking notes as you just need to fill in form fields. - Instantly obtain chart stats on the data contained in your notebooks. - Share notebooks for collaboration with other Formbook users. Here are some usage examples. Create notebooks to: - Keep track of your progress in sport training. - Remember your favorite restaurants in places you visit. - Store your recipes. - Follow to do tasks. - Prepare a trip by describing the places to visit. - Keep track of any object inventory (with barcode reader). Formbook comes with a powerful dashboard feature that visually displays charts on your data. Personalize your charts and analyse data in detail. Formbook is cross device: notes are automatically synchronized on your iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch via iCloud. Formbook is also available on your Apple Watch: access your notes and notebooks directly from you Apple Watch. Formbook is powered by AI: save time with the new automated form builder. Enter your notebook name and Formbook infers the database fields. Choose among 30 form field types when conceiving your notebook structure: - Short text field - Long text field - Secret text field revealed by FaceID or TouchID - Code text field (programming languages) - Number - Currency - Stepper (number) - Slider (number) - Calculation (using the data from other fields) - Yes/No button - Date and Time fields - Duration - Images and photos - List of elements (with optional checkboxes) - List of tags - Rating (with stars) - Email (with compose button) - Address (with map access) - Phone number (with compose button) - URL (with browse button) - Barcode and QR code (with scan button) - Current location (latitude, longitude, address) Export your notes as PDF file and CSV file to use the data with spreadsheet apps.
smrtkbd
This keyboard app allows you to save frequently used text, links, images, and PDFs to quickly paste them into any application. It offers advanced features like dynamic templates, secure clips, and iCloud synchronization for seamless cross-device access.
- Save and paste text, URLs, images, and PDFs
- Organize content with folders, tags, and search
- Dynamic templates with smart placeholders
- Secure clips requiring biometric authentication
- iCloud sync across devices
- Privacy-focused with no data collection
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smrtkbd is a smart system keyboard for iPhone and iPad that lets you save the things you type most - and paste them into any app with a single tap. Stop retyping the same email, address, phone number, canned reply, code snippet, link or template. Save it once as a Clip, then pull it up from the smrtkbd keyboard wherever you type - in Mail, Messages, Notes, Safari, banking apps, forms, chat apps, anywhere. Custom System Keyboard Enable smrtkbd once in iOS Settings, and it's available in every app with a text field. Switch to it with the globe key, tap a Clip, and it's inserted right where the cursor is. Clip Library Save four kinds of Clips: • Text — signatures, canned replies, addresses, IDs, boilerplate • URLs — links you share often • Images — logos, screenshots, memes • PDFs — receipts, forms, documents Organize with: • Folders — nest Clips exactly the way you think • Tags — colored SF-Symbol tags for cross-cutting groups • Sort — by name, date created, or most recently used • Full-text search across names, contents and tags • Bulk create — paste a list and turn each line into a Clip Smart Placeholders Clips aren't just static text. Drop in smart placeholders that fill themselves in when you paste: • Dates & times in any format • Time- and timezone-aware greetings ("Good morning", "Guten Abend", …) • Counters that increment on every use • Text Bits — small reusable pieces you can compose into bigger Clips • Clipboard & selection tweaks — transform the current clipboard or selected text (uppercase, lowercase, trim, and more) before pasting Build your own dynamic templates without any scripting. Secure Clips Mark sensitive Clips as secure — recovery codes, IDs, private notes — and require Face ID or Touch ID before they can be viewed or pasted. iCloud Sync Your Clips stay in sync across all your devices via your private iCloud account using Apple's CloudKit. Nothing goes through our servers - because we don't have any. Privacy First • Nothing you type is collected, stored or transmitted • No analytics, no tracking, no ads • No third-party SDKs harvesting your data • Your Clips live on your device and in your private iCloud account — nowhere else Even when Full Access is enabled, no data leaves your device. Granting Full Access is optional for the basic use of the keyboard, but required for features like: • Access to Clipboard and Clipboard Notifications (required for pasting Images or PDFs, resolve Clipboard Placeholders inside Clips, update preview of relevant Clips). • Communicate back to the smrtkbd main App (e.g. storing last used time/date of a Clip). • Open the main App or the iOS Settings from within the keyboard extension. Designed for iOS • Native SwiftUI interface • Light, Dark and System appearance • iPhone and iPad • Fully localized in English, German, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese • Configurable paste behavior (add return, space, switch keyboard, or nothing) • Usage tracking so your most-used Clips are always one tap away
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: smrtkbd at 5.0 against Formbook's 4.5. smrtkbd also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). Formbook's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs monthly) and ratings volume (32 vs 1). On price, ads and in-app purchases 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. Formbook sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and smrtkbd sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
smrtkbd holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Formbook has 32 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Formbook ships an update every 4 days, smrtkbd monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Formbook | smrtkbd |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (32 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 79.9% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 32 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 — better | 26.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 10 MB | 16 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Mathieu Morgensztern | Michael Klug |
Customer experience
Formbook
smrtkbd
Bugs and requests
Formbook
Reported bugs
12 issues- Crashes on macOS Ventura and newer
- Crashes when validating fields in new notes
- Export functionality issues with CSV and PDF
- Barcode field scans but cannot search by barcode
- Star rating field too sensitive to accidental changes
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- Performance degradation with photos in notes
- Text field labels not visible in note panel
- Syncing issues between devices
- Import duplicates data instead of updating
- Occasional freezing and slowness
- Watch app syncing problems
- In-app purchase requires repurchase after updates
Requested features
30 requests- Field-specific search functionality
- Advanced multi-criteria filtering
- Table/spreadsheet view for data
- Password/biometric app protection
- Rich text formatting (bold, italic, colors)
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- File attachment support (PDFs, documents)
- Drag-and-drop image insertion
- Move notes between notebooks
- Duplicate notebook without content
- Advanced calculated fields with date math
- Print functionality for records and lists
- Customizable PDF export templates
- Folder organization for notebooks
- Read-only mode for records
- Barcode scanning search capability
- Calendar integration
- Reminder/alert field with notifications
- Multiple image support per field
- Keyboard shortcuts/Shortcuts app integration
- Collaborative sharing between users
- Template creation for notebooks
- Undo/backup functionality
- Batch operations (edit, delete multiple)
- Tag autocomplete with global tag list
- Sub-tags support
- Column/card view options
- Adjustable font sizes
- Home button for quick navigation
- Bulk import with update option
- Android version
smrtkbd
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Formbook
- Notebook sharing$3.99
- Additional fields pack$3.99
smrtkbd
- Small Tip$3.99
- Medium Tip$8.99
- Large Tip$17.99









