Comparison

Defter Notes vs Opal

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

Head to head
About

Defter Notes

This app provides an infinite canvas for spatial thinking, allowing users to capture, connect, and explore ideas through handwriting, drawing, and text. Organize thoughts with flexible tools and intuitive navigation for enhanced creativity and productivity.

Highlights
  • Infinite canvas for spatial thinking
  • Handwritten notes, sketches, and typed text
  • Connect and layer ideas
  • Organize with Stacks
  • Deft movement with gestures
  • Cross-reference and multitask documents
  • Supports links and files
Features
Read full description

Defter Notes is loved by academics, students, teachers, researchers, journal keepers, knowledge workers, designers, architects, engineers, writers, and anyone who thinks best with their hands and eyes.  It’s built for people who see ideas as living things: connected, evolving, and worth exploring. Think without boundaries Defter Notes gives you an infinite canvas for spatial thinking. Drop ideas anywhere. Draw connections. Expand as far as your thoughts take you. Enjoy pure creative flow. Capture ideas your way Whether it starts as a quick sketch, a handwritten note, or a PDF you’re diving into, Defter Notes adapts to your process. Write, draw, or type; then move, link, and layer it all together. Your ideas stay flexible and alive. Work the way your brain works Move items freely. Zoom in and out of context. Build hierarchies of Spaces that let you go deeper into your projects. Defter Notes stays out of the way so your focus stays on thinking. Top features * Stacks for deep work: Ideal for reading, studying, or comparing multiple resources. * Deft movement with gestures: Drag pages or extract text directly out of PDFs. * Cross-reference and multitask: View, resize, and reorder documents side by side. * Handwriting and text tools: Combine pen, pencil, marker, and text boxes using Apple Pencil or Scribble. * Fluid editing: Double-tap any item to edit or share. * Intuitive navigation: Use the mini-map, navigation bar, gestures, and select tool to move effortlessly through infinite spaces. * Supports links and files: Drop in PDFs, images, URLs, and attachments right onto your canvas. Join the community: https://discord.com/invite/GjS5tJSmBW Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy policy: https://www.defternotes.com/touprivacypolicy https://defternotes.com

About

Opal

This private journaling app uses AI to help you understand your thoughts and emotions. It offers guided prompts, ambient soundscapes, and the ability to write, speak, or add photos to your entries. AI tools analyze your writing to reveal patterns and insights, all while prioritizing your privacy with on-device storage.

Highlights
  • AI-powered pattern analysis
  • Guided journaling journeys
  • Voice and image entry support
  • Multiple journal organization
  • On-device privacy controls
  • Prompt-based or blank page entries
Read full description

Opal is a guided journal and diary to delve deeper: why you react the way you do, what you actually want, what your dreams keep trying to show you. Pick a guide from a large free library, follow a ten day series, or open a blank page and write whatever is on your mind. A FREE LIBRARY OF GUIDES Browse guides on finding clarity, purpose and direction, relationships, attachment styles, limiting beliefs, Stoic philosophy, gratitude, and more. Each guide walks you through a sequence of questions, with an example answer beside every prompt so you always have somewhere to begin. TEN DAY SERIES When you want a longer practice, start a series. Shadow Work spends ten days with the parts of yourself you usually avoid, from the inner critic to the golden shadow. Deep Manifest helps you name the desire underneath the goals you keep setting. The Dreaming Life teaches you to record your dreams and follow the figures and images that keep returning. A new day appears on your home screen each morning, and each one builds on what you wrote before. GUIDED AUDIO JOURNALING Some pages open with a short recorded practice. Press play, close your eyes, and let a memory or an image surface. When the audio ends, write about what came up and where you felt it in your body. Ambient soundscapes are there too, for when you want rain or low tones behind your writing. WRITE YOUR WAY Type, talk, or write by hand. Voice entries are saved as tapes you can replay, each with a transcript you can read back. Add photos to any entry, and keep separate journals for the different threads of your life. CONNECT DOTS ACROSS TIME Opal reads across your entries and shows you what it finds: recurring themes, emotional patterns, relationship dynamics, dream symbols. Each week, month, and year it assembles a reflection drawn from your own words, shows you the passages it relied on, and keeps it in your archive. You can also ask your journal a question and get an answer grounded in what you actually wrote. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Your writing is stored on your device. No account required, no cloud sync by default, no data sold. Lock Opal with a password. When you use an AI feature, names, places, and other identifying details are masked on your phone before anything is sent, and you decide how much context is shared. Your entries are never used to train AI models. Export or delete them whenever you like. ENDORSED BY THERAPISTS "Opal encourages deep self-expression and deep self-acceptance while also giving tools for change." Leanne Domash, Ph.D., Psychologist and Author Opal is free to download, with a free library of guides. Opal Premium unlocks [premium features]. Start with one prompt tonight. Questions: opaljournal@gmail.com Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Defter Notes4 screens
Opal4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Opal at 5.0 against Defter Notes's 4.4. Opal also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 7) and review sentiment (100% vs 75%). On price, ratings volume, 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. Defter Notes sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Opal asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Opal holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 74 and 37 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 75% of Defter Notes's written reviews are positive against 100% of Opal's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Defter Notes ships an update every 2 weeks, Opal every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Defter Notes versus Opal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDefter NotesOpal
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (74 ratings)5.0 (37 ratings) — better
Positive reviews75.3% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings74 — better37
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 8 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.1
Further details — not scored
Size59 MB336 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDeft Works ApSDarby Tarlow

Customer experience

Defter Notes

All ratings74 ratings
Positive83.8%
Neutral4.1%
Negative12.2%
Written reviews81 reviews
Positive75.3%
Neutral11.1%
Negative13.6%

Opal

All ratings37 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Defter Notes

Subscriptions5
  • Monthly Plan$2.991 Month
  • Mini Supporter$2.991 Month
  • Supporter$7.991 Month
Show 2 more
  • Yearly Plan$17.991 Year
  • Big Supporter$29.991 Month
One-time2
  • Lifetime Access - Welcome Offer$29.99
  • Lifetime Access$39.99
None

Opal

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Defter Notes free?
Defter Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Opal free?
Opal is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Defter Notes or Opal?
Opal is rated higher. Defter Notes averages 4.4 out of 5 from 74 ratings, while Opal averages 5.0 from 37 ratings.
Do Defter Notes or Opal have ads?
Neither Defter Notes nor Opal shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Defter Notes or Opal?
Defter Notes ships an update every 2 weeks, and Opal every 8 days. Most recently, Defter Notes was updated on October 18, 2026 and Opal on October 8, 2026.

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