Comparison

MindSpace vs BookGate

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

Head to head
About

MindSpace

Create and organize ideas quickly with a visual mind mapping tool. Edit, export, and share your maps across devices. Offers a minimalist design and secure data storage.

Highlights
  • Create concise mind maps
  • Organize ideas with colors and stickers
  • Capture fleeting inspiration
  • Exquisite and minimalist themes
  • Secure document editor for data
  • Free sharing of mind maps
Features
Read full description

Quickly create clean and simple mind maps. Edit them on Mac, iPad, and iPhone. Export anytime to PDF, Images, Markdown, and other formats to share in your work and studies. Quickly Create Personalized Mind Maps • Efficiency: We split "Themes" into "Layouts" and "Color Schemes", carefully designing over 50 layouts and 60 color schemes. They support one-tap switching and can be freely combined into multiple styles. • Personalization: You can create your own layouts and color schemes, presetting almost all formatting options such as growth direction, width, spacing, structure, shapes, and the color of each individual branch. • Freedom: You can set different layouts for two separate mind maps, or even different layouts for different branches to form a hybrid structure mind map to present your content. You can also set it to "Manual Layout" to flexibly place every single node. Enrich Your Mind Maps in Multiple Ways • Notes: Add a place for supplementary information with support for quick viewing. • Links: Add a web link or local link. Local links can specify and jump to concrete nodes within the file. • Tasks: Add task buttons that can display progress checkboxes. • Relationships: Add relationship lines between two nodes or internal positions within a node. • Summaries: Add curly braces or polygon shapes for multiple nodes. • Images: Insert local images and set their alignment with text. • Drawings: Drawings made with Apple Pencil can also be inserted inside nodes. • Equations: Support adding LaTeX equations and modifying them at any time. • Stickers: Built-in with more than 1,000 beautiful stickers. AI Assistant Doubles Your Efficiency (Optional) • Expand: Enter an idea to quickly branch out content from different angles. • Convert: Transform a long article into a clearly structured mind map. • Image to Mind Map: Convert images containing text into a mind map with the matching structure. • Rewrite: Re-output much better text for a specified node. Mainstream Import & Export Formats • Import: Supports Markdown, OPML, TXT, FreeMind, iThoughts, etc. • Export: Supports PDF, JPG, PNG, TXT, Markdown, OPML, etc. More Convenient Features • Outline: One-tap toggle to outline mode, or start editing and arranging structures directly from the outline view. • Shortcuts: Provides a rich keyboard shortcut system that is fully customizable. • Focus Mode: Light up only your selected node and its related nodes for seamless presentation work. • Other Features: Canvas guides, widgets, auto-follow, and more. Data Security We build the App using the most safe and reliable architecture—a document-based editor. Your data belongs solely to you. The AI assistant only processes data you provide to it, and you can turn off AI globally. Subscription Information • You can subscribe to the "Pro" version monthly or annually. • Payments will be charged to your iTunes Account. Subscriptions automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current billing period. • Manage or cancel subscriptions anytime in your App Store Account Settings after purchase. Email: todo-color@outlook.com Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://rednowapp.github.io/privacy-policy/

About

BookGate

Features
Read full description

Turn screen time into reading time. BookGate helps you stop reaching for distracting apps and actually open the book you keep meaning to read. Set a reading time, choose the apps that distract you, and when it is time to read, BookGate helps you begin. Show your book to start your session, then the apps you selected stay blocked while you read. A simple reading ritual that makes it easier to start, stay focused, and keep coming back to your book. HOW BOOKGATE WORKS • Set your reading time - Choose when you want to read and let BookGate bring the moment to you, on the nights you pick, at the hour you pick. • Block distracting apps while you read - Choose whole categories or only the apps that tend to pull you away from your book. • Show your book to start - A quick book check creates a small moment of commitment before your reading session begins. • Read without the noise - Once your session starts, the apps you selected stay out of the way while you read. Sessions run from five minutes to an hour, and you can change tonight's length whenever you like. • Record what you want to remember - When you finish, leave a short takeaway in your own voice and keep it with the book. Play them back a whole book at a time. • See the habit you are actually building - Look back at your reading sessions, books and consistency over time without turning reading into a numbers game. FIVE MINUTES IS ENOUGH TO START BookGate starts you at five minutes, because five minutes is the one you will actually do tonight. Once that has been easy for a week, BookGate offers you ten, and you decide whether to take it. The habit grows at the pace you set. BUILT FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO READ — BUT KEEP SCROLLING BookGate is for the book sitting on your nightstand, the novel you bought months ago, and the reading habit you keep planning to start. Instead of simply telling you to use your phone less, BookGate gives that time somewhere better to go. Your phone becomes quieter. Your book gets opened. Reading actually happens. MADE FOR THE BOOK IN YOUR HANDS BookGate is built around paper. Photograph the cover to put a book on your shelf, show it to the camera to open a session, and keep your reading photos and voice takeaways with it as the book goes on. WHAT YOU WILL NEED • Screen Time permission, granted once during setup, so BookGate can block the apps you choose while you read. • The camera, to show your book at the start of a session. You can always start without it. • The microphone, if you would like to record a takeaway. It is optional. YOUR READING STAYS ON YOUR IPHONE There is no account and no sign-up. Your books, reading photos, recordings and history are kept on your device. SUBSCRIPTION BookGate is an auto-renewable subscription. Eligible new subscribers can start with a 3-day free trial. Two plans are available, BookGate Yearly and BookGate Monthly, and the price of each is shown in your own currency in the app before you subscribe. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. Your subscription renews automatically at the same price unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel it any time in Settings › Apple Account › Subscriptions. Any unused portion of the free trial is forfeited when you purchase a subscription. BookGate Terms: https://bookgate.app/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://bookgate.app/privacy/

Screenshots

MindSpace4 screens
BookGate4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: MindSpace at every 5 days against BookGate's every 2 weeks. MindSpace also leads on device support (4 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. MindSpace sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and BookGate sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MindSpace ships an update every 5 days, BookGate every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
MindSpace versus BookGate: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMindSpaceBookGate
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (287 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews88.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings287 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size55 MB11 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer佳文 潘Collin Arumai Harinath Mendons Jeyaseelan

Bugs and requests

MindSpace

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Nodes and content randomly disappearing
  • Compatibility issues with older devices
  • Syncing problems between devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to scribble or handwrite notes
  • Improve keyboard shortcuts and text editing
  • Implement more advanced charting and data visualization
  • Allow custom node shapes and connection styles
  • Add support for importing/exporting other mind map formats

BookGate

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

6 purchases

MindSpace

Subscriptions2
  • Subscription Monthly2 variants$0.991 Month
  • Subscription Yearly2 variants$7.991 Year
One-time4
  • 2000 AI Credits$1.49
  • Lifetime Pro2 variants$12.99
  • Lifetime Pro(Original)$12.99
Show 1 more
  • Lifetime Pro$29.99
2 purchases

BookGate

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly3 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Yearly3 Days trial$29.991 Year

Questions

Is MindSpace free?
MindSpace is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is BookGate free?
BookGate is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do MindSpace or BookGate have ads?
Neither MindSpace nor BookGate shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MindSpace or BookGate?
MindSpace ships an update every 5 days, and BookGate every 2 weeks. Most recently, MindSpace was updated on October 15, 2026 and BookGate on October 4, 2026.

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