Comparison

MindSpace vs Cadence

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

Cadence

Features
Read full description

Cadence shows text in one fixed spot on screen – in short sense units or one word at a time. Your eyes stay where they are instead of travelling line by line. WHAT READING RESEARCH SAYS In normal reading your eyes jump forward several times a second, usually 7 to 9 letters at a time. Text is only taken in during the short pauses in between. With Cadence, the text comes to your eyes. Words are recognised fastest when the eye lands slightly left of their centre (O'Regan & Jacobs, 1992). Cadence aligns every word so that exactly this point sits in the same place, marked in colour. Even skilled readers linger at the end of a sentence, where its meaning is put together (Just & Carpenter, 1980). So Cadence pauses briefly at full stops, a little less after commas, and gives long words more time. HONESTLY Adults read non-fiction at about 240 words per minute on average (Brysbaert, 2019). The faster you read, the more comprehension it costs (Rayner et al., 2016). So Cadence does not promise triple speed with full understanding. You get calm, distraction-free reading and the choice: brisk for easy texts, slower for hard ones. To re-read a passage, switch to the classic text view. TWO READING MODES Sense units: short words like "the" or "in" are grouped with the next word, so what belongs together stays together. Single words (new): one word after another, for maximum focus. When you switch, Cadence jumps back to the start of the current sentence, so you never miss a word. FROM DOCUMENT TO READING FLOW Import PDFs, e-books (EPUB), Word documents, and text or Markdown files. Cadence strips headers and page numbers. Scanned documents are recognised on your device, and chapters are taken from e-books and PDFs. It works best with documents that contain real text. With scans, multi-column pages, tables and figures the reading order can differ. Books protected by DRM cannot be opened. NO NETWORK, NO ACCOUNT Everything stays on your device. No account, no sign-in, no uploading your documents to a server. Cadence remembers your position across chapters and books. INCLUDED FOR FREE · Two books · 30 minutes of reading per day · Three speeds: 300, 450 and 600 words per minute · Single-word mode to try in the Cadence Guide · Light and dark appearance · Classic text view CADENCE PRO · Unlimited books and unlimited reading time · Stepless 150–1500 words per minute · Single-word mode in every book · Sepia and automatic appearance · Four fonts and your own focus colour · Text view jumps to your exact position PRICING Cadence Pro — 19.99 € one-time purchase. No subscription, nothing renews. Try it free for 7 days: all Pro features at no cost. Afterwards Cadence switches back to the free version automatically and nothing is charged. Sources: Brysbaert (2019), Journal of Memory and Language · Just & Carpenter (1980), Psychological Review · O'Regan & Jacobs (1992), JEP: Human Perception and Performance · Rayner et al. (2016), Psychological Science in the Public Interest Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://mjcoolj.github.io/cadence-legal/

Screenshots

MindSpace4 screens
Cadence4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: MindSpace at 4 against Cadence's 2. On price, update cadence, 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 Cadence sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
MindSpace versus Cadence: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMindSpaceCadence
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (288 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews88.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings288 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 daysEvery 5 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size55 MB40 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer佳文 潘MAXIMILIAN WILFRIED JENEWEIN

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

Cadence

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
4 purchases

Cadence

Subscriptions2
  • Cadence Pro Monthly$7.991 Month
  • Cadence Pro Yearly1 Year trial$39.991 Year
One-time2
  • 7-day TrialFree
  • Cadence Pro Lifetime$17.99

Questions

Is MindSpace free?
MindSpace is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Cadence free?
Cadence is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do MindSpace or Cadence have ads?
Neither MindSpace nor Cadence shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MindSpace or Cadence?
MindSpace ships an update every 5 days, and Cadence every 5 days. Most recently, MindSpace was updated on October 30, 2026 and Cadence on October 29, 2026.

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