Comparison

Outliner vs Held

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

Head to head
About

Outliner

Organize your notes, lists, and to-dos with a powerful outliner. Add rich detail to your thoughts and keep everything in one dynamic place. Quickly find and manage your entries with intuitive search and completion features.

Highlights
  • Multi-functional outliner
  • Add detailed notes
  • Dynamic design
  • Quick search
  • Mark as complete
Features
Read full description

Scroll - Outliner for Notes, Lists & To-Dos Scroll is a modern outliner that turns scattered thoughts into a clear, structured record of everything on your mind. Notes, checklists, to-dos, plans, and ideas - all in one app, organized exactly the way you think. Most notes apps force you to choose: a quick list here, a long-form note there, a to-do app somewhere else. Scroll brings them together. Nest your notes as deep as an idea needs to go, collapse what you're not working on, and keep a precise, detailed record of your thinking without ever leaving the app. WHY YOU'LL LOVE SCROLL - Infinite outlining - Break any idea down into sub-points, then sub-points of those. Add as much detail as you want and keep it all neatly organized. - Everything in one place - Replace your notes, lists, and to-do apps with a single dynamic workspace that adapts to whatever you're capturing. - Instant search - Jump straight to the exact note you're looking for and start writing in seconds. No scrolling, no folders to dig through. - Track your progress - Mark items complete or cross them off to see what's done and what's left at a glance. - Built for focus - A clean, dynamic design that gets out of your way so you can think clearly and write freely. Subscription terms: - The subscription auto-renews at the end of each term. - Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. - The subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. - Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. - You may manage your subscription and turn off auto-renewal by going to your Account Settings after purchase. Privacy policy and Terms of Use: https://applorium.com/privacy-scroll

About

Held

This app helps you achieve your goals by making them public and accountable. Set deadlines, choose a witness, and receive regular check-ins and reminders to stay on track. Your progress is recorded in an honest ledger, ensuring permanent verdicts on your commitments.

Highlights
  • Set goals with deadlines and witnesses
  • Daily or weekly check-ins
  • Honest progress ledger
  • Customizable reminders
  • Private by design, no account needed
  • JSON data export
  • Stakes and renegotiation options
Features
Read full description

Goals fail quietly. Held makes them loud. A goal doesn't exist here until it has a deadline and a witness — someone you name, who gets your commitment in writing. Held walks you through it in three steps: the goal, the timeline, the person who will hold you to it. Give it a photograph too, if you want one. Then it sends your commitment through your own Messages or Mail, and the clock starts. THE DAY MARKER Open the app and one number faces you: the day you're on, out of the days you have. No dashboards, no confetti. Just the count. CHECK-INS ON A FIXED CADENCE Daily or weekly — you pick the rhythm when you commit. On check-in days Held asks for three honest things: on track, behind, or done; one line of progress; one next step. Add a photograph too, if you want one. Then it composes the message to your witness. You send it yourself. AN HONEST LEDGER Miss a check-in and it goes on the record. It stays on the record, and your next message to your witness owns up to it. Any photograph you added sits beside that day's line. On deadline day the ledger demands a verdict: kept or missed. Verdicts are permanent. REMINDERS THAT HOLD YOU TO IT A reminder on every check-in day, at the hour you choose. An evening nudge if the check-in is still open. A warning three days from the deadline, another the day before, and a final one when the ledger wants its verdict. Optional daily nudges for weekly goals. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account. No backend. No analytics. Everything lives on your device, with JSON export whenever you want your data. Held never sends anything on your behalf — every message goes out through your own apps, in your own name. Also: a progress bar on every goal, renegotiation (changing a deal means telling your witness first), stakes ("if I miss, I owe Sandy a spa day"), multiple goals and witnesses, and an interface with nothing to fiddle with. Put something on the line.

Screenshots

Outliner4 screens
Held4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Held at none against Outliner's 3. Held also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 77%) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). Outliner's advantage is ratings volume (65 vs 4). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Outliner sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Held asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Held holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Outliner has 65 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 77% of Outliner's written reviews are positive against 100% of Held's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Outliner ships an update every 2 months, Held every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Outliner versus Held: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOutlinerHeld
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (65 ratings)5.0 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews77.1% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings65 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperApplorium LtdTheodor Younany

Customer experience

Outliner

All ratings65 ratings
Positive92.3%
Neutral4.6%
Negative3.1%
Written reviews35 reviews
Positive77.1%
Neutral11.4%
Negative11.4%

Held

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Outliner

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Subscription$3.991 Month
  • Yearly Subscription3 Days trial$9.991 Year
One-time1
  • Scroll Premium$19.99
None

Held

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Outliner free?
Outliner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Held free?
Held is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Outliner or Held?
Held is rated higher. Outliner averages 4.7 out of 5 from 65 ratings, while Held averages 5.0 from 4 ratings.
Do Outliner or Held have ads?
Neither Outliner nor Held shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Outliner or Held?
Outliner ships an update every 2 months, and Held every 3 weeks. Most recently, Outliner was updated on September 29, 2026 and Held on September 30, 2026.

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