Comparison

HotNotes vs Readonly

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

Head to head
About

HotNotes

Organize your daily tasks and appointments with a stylish and intuitive note-taking app. Create to-do lists, break down tasks into smaller steps, and set reminders for important events. No sign-in is required to start planning your life.

Highlights
  • Daily to-do lists
  • Task breakdown
  • Shapes tool for drawing
  • Elegant design
  • Appointment planning
  • Daily diary creation
  • Event reminders
Features
Read full description

• Write daily to-do lists and mark tasks as completed Your basic building block is the almighty To-Do—each a small step toward a great accomplishment. You can add notes, schedule it, and break it down into smaller steps. Features - Draw perfect shapes and lines with shapes tool - enjoy an elegant and eye-pleasing design - plan appointments and set up a stylish agenda - write daily to-do lists and mark tasks as completed - take notes for every day and create a diary - reminders for important events, tasks or notes - no sign-in or registration necessary

About

Readonly

Save articles from other apps to read later in a comfortable, distraction-free environment. Organize your saved content with tags, highlight key passages, and add notes for deeper comprehension. Customize the reading experience with various themes and layout adjustments.

Highlights
  • Quickly save articles from other apps
  • Highlight text and add notes
  • Organize articles with tags
  • Customize reading themes and layout
  • Synchronize data via iCloud
  • Export articles in Markdown format
Read full description

"Readonly" is a simple and easy to use read later app. There are not too many complicated features, just to give you a comfortable place to read your saved articles. Featured Functions - Highlight & Notes While reading, use different colors to highlight text, mark key points for easy review later. You can also add notes to the highlights, recording your thoughts and insights, making each reading session more rewarding. - Theme Switching We have carefully prepared some themes suitable for reading, choose your favorite from it, relax your eyes and focus on reading. - iCloud Synchronization Data synchronization to the cloud, no longer worry about data loss. - Tag Management Tag articles, categorize and manage them, keep everything in order. - Layout Adjustment Select fonts, adjust spacing, you can finely control the layout of the article to make reading more comfortable. - Quick Save Quickly save articles in other apps through sharing operations. - Export Articles Export your saved articles in Markdown format. —————————— Contact Us: brkchen@icloud.com

Screenshots

HotNotes4 screens
Readonly4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Readonly at 100% against HotNotes's 0%. Readonly also leads on rating (4.4 vs 3.5) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 28 months). HotNotes's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2). 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. Readonly sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. HotNotes asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Readonly holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6 and 16 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of HotNotes's written reviews are positive against 100% of Readonly's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

HotNotes ships an update every 28 months, Readonly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
HotNotes versus Readonly: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHotNotesReadonly
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.5 (6 ratings)4.4 (16 ratings) — better
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings616 — better
Update frequencyEvery 28 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS17.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSamsuddin Ahmed Sohag龙 陈

Customer experience

HotNotes

All ratings6 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Readonly

All ratings15 ratings
Positive86.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative13.3%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

HotNotes

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Readonly

One-time2
  • Permanent Purchase(iOS)$2.99
  • 永久购买(macOS)$2.99

Questions

Is HotNotes free?
HotNotes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Readonly free?
Readonly is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, HotNotes or Readonly?
Readonly is rated higher. HotNotes averages 3.5 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while Readonly averages 4.4 from 16 ratings.
Do HotNotes or Readonly have ads?
Neither HotNotes nor Readonly shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HotNotes or Readonly?
HotNotes ships an update every 28 months, and Readonly every 3 weeks. Most recently, HotNotes was updated on October 21, 2026 and Readonly on October 24, 2026.

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