Comparison

Palapa! vs CBNote

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

Head to head
About

Palapa!

This app transforms your Mac's idle resources into intelligence and distributed storage. Access AI models across your devices, contribute to a shared network, and integrate AI into your projects with flexible privacy controls.

Highlights
  • Contribute Mac compute power to a shared network
  • Access AI models from iPhone and iPad
  • Run AI models locally on Mac
  • Serve AI model requests to other members
  • Integrate AI into projects via API
  • Sync files across devices
  • Choose privacy levels for inference
Read full description

Palapa turns idle compute and unused storage into intelligence and a drive that lives everywhere. Palapa lets you contribute your Mac’s unused computing power to a shared network and access its AI models from your Mac, iPhone, or iPad. HOW IT WORKS Palapa operates in three ways, and you can use any combination that fits your device: • AI Server — Run AI models directly on your Mac and serve requests from other members when you’re not using it. • Companion App — Manage your account, monitor your devices, and access the network from your iPhone or iPad without running inference locally. • Developer Access — Point any OpenAI-compatible tool or app directly at Palapa’s API to integrate large-scale AI inference into your own projects. WHAT YOU CAN DO • Browse your Drive and sync files across iPhone, iPad, and Mac • Run AI models locally on your Mac and contribute spare capacity to the network • Access models larger than your device could run on its own • Choose your privacy level for every request: keep inference entirely on your own devices, route only to trusted friends, or open it to the wider network • Connect with friends and groups and message within the app • Use Palapa as a drop-in replacement for other AI API providers in your own tools and workflows PRIVACY BY DESIGN You control where your requests are processed. Self-only mode keeps everything on your own devices. Friends mode routes only to people you trust. Open mode reaches the full network for the widest model selection. Nodes don’t store your data beyond the life of each request. BUILT FOR EVERYONE Whether you’re an individual developer looking to escape per-request API costs, part of the open-source AI community, or have a Mac with spare capacity, Palapa gives you a way to put spare compute to work and get more out of AI in return.

About

CBNote

Features
Read full description

This is a simple note app linked with the file system. You can quickly check and edit your notes using the device's buttons or shortcuts. In app settings, you can choose the action for launching from Camera Control from the following options: - Launch In-App Camera - Paste from Clipboard - Add New Note - Start Audio Recording - Open CBNote Only - Open Custom URL And other features: - Quick access to notes by launching from the Action Button, Camera Control, Control Center and other shortcut actions - Easily add new notes by pasting from the clipboard - Notes can be easily copied to the clipboard with a swipe gesture - Compatible with many file formats

Screenshots

Palapa!4 screens
CBNote3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: CBNote at weekly against Palapa!'s every 3 weeks. CBNote also leads on device support (4 vs 2). Palapa!'s advantage is iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.1). 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Palapa! ships an update every 3 weeks, CBNote weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Palapa! versus CBNote: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPalapa!CBNote
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (8 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings8 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS18.0 — better26.1
Further details — not scored
Size115 MB19 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperPalapa, Inc.Cizzuk Shihu

In-app purchases

None

Palapa!

No in-app purchases

None

CBNote

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Palapa! free?
Palapa! is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is CBNote free?
CBNote is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Palapa! or CBNote have ads?
Neither Palapa! nor CBNote shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Palapa! or CBNote?
Palapa! ships an update every 3 weeks, and CBNote weekly. Most recently, Palapa! was updated on November 3, 2026 and CBNote on October 30, 2026.

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