*scratch* vs Gravity Notes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
*scratch*
Quickly jot down notes, phone numbers, or directions on the go. This simple scratchpad app requires no sign-in or cloud storage, offering a straightforward way to capture information instantly. Supports plain text and basic Emacs org mode markup.
- Instant note-taking
- Plain text support
- Checkbox lists
- Share to other apps
- Save to Files
- Emacs org mode markup
Read full descriptionHide full description
You're on the go. Someone's giving you directions, or a phone number, name of a restaurant... you need to write it down now, quickly! No time to create new contact, or a note, a file, or waste time on additional taps, bring up keyboard... You just need to write it somewhere right now. *scratch* is a simple scratch pad. • No bells or whistles, just a simple area to quickly jot something down. • Launch *scratch* and write. • Quickly create lists or checkboxes. • All plain text. • Share to other apps or save to Files as an org file (plain text). • No cloud, account, sign-in, or social required. Bonus: Emacs org mode lovers, you can use lightweight org markup like headings, plain lists, numbered lists, and checkboxes.
Gravity Notes
This app offers a minimalist approach to note-taking, organizing entries in a single, chronological list. Notes can be easily rescued, archived, or deleted with simple gestures. It supports Markdown formatting and custom tags for efficient organization and offline search.
- Single note list organization
- Swipe gestures for note management
- Markdown formatting and checklists
- Customizable tags for categorization
- Offline search with typo correction
- Home Screen widget for quick entry
- Multiple theme and text size options
Read full descriptionHide full description
Gravity keeps all your notes in one list, with the newest at the top. As you add more, older notes sink down the list. When one of them still matters, swipe it right and it comes back to the top. The idea comes from Andrej Karpathy's append-and-review note: write everything in one place, read back through it now and then, and move up whatever you still care about. Gravity has no folders, so there's nothing to file. Writing The cursor is waiting at the top when you open the app. Type your note and press Return twice, or tap the add button. A half-written draft stays where you left it. Rescuing and tidying Swipe right on a note to rescue it. Swipe left to archive, delete, share or copy. Archived notes have a page of their own, and deleted notes stay in Deleted Notes until you restore them or clear them out. Markdown and checklists Headings, bold, italics, lists, links and quotes show formatted in the list. Start a line with "- [ ]" to make a checklist, then tick items off without opening the note. In the editor the formatting appears as you type, and a small bar above the keyboard adds headings, bold, lists and checklists. Everything is saved as plain Markdown text. Tags Start a note with todo:, idea:, read: or any word followed by a colon, and it gets a colour of its own. Type todo: into search to see only those notes. There's no tag manager to look after. Search Search covers every note on your phone, archived ones too, and works offline. It finds what you mean as well as what you typed: "sofa" finds your note about the couch. Typos, plurals, accents and shorthand like appt still find the note, and dates, phone numbers and amounts match however you write them. Getting notes in The Home Screen widget starts a new note or pastes in whatever you last copied. You can also share text or a link from another app, and it becomes a new note at the top of the list. Privacy Your notes are stored on your iPhone. Gravity has no ads and no analytics, and you don't need an account. If you want your notes on your other Apple devices, turn on iCloud sync; it also works with Gravity for Mac, which is sold separately. Gravity Sync (Beta) syncs with Android too, free during the beta. You can export everything as JSON or Markdown at any time. Looks Choose light, dark or OLED black, or follow the system, and pick from five text sizes. There's a stats page too, worked out on your phone, of course. Price You pay once. There's no subscription, no in-app purchases and no ads. Privacy policy: https://www.gravitynotes.app/privacy-policy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: *scratch* at $2.99 against Gravity Notes's $9.99. *scratch* also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 11 days) and review sentiment (100% vs 92%). Gravity Notes's advantage is chart position (#83 vs unranked). On rating, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
*scratch* costs $2.99 and Gravity Notes $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for *scratch* against 5.0 for Gravity Notes. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 28 and 9 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 100% of *scratch*'s written reviews are positive against 92% of Gravity Notes's.
*scratch* ships an update daily, Gravity Notes every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | *scratch* | Gravity Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 — better | $9.99 |
| Rating | 4.9 (28 ratings) | 5.0 (9 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 91.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 28 — better | 9 |
| Update frequency | Daily — better | Every 11 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #83 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 59 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Xenodium Ltd. | Tristan Manchester |
Customer experience
*scratch*
Gravity Notes
In-app purchases
*scratch*
No in-app purchases
Gravity Notes
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is *scratch* free?
Is Gravity Notes free?
Which has better reviews, *scratch* or Gravity Notes?
Do *scratch* or Gravity Notes have ads?
Which is updated more often, *scratch* or Gravity Notes?
Other comparisons















