Comparison

Saber vs Blocknotes

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

Head to head
About

Saber

Capture and organize your thoughts with a digital handwriting app designed for intuitive use. Features include dark mode inversion for eye comfort, advanced highlighter capabilities, and robust folder organization. Secure your notes with a dual-password system and enjoy seamless syncing across all your devices.

Highlights
  • Intuitive handwriting interface
  • Dark mode inversion for eye comfort
  • Advanced multi-line equation highlighting
  • Unlimited nested folders for organization
  • Dual-password note protection
  • Seamless cross-device syncing
  • Open-source code for transparency
Features
Read full description

Saber is the notes app built for handwriting. It's designed to be as simple and intuitive as possible, while still delivering unique features that you'll actually use. Additionally, Saber is available across all your devices, large and small, and syncs between them seamlessly. Notably, it can invert your notes when you're in dark mode. This allows you to write with white ink on a black background, which is much easier on the eyes in low-light environments like when the teacher turns off the lights in class. Images and PDFs are also inverted, so you can still use a digital printout or a textbook without the fuss. Saber uses a dual-password system to protect your notes from anyone but you, even if they have complete control over the server. You can safely store your notes on the official Saber server, another server, or even host your own! The app is completely open-source so that anyone can view the source code and see exactly what it's doing and how it handles your data. Many other note-taking apps are closed-source and proprietary, meaning that their inner workings are a mystery to the public. As someone who studies maths, highlighting multi-line equations was always a hassle with other apps, where the highlighter would change color when it overlapped with itself. Another problem I had was that in some apps, the highlighter would render on top of the text, fading it out and making it hard to read. Saber's highlighter has no such issues. It utilizes canvas compositing to render the highlighter in a way that is consistent with/better than traditional paper, where it handles overlaps and maintains color consistency. Saber has everything you need to keep your notes organized. Create folders inside folders inside folders to your heart's content with no limit on the number of nested folders. And even though a note may be buried deep within a nested folder, you can still access it easily with your most recent notes always available on the home screen. Discover a whole new way to capture and organize your thoughts with Saber. Whether you're a student, professional, or creative mind, Saber is your trusted companion for digital handwriting. Download now and let your ideas flow freely!

About

Blocknotes

This app saves your notes as local HTML files, ensuring complete offline privacy. Your notes sync automatically across devices via iCloud Drive. It requires an iCloud account to function.

Highlights
  • Local HTML file storage
  • Completely offline functionality
  • No internet connection required
  • Automatic iCloud Drive sync
  • Cross-device synchronization
Features
Read full description

Own your data! This app stores your notes as simple, local HTML files. Blocknotes never connects to the internet. It’s completely offline and private. Files are stored in your iCloud Drive, so it automatically syncs across devices. Requires you to be signed in with iCloud.

Screenshots

Saber4 screens
Blocknotes4 screens

Verdict

The call

Saber and Blocknotes both sit at 4.0 stars, but that hides the real split: 76% of Saber's written reviews are positive against 25% of Blocknotes's. Saber also leads on ratings volume (21 vs 2) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.0 for Saber against 4.0 for Blocknotes. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Saber has 21 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 76% of Saber's written reviews are positive against 25% of Blocknotes's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Saber ships an update fortnightly, Blocknotes monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Saber versus Blocknotes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSaberBlocknotes
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (21 ratings)4.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews76.5% of reviews — better25.0% of reviews
Number of ratings21 — better2
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size49 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAdil HanneyAutomattic

Customer experience

Saber

All ratings21 ratings
Positive76.2%
Neutral9.5%
Negative14.3%
Written reviews17 reviews
Positive76.5%
Neutral17.6%
Negative5.9%

Blocknotes

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive25.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative50.0%

In-app purchases

None

Saber

No in-app purchases

None

Blocknotes

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Saber free?
Saber is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Blocknotes free?
Blocknotes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Saber or Blocknotes?
Saber and Blocknotes are both rated 4.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 21 and 2 ratings respectively.
Do Saber or Blocknotes have ads?
Neither Saber nor Blocknotes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Saber or Blocknotes?
Saber ships an update fortnightly, and Blocknotes monthly. Most recently, Saber was updated on September 22, 2026 and Blocknotes on September 21, 2026.

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