Comparison

Outliner vs Ikes

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 thoughts, tasks, and projects with a powerful outlining tool. Create structured lists, track project progress with visual indicators, and collaborate with others. Sync your work across devices and cloud storage for seamless access.

Highlights
  • Create structured outlines
  • Track project progress with pie charts
  • Sync with cloud storage (OneDrive, Dropbox)
  • Collaborate with other users
  • Drag and drop editing
  • Search and filter outlines
  • Archive old outlines
Features
Read full description

CarbonFin Outliner allows you to organize your thoughts, tasks, and projects. Easily create a todo list for today, or track an entire project anywhere you are. Share your outlines, edit them online, and collaborate with other Outliner users. Highlights • Create outlines full of notes, structured lists, tasks, or detailed projects • Sync your outlines automatically to Outliner Online, OneDrive, or Dropbox for web or desktop editing • Get a quick view of project progress - tasks with subtasks show a pie-chart indicating percent completed Organize • Search through all your outlines or an individual outline • Tag your outlines, and filter based on tag • Archive old outlines to hide them from view without deleting Easy-to-use Editor • Drag and drop to move items within an outline • Copy, paste • Undo, redo • Expand all, collapse all • Optional outline numbering • Zoom in to focus on a single subtree Outliner Online • Securely synchronize your outlines with Outliner Online • View and edit your outlines in any web browser • Import and export outlines as plain text or OPML • Keep all your devices synchronized • Share an outline with other Outliner users to collaborate OneDrive and Dropbox • Sync your outlines with OneDrive or Dropbox to allow quick import/export • Seamlessly access and edit across your iOS devices and PCs -= Recent version history =- Version 3.20 • iOS 27 support • Updated Dropbox and OneDrive integrations • Bug fixes Version 3.19 • iOS 26 support and adoption of liquid glass Version 3.18 • iOS 18 support • Dark and tinted app icons Version 3.17 • Minor bug fixes Version 3.16 • Minor bug fixes • iOS 17 support Version 3.15 • Fixed Dropbox integration • Show a warning when unlinking Dropbox/OneDrive if there are unsynced outlines • iOS 16 support Version 3.12 • Dark mode • Added confirmation to "Delete Completed" • Changing "Archived" won't update the outline's modification time • iOS 13 support Version 3.11 • OneDrive sync support Version 3.10 • Sync the order of outlines across devices (CarbonFin outlines only) • iOS 12 support Version 3.9 • iPhone X support • iOS 11 support Version 3.8 • Open In... support • Ability to hide the outline list on iPad • Minor UI tweaks

About

Ikes

Capture and organize text or image ideas with a dynamic feed. Intelligent search and discovery help you find inspiration and make unexpected connections. Syncs seamlessly across devices and prioritizes your privacy.

Highlights
  • Quick capture for text and images
  • Dynamic Idea Feed for discovery
  • Tag, source, and color organization
  • Intelligent search by meaning
  • Automatic idea discovery
  • Shuffle for serendipity
  • iCloud sync across devices
Read full description

Ikes is not your ordinary note app. It's built for capturing ideas and finding them again — fast. Got an idea? Read a great quote? Snapped a page from a book? Just throw it all into Ikes. Text, images, and links drop into a single feed, and you add tags, sources, and sparkles to whatever matters. Later, filters and search bring anything back in seconds. Now with a new unified export: send your whole library — or just the ideas matching your current filter — out as TXT, CSV, TSV, JSON, or YAML. JSON and YAML are designed for AI and RAG workflows, ready to drop straight into your pipeline. - Save text, images, and links instantly, with tags, sources, and sparkles. - Works inside Safari, X/Twitter, book readers, and other apps via the share extension. - Filter bar, tag/source browsers, and full-text search surface what you need. - Shuffle and random idea views bring forgotten ideas back to the top. - iCloud sync across iPhone, iPad, and Mac — included for free. - Place your favorite quotes on your Home Screen with widgets. [ Premium features ] - Intelligent Search — semantic search across your entire idea feed. - Intelligent Discovery — surface related ideas you had forgotten. - Unified Export to TXT / CSV / TSV / JSON / YAML (Export All or Export Filtered). - Text recognition (OCR) on captured images — perfect for reading physical books. - Filter which ideas appear in widgets. - Custom color schemes and app icons. [ Ikes at a glance ] - Free iCloud sync - Text, images, and links with tags, sources, and sparkles - Share extension for 3rd-party apps - Filter bar + tag cloud - Shuffle / random view - Home Screen widgets - Dark mode - Universal: iPhone, iPad, and Mac

Screenshots

Outliner4 screens
Ikes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Ikes at Free against Outliner's $4.99. Ikes also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 4 months). Outliner's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). On rating, review sentiment, ratings volume 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

Ikes is free to download; Outliner costs $4.99 up front. Ikes sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Outliner asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Outliner against 4.7 for Ikes. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 88 and 30 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 87% of Outliner's written reviews are positive against 93% of Ikes's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Outliner ships an update every 4 months, Ikes every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Outliner versus Ikes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOutlinerIkes
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (88 ratings) — better4.7 (30 ratings)
Positive reviews86.7% of reviews92.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings88 — better30
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size17 MB284 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCarbonFinINCREDIBLE FOX, Inc.

Customer experience

Outliner

All ratings88 ratings
Positive93.2%
Neutral1.1%
Negative5.7%
Written reviews323 reviews
Positive86.7%
Neutral6.2%
Negative7.1%

Ikes

All ratings31 ratings
Positive93.5%
Neutral3.2%
Negative3.2%
Written reviews14 reviews
Positive92.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative7.1%

Bugs and requests

Outliner

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Unexpected error: 500 when saving data
  • Pane that lists outlines won't go away or resize
  • Keyboard takes up too much screen space

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add due dates and priority levels for tasks
  • Improve export and sharing options (e.g., PDF, Word)
  • Implement better organization and search capabilities
  • Introduce a desktop companion app for easier editing
  • Add support for voice notes and other multimedia

Ikes

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Outliner

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Ikes

One-time1
  • Ikes PREMIUM$9.99

Questions

Is Outliner free?
Outliner costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Ikes free?
Ikes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Outliner or Ikes?
Outliner is rated higher. Outliner averages 4.8 out of 5 from 88 ratings, while Ikes averages 4.7 from 30 ratings.
Do Outliner or Ikes have ads?
Neither Outliner nor Ikes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Outliner or Ikes?
Outliner ships an update every 4 months, and Ikes every 2 weeks. Most recently, Outliner was updated on September 22, 2026 and Ikes on September 8, 2026.

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