Comparison

Outliner vs Zavala

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 3.21 • iPhone Duo support • Bug fixes 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

Zavala

This app offers a modern approach to outlining, providing a full suite of features. It supports gestures, keyboard shortcuts, and multiple windows for efficient organization and content creation. Easily import and export in various formats, sync across devices, and customize your outlining experience.

Highlights
  • OPML Import & Export
  • Markdown Export
  • iCloud Syncing & Sharing
  • Nested Tags
  • Image Embedding
  • Keyboard Shortcuts
  • Drag and Drop
Features
Read full description

Zavala is a modern take on a traditional outliner. It is a full featured app. It takes full advantage of your device by leveraging gestures, keyboard shortcuts, and multiple windows. Other features: * OPML import & export * Markdown import & export * HTML import & export * iCloud syncing * iCloud sharing with other iCloud users * Encrypted outlines and encrypted iCloud sync * Nested Tags for organizing Outlines * Support for embedding images * Print support * Drag and drop * Text formatting * Links * Completed items * Notes * Customizable fonts and sizes * Backlinks * Shortcuts support * Web clipper share extension * Typewriter scrolling * Automatic row numbering including Decimal and Legal numbering

Screenshots

Outliner4 screens
Zavala2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Zavala at Free against Outliner's $4.99. Zavala also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 4 months). Outliner's advantage is iOS requirement (16.0 vs 26.0). 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

Zavala is free to download; Outliner costs $4.99 up front. 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 — 4.8 for Outliner against 4.8 for Zavala. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 89 and 70 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 87% of Outliner's written reviews are positive against 88% of Zavala's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Outliner ships an update every 4 months, Zavala every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Outliner versus Zavala: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOutlinerZavala
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (89 ratings)4.8 (70 ratings) — better
Positive reviews86.5% of reviews87.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings89 — better70
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS16.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size17 MB19 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCarbonFinVincode, Inc

Customer experience

Outliner

All ratings89 ratings
Positive93.3%
Neutral1.1%
Negative5.6%
Written reviews327 reviews
Positive86.5%
Neutral6.1%
Negative7.3%

Zavala

All ratings69 ratings
Positive97.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative2.9%
Written reviews65 reviews
Positive87.7%
Neutral3.1%
Negative9.2%

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

Zavala

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Outliner

No in-app purchases

None

Zavala

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Outliner free?
Outliner costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Zavala free?
Zavala is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Outliner or Zavala?
Zavala is rated higher. Outliner averages 4.8 out of 5 from 89 ratings, while Zavala averages 4.8 from 70 ratings.
Do Outliner or Zavala have ads?
Neither Outliner nor Zavala shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Outliner or Zavala?
Outliner ships an update every 4 months, and Zavala every 2 weeks. Most recently, Outliner was updated on October 29, 2026 and Zavala on October 25, 2026.

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