# Outliner vs Brainwave

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Outliner at 87% against Brainwave's 20%. Outliner also leads on rating (4.8 vs 2.0) and ratings volume (89 vs 1). Brainwave's advantage is price ($0.99 vs $4.99) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 16.0). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Outliner costs $4.99 and Brainwave $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Outliner holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 2.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Outliner has 89 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 87% of Outliner's written reviews are positive against 20% of Brainwave's.

Outliner ships an update every 4 months, Brainwave every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Outliner | Brainwave |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $4.99 | **$0.99** |
| Rating | **[4.8 (89 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/outliner/id284455726/reviews)** | [2.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/brainwave/id400523459/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **89** | 1 |
| Positive reviews | **86.5% of reviews** | 20.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | **Every 3 months** |
| Monetization | **Free** | Paid |
| Best chart rank | **#189** | — |
| Size | 17 MB | 9 MB |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | **11.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [CarbonFin](https://appshunter.io/developer/284455729) | [Zymbiotic Technologies](https://appshunter.io/developer/338578112) |

## What reviewers say

### Outliner

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/outliner/id284455726)

**Currently charting:** #189 Top Paid · Productivity (US App Store)

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:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Fast, simple, and intuitive
- 🔒 Reliable and stable
- 👍 Excellent outlining functionality
- 👍 Seamless sync across devices
- 👍 Clean and uncluttered interface

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional crashes and data loss issues
- 🔒 Concerns about data security and privacy
- 👎 Limited customization options (e.g., no color coding)
- 👎 Clunky data entry and navigation in some cases

**Reported bugs**

- 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**

- 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


### Brainwave

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/brainwave/id400523459)

Capture and organize your thoughts with this note-taking application. Create calendar events, reminders, and export notes in various formats. Protect sensitive information with password protection and manage your data with backup and restore options.

**Highlights:** Organize notes with tags, Password protect sensitive notes, Create calendar events and reminders, Export notes to PDF or text, Supports various links (web, phone, maps), Backup and restore notes

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Outliner free?

Outliner costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Brainwave free?

Brainwave costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Outliner or Brainwave?

Outliner is rated higher. Outliner averages 4.8 out of 5 from 89 ratings, while Brainwave averages 2.0 from 1 ratings.

### Do Outliner or Brainwave have ads?

Neither Outliner nor Brainwave shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Outliner or Brainwave?

Outliner ships an update every 4 months, and Brainwave every 3 months. Most recently, Outliner was updated on October 29, 2026 and Brainwave on October 17, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*