# Outliner vs Metanote

The clearest difference is price: Metanote at Free against Outliner's $4.99. Metanote also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 4 months) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 16.0). Outliner's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and rating (4.8 vs 4.5). On ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Metanote is free to download; Outliner costs $4.99 up front. Metanote sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Outliner asks for nothing beyond the download.

Outliner holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Outliner has 88 ratings behind it against 11, 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 73% of Metanote's.

Outliner ships an update every 4 months, Metanote every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 3, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Outliner | Metanote |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $4.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | **[4.8 (88 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/outliner/id284455726/reviews)** | [4.5 (11 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/metanote-notesdocsagenda/id6452550221/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **88** | 11 |
| Positive reviews | **86.7% of reviews** | 72.7% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | **Every 2 weeks** |
| Monetization | **Free** | Freemium |
| Size | 17 MB | 16 MB |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | **14.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [CarbonFin](https://appshunter.io/developer/284455729) | [雪双 陈](https://appshunter.io/developer/1698224749) |

## What reviewers say

### Outliner

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

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


### Metanote

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/metanote-notesdocsagenda/id6452550221)

A privacy-focused offline editor that supports Org mode for writing, task management, and knowledge wikis. It offers real-time editing of rich content and seamless synchronization across devices.

**Highlights:** Privacy-first offline editor, Full Org mode support, Real-time rich content editing, Seamless synchronization, Integrated task management, Full-text search

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Metanote Premium | $1.99 | per month |
| Metanote Premium | $12.99 | per year |
| One-time purchase | $19.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Outliner free?

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

### Is Metanote free?

Metanote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

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

Outliner is rated higher. Outliner averages 4.8 out of 5 from 88 ratings, while Metanote averages 4.5 from 11 ratings.

### Do Outliner or Metanote have ads?

Neither Outliner nor Metanote shows ads.

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

Outliner ships an update every 4 months, and Metanote every 2 weeks. Most recently, Outliner was updated on September 22, 2026 and Metanote on September 3, 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.*