Comparison

Simplenote vs Tasks+Cal+Sync 4

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

Head to head
About

Simplenote

Capture ideas, create to-do lists, and jot down thoughts effortlessly. Organize your notes with tags and pins, and find them instantly with search. Your content syncs across all devices for free, ensuring it's always accessible.

Highlights
  • Simple note-taking experience
  • Cross-device syncing
  • Collaboration and sharing
  • Organization with tags
  • Instant search
  • To-do list creation
  • Passcode lock
Read full description

Simplenote is an easy way to take notes, create to-do lists, capture ideas, and more. Open it, jot down some thoughts, and you're done. As your collection grows, stay organized with tags and pins, and find what you need with instant search. Since Simplenote will sync across your devices for free, your notes are with you at all times. - A simple, note taking experience - Sync everything across all your devices - Collaborate and share - Stay organized with tags - Log in with your email or WordPress.com account SYNC WITH CONFIDENCE - Automatically sync seamlessly across any computer, phone or tablet. - Back up and sync everything as you take notes, so you never lose your content. COLLABORATE AND SHARE - Collaborate and work together -- share ideas with a colleague, or write a grocery list with your roommate. - Choose whether to publish your content to the web, and share a link with whoever you want. - Publish directly to a WordPress site by connecting your WordPress.com account. - Quickly and easily share with third-party apps. ORGANIZE AND SEARCH - Stay organized with tags, and use them for quick searching and sorting. - Instantly find what you’re looking for with keyword highlighting. - Use markdown to add formatting. - Create to-do lists. - Choose the sorting order of your notes and tags. - Pin the notes that you use the most. - Edit tags directly by renaming and reordering. - Protect your content with a passcode lock. -- Privacy Policy: https://automattic.com/privacy/ Terms of Service: https://simplenote.com/terms/ California Users Privacy Notice: https://wp.me/Pe4R-d/#california-consumer-privacy-act-ccpa -- Visit simplenote.com to download Simplenote for your other devices.

About

Tasks+Cal+Sync 4

This app synchronizes contacts, tasks, and calendars using the SyncML standard. It's designed for users who need to connect with older systems or specific organizational requirements that rely on this legacy synchronization technology.

Highlights
  • SyncML synchronization for contacts, tasks, and calendars
  • App-internal calendar and task management
  • iOS contact group assignment
  • Acts as a local SyncML server
  • Month, day, week, and list calendar views
Features
Read full description

Please read the following desciption before buying this app! Tasks+Cal+Sync 4 is a niche app, suitable only when you need synchronizing contacts, tasks and calendar with a server or service which uses a standard called SyncML. The app does not support any other synchronisation technology! So please buy this app only if you know for sure that SyncML-based synchronisation is really what you need! This may be the case when the IT people of your organisation say so, and maybe even explicitly recommend using Tasks+Cal+Sync to synchronize calendars, tasks and contacts. In any case, please realize that for using this app, you need to know the URL of your syncml server, the login user to use, and the so called server paths for contacts/tasks/calendar. Only the provider of the SyncML service knows these details and can support you in establishing sync with his SyncML server. We as makers of the SyncML client app cannot! By now, SyncML is a legacy standard. It was invented in 2000, and many of that time's feature phones did support it. Since then, it has been largely superseded by other technologies, most notably CalDAV and CardDAV, which iOS supports out of the box without any extra app. But SyncML still exists, and for some older calendaring systems, it may be the only way to synchronize. For those cases, Tasks+Cal+Sync 4 exists. Tasks+Cal+Sync 4 is a rework of the former Tasks+Cal+Sync app, to allow using SyncML on iOS 10 and later (the original Tasks+Cal+Sync app only works up to iOS 9). But please note that Tasks+Cal+Sync 4 does not provide new features over the original Tasks+Cal+Sync - except for a contact list view with a way to easily assign contacts to groups. Otherwise Tasks+Cal+Sync 4 just carries the original Tasks+Cal+Sync functionality forward to make it usable with iOS10 and later. So now that you are certain SyncML based synchronisation is what you need - here's the summary for Tasks+Cal+Sync 4: • based on a mature and extensively interoperability tested SyncML engine, which powers many SyncML client and server products for different platforms (libsynthesis). • synchronizes app-internal calendar (not the iOS calendar! If you want that, have a look at "SyncML PRO 4"), app-internal tasks (not iOS reminders!) and iOS contacts to a SyncML compliant server or service in the internet or in the local network. • can act as SyncML server in the local WiFi network (e.g. to keep really old mobiles in sync with an iOS device) • has built-in tasks, month, day, week and list views for the iOS calendar (same as in original Tasks+Cal+Sync) • has a contacts list for the iOS contacts, and allows quickly assigning/removing contact group membership (that's a new feature in Tasks+Cal+Sync 4) Please visit the plan44.ch web page (see support link below) for support and FAQ, as well as documentation for download.

Screenshots

Simplenote4 screens
Tasks+Cal+Sync 44 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Simplenote at Free against Tasks+Cal+Sync 4's $14.99. Simplenote also leads on rating (4.7 vs 1.0) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 20 months). Tasks+Cal+Sync 4's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 15.0). On ads and device support 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

Simplenote is free to download; Tasks+Cal+Sync 4 costs $14.99 up front. Simplenote sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per month. Tasks+Cal+Sync 4 asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Simplenote holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Simplenote has 4.3K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Simplenote ships an update fortnightly, Tasks+Cal+Sync 4 every 20 months. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and September 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Simplenote versus Tasks+Cal+Sync 4: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSimplenoteTasks+Cal+Sync 4
PriceFree — better$14.99
Rating4.7 (4.3K ratings) — better1.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews86.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings4.3K — better2
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 20 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.010.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAutomatticLukas Zeller

Customer experience

Simplenote

All ratings4,313 ratings
Positive94.9%
Neutral1.5%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews1,718 reviews
Positive86.2%
Neutral4.5%
Negative9.3%

Tasks+Cal+Sync 4

All ratings2 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Bugs and requests

Simplenote

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Notes sometimes disappear or get duplicated
  • App crashes or freezes on certain devices
  • Syncing problems between mobile and desktop

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add bold, italic, and other formatting options
  • Implement folder-based organization
  • Improve syncing reliability across devices
  • Allow adding images, files, and other attachments
  • Enhance search capabilities for long notes

Tasks+Cal+Sync 4

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Simplenote

Subscriptions2
  • Simplenote Sustainer Monthly$19.991 Month
  • Simplenote Sustainer Yearly$199.991 Year
None

Tasks+Cal+Sync 4

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Simplenote free?
Simplenote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Tasks+Cal+Sync 4 free?
Tasks+Cal+Sync 4 costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Simplenote or Tasks+Cal+Sync 4?
Simplenote is rated higher. Simplenote averages 4.7 out of 5 from 4.3K ratings, while Tasks+Cal+Sync 4 averages 1.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Simplenote or Tasks+Cal+Sync 4 have ads?
Neither Simplenote nor Tasks+Cal+Sync 4 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Simplenote or Tasks+Cal+Sync 4?
Simplenote ships an update fortnightly, and Tasks+Cal+Sync 4 every 20 months. Most recently, Simplenote was updated on October 12, 2026 and Tasks+Cal+Sync 4 on September 27, 2026.

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