Simplenote vs NoteBuddy
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Simple note-taking experience
- Cross-device syncing
- Collaboration and sharing
- Organization with tags
- Instant search
- To-do list creation
- Passcode lock
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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.
NoteBuddy
This note-taking application offers a comprehensive suite of tools for organizing thoughts and ideas. It supports rich text formatting, image insertion, and freehand drawing. Features like folder organization and iCloud synchronization ensure your notes are accessible and secure.
- Rich text editing
- Add images and drawings
- Folder and subfolder support
- iCloud synchronization
- Backup feature
- Apple Pencil support
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Note taking app with all important features you need: - rich text editing (bold, italic, underline, text alignments, text color, etc.) - add images - add drawings and hand written notes - support for folders and subfolders - iCloud synchronization - backup feature Including Support for: - Dynamic Type - Split Screen - Apple Pencil
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Simplenote at 86% against NoteBuddy's 22%. Simplenote also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.3) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 3 months). NoteBuddy's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Simplenote sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per month and NoteBuddy sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Simplenote holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Simplenote has 4.3K ratings behind it against 16, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 86% of Simplenote's written reviews are positive against 22% of NoteBuddy's.
Simplenote ships an update fortnightly, NoteBuddy every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and August 17, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Simplenote | NoteBuddy |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (4.3K ratings) — better | 3.3 (16 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 86.2% of reviews — better | 22.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 4.3K — better | 16 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 11 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Automattic | Oleg Mueller |
Customer experience
Simplenote
NoteBuddy
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
NoteBuddy
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Simplenote
- Simplenote Sustainer Monthly$19.991 Month
- Simplenote Sustainer Yearly$199.991 Year
NoteBuddy
- NoteBuddy Pro$2.99
Questions
Is Simplenote free?
Is NoteBuddy free?
Which has better reviews, Simplenote or NoteBuddy?
Do Simplenote or NoteBuddy have ads?
Which is updated more often, Simplenote or NoteBuddy?
Other comparisons
