Comparison

Simplenote vs Zoho Writer

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

Zoho Writer

Create and edit documents with a clean, distraction-free interface. Collaborate with others in real-time, import and export various file formats, and access your work across all devices. Your changes are automatically saved and synced.

Highlights
  • Create and edit documents
  • Real-time collaboration
  • Import/export MS Word, PDF, ODT
  • Sync across devices
  • Offline access
  • Automatic saving
Features
Read full description

Simple, slick word processing app to create and edit documents, and collaborate on them with your friends. Sync docs across devices and access them wherever you go.   Writer is carefully designed to create a clean, blank paper-esque writing experience across your smartphone, tablet and computer. And it's free forever! Collaborate with your team - Join discussions, even when you're away from your desk. Add your thoughts to documents, reply to friends' comments, or just appreciate them by clicking "like."   Work with multiple formats - Import and edit your existing Microsoft Word documents. Take stories off your world by exporting it as an MS Word, PDF, ODT, HTML, or TXT file.   Get access to the full-blown web version - One of the best advantages of using Writer is that it features a powerful word processor on the web. It's incredibly easy to jot down notes on the move, and continue working on it on the web when you're back to your desk. Create beautiful looking documents - Format your documents. Add images, tables, and more. Work offline - Apart from a "Make available offline" option, 20 of your most recent documents will available offline by default too!   Forget saving documents - Forget clicking save, and manual back up. Your changes are saved and synced across all your devices as you make them. What's stopping you now? Get started. Write away!

Screenshots

Simplenote4 screens
Zoho Writer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Simplenote at 86% against Zoho Writer's 30%. Simplenote also leads on rating (4.7 vs 2.9) and ratings volume (4.3K vs 136). Zoho Writer's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2). On price, update cadence, ads and monetization model 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

Both are free to download. Simplenote sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per month. Zoho Writer asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Simplenote holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 2.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Simplenote has 4.3K ratings behind it against 136, 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 30% of Zoho Writer's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Simplenote ships an update fortnightly, Zoho Writer every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on October 14, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Simplenote versus Zoho Writer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSimplenoteZoho Writer
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (4.3K ratings) — better2.9 (136 ratings)
Positive reviews86.2% of reviews — better29.8% of reviews
Number of ratings4.3K — better136
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB132 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAutomatticZoho Corporation

Customer experience

Simplenote

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

Zoho Writer

All ratings136 ratings
Positive40.4%
Neutral14.0%
Negative45.6%
Written reviews151 reviews
Positive29.8%
Neutral13.2%
Negative57.0%

User reviews

Simplenote

From 4.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💻 Cross-platform availability
  • 🔍 Reliable search functionality
  • 🌐 Seamless syncing across devices
  • 📝 Simple, distraction-free interface
  • 🔒 Secure with password/fingerprint protection

Room to improve

  • 🔖 Limited formatting options (no bold, italic, etc.)
  • 🗂️ Lack of folder organization
  • 🔄 Occasional syncing issues
  • 🖼️ Unable to add images or attachments
  • 🔍 Search could be improved for long notes

Zoho Writer

From 136 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Clean and intuitive interface design
  • 🔒 Privacy-focused alternative to Google Docs
  • 📝 Good font variety and formatting options
  • 💾 Automatic document saving
  • 🌐 Cross-platform functionality (desktop, mobile, web)

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent app crashes and freezing
  • ⚠️ Severe data loss issues
  • 🐢 Significant lag and slow typing response
  • ❌ Missing core formatting features on mobile
  • 🔐 Permission and access errors

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

Zoho Writer

Reported bugs

23 issues
  • App crashes on document open
  • Cursor jumps randomly in document
  • Keyboard disappears during typing
  • Punctuation disappears after saving
  • Text erased or goes missing
Show 18 more
  • Undo function behaves erratically
  • Diacritics cause app crashes and data loss
  • Apple Pencil input causes immediate crashes
  • Documents fail to load with permission errors
  • Data migration errors on new accounts
  • Offline mode loses documents on sync
  • Lag increases with document size
  • Copy-paste corrupts text formatting
  • App freezes on tutorial screen
  • Documents deleted after app update
  • Sync fails to reflect web version changes
  • Microphone input text disappears
  • App locks up during formatting operations
  • Blank page display in read mode
  • Random extra spaces between words
  • Cursor placement in middle of words
  • Update failure notifications
  • App crashes when using WorkDrive integration

Requested features

18 requests
  • Dark mode for mobile app
  • Text wrapping around images
  • Adjustable image sizing
  • Cover page and page formatting options
  • Document list view (not just icon view)
Show 13 more
  • Search within document contents
  • Ability to save to specific folders
  • Multi-select for batch operations
  • Select all functionality
  • Landscape view support
  • Split-screen iPad support
  • Cloud import from Dropbox/OneDrive
  • Track changes feature
  • Outline navigation on mobile
  • Font size customization
  • Margin adjustment controls
  • Document templates
  • Alphabetical document sorting

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Simplenote

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

Zoho Writer

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Simplenote free?
Simplenote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Zoho Writer free?
Zoho Writer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Simplenote or Zoho Writer?
Simplenote is rated higher. Simplenote averages 4.7 out of 5 from 4.3K ratings, while Zoho Writer averages 2.9 from 136 ratings.
Do Simplenote or Zoho Writer have ads?
Neither Simplenote nor Zoho Writer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Simplenote or Zoho Writer?
Simplenote ships an update fortnightly, and Zoho Writer every 3 weeks. Most recently, Simplenote was updated on October 14, 2026 and Zoho Writer on October 14, 2026.

Other comparisons