Comparison

Simplenote vs indxCards

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

indxCards

Capture thoughts and ideas on virtual index cards with a beautiful, lightweight interface. Organize notes with customizable fonts and paper styles, and share them as rich text or PDF. Features on-device AI for dictation and document summarization with complete privacy.

Highlights
  • Virtual index card note-taking
  • Customizable fonts and paper styles
  • Visual thumbnail navigation
  • Share notes as rich text or PDF
  • iCloud sync and backup
  • On-device AI for dictation
  • On-device AI for document summarization
Features
Read full description

The beautiful, lightweight, and easy-to-use notes app for iPhone and iPad — now completely rewritten from the ground up. Inspired by the simplicity of real index cards, indxCards helps you capture thoughts quickly and organize them beautifully. Whether it’s a flash of inspiration, a favorite quote, a recipe, or a to-do list, it’s all just a tap away. Highlights: • Jot down ideas effortlessly on virtual index cards • Choose from a variety of elegant fonts • Select your paper style — lined, squared, or blank • View all notes as visual thumbnails for quick navigation • Share your note or export as a rich text file or as a PDF • Automatically syncs and backs up your notes to iCloud What’s New: • Built-in AI features, all running fully on-device for total privacy • Dictate notes hands-free using your voice • Scan documents directly with your camera and summarize the text instantly with on-device intelligence • Privacy first — no data ever leaves your device. All AI processing happens locally. Rediscover the joy of writing, organizing, and thinking on your iPhone or iPad — all with indxCards.

Screenshots

Simplenote4 screens
indxCards4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Simplenote at 86% against indxCards's 0%. Simplenote also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.0) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 69 months). indxCards's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2). On price, ads, monetization model 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

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

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Simplenote holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Simplenote has 4.3K ratings behind it against 3, 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 0% of indxCards's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Simplenote ships an update fortnightly, indxCards every 69 months. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Simplenote versus indxCards: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSimplenoteindxCards
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (4.3K ratings) — better4.0 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews86.1% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings4.3K — better3
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 69 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAutomatticphi & co.

Customer experience

Simplenote

All ratings4,313 ratings
Positive94.9%
Neutral1.5%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews1,723 reviews
Positive86.1%
Neutral4.5%
Negative9.4%

indxCards

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
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

indxCards

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

indxCards

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Simplenote free?
Simplenote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is indxCards free?
indxCards is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Simplenote or indxCards?
Simplenote is rated higher. Simplenote averages 4.7 out of 5 from 4.3K ratings, while indxCards averages 4.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Simplenote or indxCards have ads?
Neither Simplenote nor indxCards shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Simplenote or indxCards?
Simplenote ships an update fortnightly, and indxCards every 69 months. Most recently, Simplenote was updated on November 5, 2026 and indxCards on November 1, 2026.

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