SimpleMind vs Briefday
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SimpleMind
Organize thoughts, capture ideas, and generate new concepts with a powerful mind mapping tool. Its intuitive interface allows for free-form or auto-layout creation, with options to add media, documents, and synchronize across devices. Share your mind maps in various formats or present them as slideshows.
- Free-form and auto layout options
- Add images, notes, icons, and links
- Voice memos and video integration
- Cloud synchronization across devices
- Export to PDF, Image, Reminders, Calendar
- Customizable styling and themes
- Collapse/expand branches for overview
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Mind mapping helps you organize your thoughts, remember information and generate new ideas. We've created a beautiful, intuitive app, so you can mind map wherever you are and whenever you want. Free Functionality • Everything you need to get started with mind mapping. • No ads. • No data collection. • No need to sign up for an account. • Upgrade to full functionality is a one-time single purchase. Highlights • Easy to use. • Continuously fine-tuned based on customer feedback. • Trustworthy and reliable: 15+ years of updates and improvements. • Used in a wide range of applications: business, education, legal and medical. • Tools to help you maintain overview. Create ○ place topics anywhere you want in the free-form layout ○ or use auto layout - great for brainstorming ○ reorganize and restructure using drag, rotate, re-arrange or reconnect ○ use checkboxes, progress bars, auto-numbering ○ connect any two topics with a crosslink ○ label relations ○ virtually unlimited page size and number of elements ○ supports multiple Mind Maps on one page Add media and documents ○ images and photos ○ notes ○ icons (stock, emojis or custom) ○ link to a topic, mind map, contact, file or webpage ○ voice memos ○ videos Seamless synchronization using clouds ○ sync mind maps with your iPads and iPhones ○ sync mind maps across platforms. For example with Mac - as a separate purchase ○ sync using iCloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, 坚果云 - Nutstore and Nextcloud Share your Mind Map ○ for example as PDF or Image ○ outline, can be imported in word processors ○ create a slideshow to present your Mind Map (Tablet only) ○ print ○ export to Reminders or Calendar Style your mind map ○ change the appearance by selecting one of the 15+ style sheets ○ create your own style sheets ○ style every detail, exactly how you want it ○ change borders, lines, colors, background color, the checkbox color, and much more Maintain overview ○ collapse and expand branches ○ hide or show branches or topics ○ block out distractions with autofocus ○ highlight branches by displaying branch borders ○ visually group topics with group borders ○ organize your Mind Maps in folders ○ outline view ○ search
Briefday
This app provides a calm weekly briefing of your upcoming 14 days, highlighting busy periods and free time. It automatically detects important occasions and offers a home screen widget for at-a-glance viewing. Designed for privacy, it processes calendar data on your device.
- Weekly calendar briefing
- Heat map visualization of busy/free days
- Automatic occasion detection
- Schedule directly from free time blocks
- Home screen widget
- Privacy-focused, on-device processing
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Briefday turns your calendar into a calm weekly briefing. Every Sunday, it looks at the next 14 days and tells you what they actually mean: which days are heavy, where your free time is, and what occasions are coming up, so the week never sneaks up on you. AT A GLANCE Open the app to a two-week calendar that reads like a heat map: busy days stand out, free days stay quiet. Tap any day for a full timeline of events, gaps, and observations like early starts, late finishes, and back-to-back stretches. YOUR WEEKLY DIGEST Once a week, Briefday sends a short notification summarizing the week ahead. No feeds, no noise. One briefing, then it gets out of the way. FIND FREE TIME, USE IT Briefday shows your genuinely free mornings, afternoons, and evenings. Tap a free block to schedule something right there, and the event is written straight to your calendar. OCCASIONS, HANDLED Birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays are detected automatically from your calendars and gathered in one place, so nothing important gets buried under meetings. MADE FOR YOUR HOME SCREEN A widget keeps the week ahead visible without opening the app. Four themes (Warm, White, Graphite, and Midnight) keep it comfortable in any light. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Briefday reads your calendar on your device, and that is where everything stays. No account, no server, no analytics on your events. SIMPLE PRICING Try everything free for 14 days, two full Sunday cycles. Then a single one-time purchase unlocks Briefday forever. No subscription. If you don't upgrade, the app keeps working with a shorter 3-day view. Briefday works with the calendars already on your iPhone and iPad: iCloud, Google, Outlook, and subscribed calendar feeds.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: SimpleMind at 4.5 against Briefday's 4.0. SimpleMind also leads on ratings volume (981 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). Briefday's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. SimpleMind sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Briefday sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
SimpleMind holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SimpleMind has 981 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
SimpleMind ships an update every 2 months, Briefday fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SimpleMind | Briefday |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (981 ratings) — better | 4.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 77.2% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 981 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 36 MB | 10 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | xpt Software & Consulting B.V. | Anchorpoint Software LLC |
Customer experience
SimpleMind
Briefday
Bugs and requests
SimpleMind
Reported bugs
2 issues- Maps disappearing after device resets
- Inability to import/export certain file formats
Requested features
4 requests- Improved syncing and cloud integration
- More customization options for appearance and layout
- Keyboard shortcuts and power user features
- Better support for Apple Pencil and handwriting
Briefday
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
SimpleMind
- Unlock Pro Functionality$10.99
Briefday
- Briefday: Calendar At a Glance.$4.99









