Comparison

Headspace Lite vs Mindscope

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

Head to head
About

Headspace Lite

This app allows users to create and organize ideas in a unique 3D space. Visualize your thoughts, to-do lists, and big ideas with interactive panning, zooming, and linking features. It's a revolutionary way to approach mind-mapping and list-making.

Highlights
  • 3D mind-mapping
  • Hierarchical lists
  • Connect related items
  • Customizable colors
  • Detailed notes
  • Search function
  • Checkboxes
Features
Read full description

HEADSPACE is iOS's coolest 3D outliner and mind-mapping app! Do your list-making and mind-mapping in 3D space with the *original* Headspace. *** PLEASE NOTE: This NOT the meditation app! *** (There is another app called "Headspace: Guided Meditation and Mindfulness" and this is NOT that app!) "Love the program. Favorite app. Useful and looks great. " "The implementation is beautiful! In my opinion, Headspace is becoming one of the best apps in the store." "I bought Headspace last night on a whim - been fooling around with mindmapping apps lately. This is a little piece of brilliance, you know that, right? " "This app could not just be a mindmapping program, It has the capability to become a new kind of U.I. That in my opinion that improved over apples U.I." Hey, man. Get all up inside your own head with HEADSPACE LITE, the 'lite' version of Flat Black Films' revolutionary 3D mind-mapping application for iphone! Big ideas, great thoughts, even boring to-do lists are more fun when they're in THREE DIMENSIONS. Create groups of related thoughts and position them in space. Rotate, pan, and zoom your view with finger gestures. Go all David Lynch and get DEEP with yourself. Create hierarchical lists of items -- children of children of children -- and doubletap to 'stack' them in space. Change their color and translucency. Connect related items with 'link' lines. It's heavy. This is the free version of the full app "Headspace". This version limits you to one "space", and you cannot export/import files. Headspace Lite shares these cool features with the full version: - pan view with one finger - hold finger to slowly zoom in towards touch point - add links and travel between them using the 'link balls' - optional detailed notes for each item (text/URL/photo) - search function (items, notes, and files) - sample file - checkboxes - copy and paste items - customize colors and rearrange palette - drag group name to move group - triple-tap to 'send' an item to another group - optionally disable accelerometer tilt - tap empty space to pre-specify new group placement - YouTube video demonstration - support for European characters like umlauts and the like If you end up liking it, please get the full version! Let me know what else you'd like to see added, email headspace@flatblackfilms.com.

About

Mindscope

Organize your thoughts and ideas with a powerful yet simple outliner. Create nested boards, sort entries, and export your work. Unlock advanced features like search and cross-linking with an in-app purchase.

Highlights
  • Create and drag text entries
  • Nested sub-boards
  • Sort thoughts into categories
  • Export as bullet list
  • Import .mindscope files
  • In-app purchase for advanced features
Features
Read full description

Mindscope is a new and powerfully simple way to store your thoughts without getting lost in the details. • Quickly create text entries with a double-tap and drag them around, aligning them to each other. Perfect for brainstorming, capturing, and sorting thoughts or taking notes. • Tapping an entry enters its own page where you can create more entries (and as many sub-boards as you like). • Drag entries into other entries to quickly sort your thoughts into categories and projects. • Keep track of lists, todos, notes, and anything else you feel like keeping track of, for example a list of ways to be funny when writing an app description. Or something. • Copy and paste entries including their sub-entries • Export all entries and sub-entries of a board via e-mail as a bullet list. • Import any saved .mindscope file. • Set a default font size for any board (long-press on a font size and select "Set As Default" All of the above, as a universal app, with iCloud sync...completely for free! Yeah, I know, I can't believe it either. You can "pay" me with an App Store review, how does that sound? However, if you are up for spending money, with the "Unlock Everything" in-app purchase, you can also save your own .mindscope files, search through all your entries instantly, create cross-links between boards, create arrows and lines between entries, set up a grid background for a page, set your own colors per page, and export boards to an OPML file (suitable for opening in most major mind-mapping programs). Any upcoming features in future updates will be included for the unlocked version at no extra cost. See a video of Mindscope in action at http://www.mindscopeapp.com Quotes from happy customers: "It’s hitting a sweet spot for me. I have pretty much every single Mind-Mapping or Outlining app for iOS, and this is among the best.” “This is EXACTLY what I've been hoping for. I so need to send flowers to your mother for having you.” "Mindscope is a terrific app, elegant, easy to use, and incredibly useful.” "Scapple for Mac comes closest to Mindscope in its combination of function, ease of use and minimalism but Mindscope is better." "A very cool app. Think of it as Workflowy unbound from the outline."

Screenshots

Headspace Lite4 screens
Mindscope4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Mindscope at 4.0 against Headspace Lite's 3.0. Mindscope also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (46 vs 3). Headspace Lite's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 14.0). On price, 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

Both are free to download. Mindscope sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Headspace Lite asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Mindscope holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Mindscope has 46 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 69% of Headspace Lite's written reviews are positive against 81% of Mindscope's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Headspace Lite ships an update every 2 months, Mindscope every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Headspace Lite versus Mindscope: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHeadspace LiteMindscope
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (3 ratings)4.0 (46 ratings) — better
Positive reviews69.4% of reviews80.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings346 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS9.0 — better14.0
Further details — not scored
Size19 MB27 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFlat Black FilmsJohn Goering

Customer experience

Headspace Lite

All ratings3 ratings
Positive33.3%
Neutral33.3%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews49 reviews
Positive69.4%
Neutral10.2%
Negative20.4%

Mindscope

All ratings46 ratings
Positive71.7%
Neutral13.0%
Negative15.2%
Written reviews181 reviews
Positive80.7%
Neutral7.7%
Negative11.6%

Bugs and requests

Headspace Lite

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Mindscope

Reported bugs

15 issues
  • App crashes when adding entries
  • Text input box disappears before typing
  • Crashes on iPad with iOS 15 upgrade
  • iCloud access causes app to hang indefinitely
  • Crashes when exporting to plain text
Show 10 more
  • Data loss during iOS version upgrades
  • Layout issues when rotating device orientation
  • Crashes when searching linked elements
  • Crashes when inserting text
  • Bluetooth keyboard input not working (earlier versions)
  • Audio playback interruption
  • Alignment and sync issues across devices
  • Copy-paste groups items on top of originals
  • Undo/redo sequence inconsistencies
  • Version 1.5 splash screen hang on startup

Requested features

19 requests
  • Image and photo insertion capability
  • Apple Pencil handwriting support
  • Text formatting (bold, colors, font options)
  • Infinite or larger canvas with zoom
  • iPhone app version
Show 14 more
  • Cloud sync (Dropbox, iCloud improvements)
  • Multiple independent maps/documents
  • Dark mode theme
  • Better file management system
  • Import from other mind-mapping apps
  • Color-coding individual entries
  • Calendar and reminders integration
  • Web version or Mac companion app
  • Notification features
  • Improved animation controls
  • Circular context menu for faster access
  • Plain text export without HTML markup
  • Randomize board item locations
  • Flowchart options

In-app purchases

None

Headspace Lite

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Mindscope

One-time1
  • Unlock Everything$3.99

Questions

Is Headspace Lite free?
Headspace Lite is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Mindscope free?
Mindscope is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Headspace Lite or Mindscope?
Mindscope is rated higher. Headspace Lite averages 3.0 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while Mindscope averages 4.0 from 46 ratings.
Do Headspace Lite or Mindscope have ads?
Neither Headspace Lite nor Mindscope shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Headspace Lite or Mindscope?
Headspace Lite ships an update every 2 months, and Mindscope every 2 weeks. Most recently, Headspace Lite was updated on October 16, 2026 and Mindscope on October 6, 2026.

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