Comparison

Mental Note ๛ vs OctoNote

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

Head to head
About

Mental Note ๛

This app offers a versatile digital notepad experience, allowing users to combine text, photos, voice recordings, and drawings on a single page. Capture ideas in any format, organize them with tags, and share them easily.

Highlights
  • Combine text, photos, audio, and drawings
  • Finger drawing with multiple colors
  • Add photos from album or camera
  • Record audio while editing notes
  • Organize notes with tags
  • Password protect private notes
  • Export notes in various formats (PDF, text)
Read full description

"...a true notepad experience that may help you make a clean break from the pencil-and-paper era." -New York Times. Users describe Mental Note as "the only notepad app... that's actually better than, and as simple as, a pen and paper." It's "the future of note taking", and "a big sketchpad... [to] free associate and put stuff down in any format". Turn your iPhone into a digital notepad. Combine photographs, voice recordings, drawings and text - all on the same page, in any order you choose. An idea... a flash - a moment of genius. When a thought hits, and you have to remember it, why limit how you record it? The more context and sensory details you can capture, the clearer the idea can be put down. Use photographs, audio, sketching and text together on the same page... a digital page that can be shared with anyone. Mental Note allows you to capture ideas as they happen: use photographs, dictate, add text, sketch on anything. Ideas clarified. Creativity captured. FEATURES - Draw with your finger using multiple colours and widths on top of photographs, text, or anywhere else on the page. Zoom in to sketch fine details. - Take a photo or choose one from your album and add it to the page. - Add audio to the page by recording with your microphone. Continue to edit your note while recording. - Organize your notes using tags. - Password protect your private notes and flag your important ones. - Attach Calendar events to your notes. - Undo, redo anything in the note by shaking the device. - Delete note sections using the toolbar button or by swiping any note section. - Move a note section by swiping and then dragging it to its new location. - Length of a note is limited only by device memory. - Export in a variety of formats including PDF, text, Mental Note format, and more. Send using email, iCloud, Dropbox, and more. * Send a note in Mental Note format so the note may be imported into another person's Mental Note app. * Using email, export a complete note directly from Mental Note as either a PDF document or a picture (each audio recording is attached to the email as a separate file). You can also email just the text from your note. - Export your notes and backups to your iCloud and/or Dropbox account. - Share a note with your friends using most installed apps. - Map the location a note was created at (if location services are enabled). - Change the size and font of the text in your notes. - Change the color and background of your notes. - Numerous other configuration options. THIS VERSION IS OPTIMIZED FOR iPhone. FOR iPad, PLEASE SEE Mental Note for iPad. Read more: www.zymbiotic.com X @zymbiotic facebook.com/zymbiotic

About

OctoNote

This app lets you write and store notes in markdown format, syncing them directly to your GitHub Gists. It offers beautiful rendering, code syntax highlighting, and version control for organized and accessible notes.

Highlights
  • Markdown writing and rendering
  • GitHub Gists integration
  • Code syntax highlighting
  • Live preview
  • Version history
  • Secret Gists (Premium)
  • Custom syntax themes (Premium)
Features
Read full description

OctoNote - GitHub Powered Markdown Notes THE POWER OF GITHUB MEETS BEAUTIFUL NOTE-TAKING OctoNote transforms the way developers and power users take notes by harnessing GitHub Gists—giving you cloud sync, version control, and universal access without the bloat of traditional note apps. Write in markdown. Save to GitHub. Access anywhere. MARKDOWN DONE RIGHT - Gorgeous rendering that makes your notes look like miniature websites - Full syntax highlighting for code blocks—perfect for developers - Seamless editing with a clean, distraction-free interface - Live preview to see your formatted notes as you write GITHUB GISTS INTEGRATION - Automatic sync to your GitHub profile—your notes live where your code lives - Edit anywhere through GitHub's web interface or OctoNote - Version history built in—never lose a previous version - Share effortlessly via Gist URLs with beautiful browser rendering - No vendor lock-in—your notes are standard markdown on GitHub BUILT FOR DEVELOPERS & POWER USERS Whether you're documenting code snippets, maintaining technical wikis, or organizing project notes, OctoNote gives you the tools you need: - Save meeting notes with code examples - Maintain personal knowledge bases - Share formatted documentation instantly - Keep research organized with tags and structure OCTONOTE PREMIUM Upgrade to unlock the full power of private note-taking: - Secret Gists that don't appear in public search - Custom syntax formatting themes (11+ beautiful options from Xcode Light to Atom One Dark) - Flair for your app icon - Private by default for sensitive work notes and personal journals SIMPLE. POWERFUL. YOURS. OctoNote doesn't try to be everything—it's focused on doing one thing exceptionally well: giving you beautiful, powerful markdown notes backed by the reliability of GitHub. No proprietary formats. No complicated export processes. Just your notes, in standard markdown, stored safely on GitHub and accessible from anywhere. Perfect for: - Software developers and engineers - Technical writers and documentation specialists - Students studying computer science - Anyone who loves markdown and wants their notes future-proof REQUIREMENTS OctoNote requires a GitHub account (free accounts work perfectly). All features—both standard and Premium—are available to users with any GitHub account tier. Download OctoNote today and transform the way you take notes.

Screenshots

Mental Note ๛4 screens
OctoNote4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: OctoNote at Free against Mental Note ๛'s $4.99. OctoNote also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 5 months). Mental Note ๛'s advantage is rating (4.0 vs 3.7) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). On review sentiment, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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

OctoNote is free to download; Mental Note ๛ costs $4.99 up front. Mental Note ๛ sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and OctoNote sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Mental Note ๛ holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 15 and 10 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 63% of Mental Note ๛'s written reviews are positive against 60% of OctoNote's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Mental Note ๛ ships an update every 5 months, OctoNote every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Mental Note ๛ versus OctoNote: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMental Note ๛OctoNote
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.0 (15 ratings) — better3.7 (10 ratings)
Positive reviews63.2% of reviews — better60.0% of reviews
Number of ratings15 — better10
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZymbiotic TechnologiesBase11 Studios Ltd

Customer experience

Mental Note ๛

All ratings15 ratings
Positive73.3%
Neutral6.7%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews201 reviews
Positive63.2%
Neutral17.9%
Negative18.9%

OctoNote

All ratings10 ratings
Positive60.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative30.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive60.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative40.0%

Bugs and requests

Mental Note ๛

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Notes sometimes disappear or get deleted unexpectedly
  • Audio recording feature not working properly
  • Keyboard issues causing loss of typed text
  • Location services not accurately detecting user's location

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add iCloud or Dropbox sync
  • Implement copy/paste and text formatting options
  • Improve drawing tools with more customization
  • Introduce a task/to-do list feature
  • Add video recording capability
Show 1 more
  • Provide more font and color options

OctoNote

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Mental Note ๛

One-time3
  • Paper Customization feature$2.99
  • Straight Line Drawing feature$3.99
  • Dark Mode Override feature$3.99
3 purchases

OctoNote

Subscriptions2
  • Premium (Monthly)$1.991 Month
  • Premium (Yearly)$11.991 Year
One-time1
  • OctoNote Premium - Lifetime$49.99

Questions

Is Mental Note ๛ free?
Mental Note ๛ costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is OctoNote free?
OctoNote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Mental Note ๛ or OctoNote?
Mental Note ๛ is rated higher. Mental Note ๛ averages 4.0 out of 5 from 15 ratings, while OctoNote averages 3.7 from 10 ratings.
Do Mental Note ๛ or OctoNote have ads?
Neither Mental Note ๛ nor OctoNote shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Mental Note ๛ or OctoNote?
Mental Note ๛ ships an update every 5 months, and OctoNote every 2 months. Most recently, Mental Note ๛ was updated on October 3, 2026 and OctoNote on September 30, 2026.

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