Comparison

Mental Note ๛ vs Lumina

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

Lumina

Features
Read full description

Lumina – Your Ideas, Connected Lumina is a private, local-first second brain that helps you capture your thoughts, connect ideas, and rediscover everything you’ve learned — instantly. All processing happens on your device. Your data stays yours. Think. Capture. Connect. Write notes, record voice memos, scan text, or import information — Lumina automatically identifies names, concepts, and entities and links them together for you. Built-in offline AI lets you search and understand your knowledge base with natural language, without sending anything to the cloud. A Smarter Way to Remember Entities & Connections – Lumina detects people, places, topics, and ideas across your notes and maps how they relate. AI Search (Offline) – Ask questions in your own words and get accurate answers powered by a local LLM. Voice & OCR Capture – Transcribe audio or extract text from images quickly and privately. Knowledge Graph – Visualize how your notes and ideas connect. Explore your mind like a map. Simple by Design – No folders, no friction. Just capture and let Lumina organize. Private & Local – Notes, embeddings, AI models — everything stays securely on your device. Optional iCloud Backup – Encrypted, effortless backups to restore your knowledge on a new device. Export Anytime – Your data is yours. Export it in an open format whenever you want. Built for People Who Think Better with Connections Lumina is perfect for: Students & lifelong learners Writers, researchers, creators Professionals with lots of ideas Anyone who wants a simple, powerful second brain People who value privacy above everything else No subscriptions. No ads. No tracking. Lumina is free to use. If you enjoy it, you can support development directly from the app.

Screenshots

Mental Note ๛4 screens
Lumina4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Lumina at Free against Mental Note ๛'s $4.99. Lumina also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 5 months). Mental Note ๛'s advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.6). On ads, in-app purchases 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

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

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Mental Note ๛ ships an update every 5 months, Lumina weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and September 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Mental Note ๛ versus Lumina: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMental Note ๛Lumina
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.1 (16 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews63.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings16 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB1.6 GB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZymbiotic TechnologiesRodrigo Uroz

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

Lumina

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

Lumina

One-time3
  • Small Tip$2.99
  • Medium Tip$8.99
  • Large Tip$18.99

Questions

Is Mental Note ๛ free?
Mental Note ๛ costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Lumina free?
Lumina is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Mental Note ๛ or Lumina have ads?
Neither Mental Note ๛ nor Lumina shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Mental Note ๛ or Lumina?
Mental Note ๛ ships an update every 5 months, and Lumina weekly. Most recently, Mental Note ๛ was updated on October 26, 2026 and Lumina on September 27, 2026.

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