Comparison

Paperless vs Simple List App

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

Head to head
About

Paperless

Create and organize any type of list with this beautifully designed, simple, yet powerful application. Customize your lists with icons and themes, and easily share them via email or text. Sync your data across devices for seamless access.

Highlights
  • Create any type of list
  • Customizable icons and themes
  • Checklist or regular list format
  • Send lists via email or iMessage
  • Automatic backup and syncing
  • Manual reordering and sorting
  • Passcode lock
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Get the app that Macworld says "deserves a spot on your iPhone"! MAKE LISTS OF ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING Paperless is a simple but powerful app for making lists. Use it to create to do lists, make grocery lists, take notes, write an outline of a story, prepare notes for a presentation, make a list of gift ideas, plan a vacation... or anything else you'd want to make a list for. BEAUTIFULLY DESIGNED Assign a fun icon to each of your lists - there are over 450 to choose from. You can also select from 30 themes to customize the app's design to your liking. SIMPLE AND VERSATILE Paperless is easy to use with a clean, elegant and well thought out interface. Each list can either be a checklist or a regular list without checkboxes, making a wide variety of uses possible. REALLY HELPS YOU GET THINGS DONE For checklists and todo lists, many people prefer using Paperless over traditional "getting things done" apps - or, they use it in addition to one. There are no due dates or priority settings, so you're left to focus on the actual tasks at hand, rather than waste time changing those settings when your priorities change. Instead, if a particular task becomes important, you can simply move it to the top of the list. AUTOMATIC BACKUP AND SYNCING Automatically backup your lists and sync them between iOS devices via a free Dropbox account. POWERFUL FEATURES - send lists via email, others can import your list into their copy of Paperless - send a plain text version of a list via iMessage, or copy it into another app - easily duplicate lists - manually reorder lists and list items - sort list items alphabetically - copy and move items from one list to another - comprehensive search - passcode lock PRAISED BY THE PRESS "Paperless deserves a spot on your iPhone" - Lex Friedman, Macworld (4.5 out of 5 mice rating) "Paperless has a permanent spot on the first page of my iPhone's home screen... it will probably earn a similar spot on yours." - Marianne Schultz, AppShopper "... a good way to ensure things get done at your own pace, free of the disappointment of missing deadlines." - Nick Spence, Macworld UK "I've been trying many To Do apps since iPhone 1.0 -- from the expensive Things to Toodledo and others -- and I don't use any of them regularly. Most just require too much effort. Paperless is the first one I've found that hits that sweet spot between being simple enough you'll actually use it and powerful enough to be useful." - Marc Zeedar, REALbasic Developer Magazine (4.8 out of 5 rating) "This is one nice-looking list / task app... As a basic list app, the beautiful Paperless reigns supreme." - Bonnie Eisenman, 148apps.com (4 out of 5 rating) PRAISED BY USERS "Best app ever - The most incredibly useful app I've come across. Simple, effective and bloody marvelous!!!" "The simplicity of the interface and the flexibility given to the user is perfection." "Simply loved it - Best app I've ever downloaded, my life is so organized now! ..." "After having tried a good deal of apps to get myself more organized - both free and paid - it is clear that this tops them all. Other apps presented a kind of novelty; I could fool myself into thinking that I was more organized, but it was never long before I abandoned them because it was obvious that they consumed unnecessary time. Paperless, however, has truly helped. It is streamlined, it is simple, it is sumptuous" PLEASE RATE AND REVIEW If you love Paperless, please leave a review and star rating. Thank you!

About

Simple List App

Organize your items with a clean, single-screen list. Assign colors to your entries for quick visual identification. This app is designed for speed and simplicity, perfect for managing any type of list without complex navigation.

Highlights
  • Single screen design
  • Color-coded items
  • Quick and easy use
  • Item organization
  • No folders
Features
Read full description

Clear and simple list design. Organize your items on your simple list with colors. The Simple List App is a single screen list, no folders, designed for quick and easy use! Simple List App can be used for any of your simple list needs! Get Simple List App and start making your list now and get stuff done. Privacy Policy https://sites.google.com/view/simplelistapp/privacy Terms of Use https://sites.google.com/view/simplelistapp/terms-of-service

Screenshots

Paperless4 screens
Simple List App4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Simple List App at Free against Paperless's $2.99. Simple List App also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.4). Paperless's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and chart position (#68 vs unranked). On review sentiment, ratings volume, update cadence 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

Simple List App is free to download; Paperless costs $2.99 up front. Paperless sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and Simple List App sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.49 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Simple List App holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 487 and 396 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 92% of Paperless's written reviews are positive against 88% of Simple List App's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Paperless versus Simple List App: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPaperlessSimple List App
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.4 (487 ratings)4.7 (396 ratings) — better
Positive reviews91.7% of reviews — better87.8% of reviews
Number of ratings487 — better396
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#68 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better16.6
Further details — not scored
Size39 MB46 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJames RhoadesPeter Rule

Customer experience

Paperless

All ratings487 ratings
Positive86.0%
Neutral5.5%
Negative8.4%
Written reviews504 reviews
Positive91.7%
Neutral3.0%
Negative5.4%

Simple List App

All ratings396 ratings
Positive92.7%
Neutral4.0%
Negative3.3%
Written reviews41 reviews
Positive87.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative12.2%

User reviews

Paperless

From 487 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💻 Excellent organization and productivity tool
  • 📋 Customizable lists and checklists
  • 🔄 Reusable and recyclable lists
  • 🔒 Secure with Dropbox backup
  • 🌟 Simple and intuitive interface

Room to improve

  • 🔍 Lack of search functionality
  • 🖼️ Inability to add photos or images
  • 🔀 Difficulty rearranging list items
  • 🔒 Limited backup/sync options beyond Dropbox
  • 🔔 Absence of reminder or alarm features

Simple List App

From 396 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Extremely simple and easy to use
  • 👍 Great for shopping lists
  • 👍 Helpful for organization
  • 👍 Color coding for categories
  • 👍 Items automatically alphabetized

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Cannot create multiple distinct lists (workaround suggested)
  • 🐛 Checked off items disappear/not easily visible
  • 🐛 Difficulty reordering items
  • 🐛 Colors could be bolder
  • 🐛 Not fully accessible for visually impaired

Bugs and requests

Paperless

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Occasional app crashes or freezes
  • Syncing issues between devices
  • List data loss or disappearance
  • Compatibility problems with iOS updates

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add search and filtering capabilities
  • Integrate photo/image attachment support
  • Implement advanced list management features
  • Expand backup and sync options (e.g., iCloud)
  • Introduce reminder and alarm functionalities
Show 1 more
  • Implement folder or category organization for lists

Simple List App

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Checked off items no longer go to the top
  • Items become unchecked and stay in place after being selected

Requested features

10 requests
  • Ability to save or move lists
  • Way to see/restore checked off items
  • Bolder colors
  • Rearrange items by pressing and holding
  • Better help function
Show 5 more
  • Store items for reuse
  • Organize by date or name
  • Copy/drag items to form a 'Today List'
  • Version for Apple Watch
  • Ability to order items by 'most recent entry'

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Paperless

One-time4
  • Small Tip$0.99
  • Medium Tip$4.99
  • Large Tip$9.99
Show 1 more
  • Huge Tip$29.99
3 purchases

Simple List App

Subscriptions2
  • Advert Free Usage.$0.491 Month
  • Advert Free Usage.$5.991 Year
One-time1
  • Advert Free Usage$16.99

Questions

Is Paperless free?
Paperless costs $2.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Simple List App free?
Simple List App is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Paperless or Simple List App?
Simple List App is rated higher. Paperless averages 4.4 out of 5 from 487 ratings, while Simple List App averages 4.7 from 396 ratings.
Do Paperless or Simple List App have ads?
Simple List App shows ads; Paperless does not.
Which is updated more often, Paperless or Simple List App?
Paperless ships an update every 2 months, and Simple List App every 2 months. Most recently, Paperless was updated on October 14, 2026 and Simple List App on October 12, 2026.

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