Comparison

Paperless vs Checklist

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
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

Checklist

Create reusable lists for groceries, routines, packing, and more. Automatically generate lists from descriptions or photos, and track progress with satisfying visual cues. Sync across devices and access from widgets or your Apple Watch.

Highlights
  • Lists that write themselves from descriptions
  • Scan handwritten or printed lists
  • Ticked items move aside for clarity
  • Lists reset automatically for daily/weekly repeats
  • Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets
  • Apple Watch app for managing lists
  • Syncs with iCloud across Apple devices
Features
Read full description

Smarter lists you'll use again and again. Checklist is for the lists you come back to: packing, groceries, morning routines, cleaning, moving day. Make a list once, tick it off, and it's ready for next time. LISTS THAT WRITE THEMSELVES • Describe it: "a weekend camping trip with the kids", and Apple Intelligence writes the list right on your device (on devices that support it). • Paste it: a list from Notes, a message or an email. Bullets, numbers and checkboxes are tidied away. • Snap it: take a photo of a handwritten or printed list, and Checklist types it out for you. TICK, TICK, DONE • A little confetti for every tick. • Ticked items step aside, so you always see what's left. • Drag to reorder, swipe to delete, and tap Uncheck all to start again. LISTS THAT RESET THEMSELVES Morning routines, gym bags, weekly chores: set a list to repeat daily or weekly, and it unchecks itself, ready for next time. REMINDERS THAT KNOW YOU'RE DONE A nudge at the right time, and none once everything's checked. 40+ TEMPLATES Weekend trips, groceries, a hospital bag, moving house, weddings, back to school, the holidays and more. You can save your own lists as templates too. WITH YOU EVERYWHERE • Tick items off from a widget on your Home Screen or Lock Screen. • Tick items off on your Apple Watch, and dictate new ones. • Add items with Siri, and find any list in Spotlight. • Keep your lists in sync with iCloud on iPhone, iPad and Mac. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account and no ads. Your lists stay on your device, or in your private iCloud if you turn on sync. Describe and Scan run on your device too, so the developer never sees your lists. CHECKLIST PRO Checklist is free to download. Checklist Pro unlocks Focus mode, sharing your lists, workouts, unlimited smart lists, iCloud sync, widgets, the Apple Watch app and your own templates. Repeating lists and reminders are free for everyone. Choose a monthly or yearly subscription, or a one-time lifetime purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the period. Manage or cancel them in your Apple Account settings. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://usechecklist.app/privacy

Screenshots

Paperless4 screens
Checklist4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Checklist at Free against Paperless's $2.99. Checklist also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 months). Paperless's advantage is rating (4.4 vs 4.0) and review sentiment (92% vs 68%). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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

Checklist is free to download; Paperless costs $2.99 up front. Paperless sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and Checklist sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Paperless holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Paperless has 494 ratings behind it against 22, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 92% of Paperless's written reviews are positive against 68% of Checklist's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Paperless ships an update every 2 months, Checklist every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Paperless versus Checklist: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPaperlessChecklist
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.4 (494 ratings) — better4.0 (22 ratings)
Positive reviews91.7% of reviews — better68.4% of reviews
Number of ratings494 — better22
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS12.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size39 MB69 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJames RhoadesIfeanyi Onuoha

Customer experience

Paperless

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

Checklist

All ratings22 ratings
Positive72.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative27.3%
Written reviews19 reviews
Positive68.4%
Neutral0.0%
Negative31.6%

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

Checklist

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

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
5 purchases

Checklist

Subscriptions3
  • Checklist Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Checklist Pro Annual7 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Checklist Pro Annual$29.991 Year
One-time2
  • Founding Member Lifetime$24.99
  • Checklist Pro Lifetime$59.99

Questions

Is Paperless free?
Paperless costs $2.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Checklist free?
Checklist is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Paperless or Checklist?
Paperless is rated higher. Paperless averages 4.4 out of 5 from 494 ratings, while Checklist averages 4.0 from 22 ratings.
Do Paperless or Checklist have ads?
Neither Paperless nor Checklist shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Paperless or Checklist?
Paperless ships an update every 2 months, and Checklist every 5 days. Most recently, Paperless was updated on November 1, 2026 and Checklist on November 3, 2026.

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