Comparison

Paperless vs Swift Paperless

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

Swift Paperless

This app allows users to manage documents directly from their iOS device. It seamlessly integrates with a self-hosted document management system, ensuring data privacy and control. Easily find, categorize, and add new documents on the go.

Highlights
  • Native iOS integration
  • Paperless-ngx compatibility
  • Document finding
  • Document categorization
  • Add documents from phone
Features
Read full description

Swift Paperless is a native iOS app that interacts with the popular Paperless-ngx document management software. Paperless-ngx is self-hosted, and therefore fully privacy preserving: you control your data! With Swift Paperless, it's easy to find, categorize and also add documents from your phone!

Screenshots

Paperless4 screens
Swift Paperless4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Swift Paperless at Free against Paperless's $2.99. Swift Paperless also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.4). Paperless's advantage is chart position (#190 vs unranked) and ratings volume (487 vs 72). On review sentiment, update cadence, 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

Swift Paperless is free to download; Paperless costs $2.99 up front. Paperless sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and Swift Paperless sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Swift Paperless holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Paperless has 487 ratings behind it against 72, 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 97% of Swift Paperless's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Paperless ships an update every 2 months, Swift Paperless monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Paperless versus Swift Paperless: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPaperlessSwift Paperless
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.4 (487 ratings)4.9 (72 ratings) — better
Positive reviews91.7% of reviews97.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings487 — better72
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#190 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size39 MB29 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJames RhoadesPaul Gessinger

Customer experience

Paperless

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

Swift Paperless

All ratings72 ratings
Positive98.6%
Neutral0.0%
Negative1.4%
Written reviews67 reviews
Positive97.0%
Neutral1.5%
Negative1.5%

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

Swift Paperless

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
4 purchases

Swift Paperless

One-time4
  • Coffee money$3.99
  • Proper thank-you$8.99
  • Above and beyond$17.99
Show 1 more
  • Legendary generosity$44.99

Questions

Is Paperless free?
Paperless costs $2.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Swift Paperless free?
Swift Paperless is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Paperless or Swift Paperless?
Swift Paperless is rated higher. Paperless averages 4.4 out of 5 from 487 ratings, while Swift Paperless averages 4.9 from 72 ratings.
Do Paperless or Swift Paperless have ads?
Neither Paperless nor Swift Paperless shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Paperless or Swift Paperless?
Paperless ships an update every 2 months, and Swift Paperless monthly. Most recently, Paperless was updated on October 14, 2026 and Swift Paperless on October 11, 2026.

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