Comparison

Trout vs Thortspace

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

Head to head
About

Trout

This app helps you organize thoughts and ideas non-linearly using words and images. You can categorize concepts with color and shape, and enhance your maps with sketches and photos. Share your organized ideas as images or PDFs, or export them in OPML or markdown formats.

Highlights
  • Associate words and images
  • Organize ideas non-linearly
  • Categorize by color and shape
  • Add sketches and photos
  • Share as image or PDF
  • Export OPML or markdown
  • Freeform or automatic layout
Features
Read full description

Trout is a mind mapping application that allows you to rapidly associate words and images, and help you organise your ideas in a non-linear way. It could assist you with organising an event, writing a document or solving a problem. Your ideas can be categorised by color and shape and you can add sketches and photos to your map. Features   •Share your map as an image, PDF. •Export OPML or markdown •Freeform or automatic layout. •Basic sketching for quick visual capture

About

Thortspace

Visualize and organize your thoughts in a 3D space. This tool allows for collaborative brainstorming, problem-solving, and educational exploration with unique sphere-based mapping and linking structures. Create presentations and share your ideas easily.

Highlights
  • 3D sphere-based associative structures
  • Multi-level linking and association
  • Real-time collaboration
  • Web publishing
  • Content embedding (images, URLs)
  • Presentation 'Journeys'
Features
Read full description

Thortspace turns tangled thinking into clarity. Lay out everything you know about a difficult problem - every idea, every conflict, every loose end - then move it, group it and connect it until the shape of the answer appears. On your own, or with your team in real time. This is 3D mind mapping built around the way thinking actually works. Instead of a flat tree on a page, your ideas live on the surfaces of spheres you can turn, dive into and rearrange - so you are never forced to commit to a hierarchy before you understand the problem. WHAT MAKES IT DIFFERENT * Ideas (called "thorts") sit on the surfaces of one or more spheres, presented in 3D * Group by proximity as well as by explicit connection - position carries meaning * Paths connect anything to anything: thort to thort, thort to group, group to group, sphere to sphere * Store several alternative arrangements of the same ideas and move between them * "Journeys" record a sequence of viewpoints, turning a finished map into a presentation * Real-time collaboration - think together, from anywhere, on the same sphere FEATURES * Works online and offline * Real-time collaborative editing * The same interface and the same data across every major platform and device * Thorts can hold images and links, and be colour-coded across several categorisations at once * Share by email, by private link, or publish to the web in one click * A newsfeed tracking your own and other people's contributions across shared spheres WHAT PEOPLE USE IT FOR Brainstorming, problem solving, concept mapping, research, study and revision, writing and outlining, strategy and planning, team sense-making, retrospectives - and thinking any difficult thing through to the end. Thortspace is built for experimental, multi-perspective reflection; for making chunks of thinking you can reuse as building blocks; for synthesis as much as analysis; and for the journey, not only the destination. Thortspace is protected by copyright © Gooisoft Ltd 2008-2026 and by patents granted in the UK, USA, Canada and Hong Kong: GB2494520, US9684426, CA2847602 and HK1183135. All thinks are possible. #Real_Intelligence

Screenshots

Trout4 screens
Thortspace1 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Trout at 4.8 against Thortspace's 3.5. Thortspace's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 5 months) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.6). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads 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

Both are free to download. Trout sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.49 per 2 months and Thortspace sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Trout holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 4 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 33% of Trout's written reviews are positive against 40% of Thortspace's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Trout ships an update every 5 months, Thortspace weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Trout versus Thortspace: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTroutThortspace
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (4 ratings) — better3.5 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews33.3% of reviews40.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings44
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.613.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size51 MB323 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperDigital-DirtbagGooisoft Limited

Customer experience

Trout

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews12 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral8.3%
Negative58.3%

Thortspace

All ratings4 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive40.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative40.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Trout

Subscriptions1
  • 60 Day subscription$2.492 Months
One-time2
  • Free trialFree
  • Lifetime Purchase$3.99
1 purchases

Thortspace

One-time1
  • 1 Month Subscription$14.99

Questions

Is Trout free?
Trout is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Thortspace free?
Thortspace is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Trout or Thortspace?
Trout is rated higher. Trout averages 4.8 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while Thortspace averages 3.5 from 4 ratings.
Do Trout or Thortspace have ads?
Neither Trout nor Thortspace shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Trout or Thortspace?
Trout ships an update every 5 months, and Thortspace weekly. Most recently, Trout was updated on September 22, 2026 and Thortspace on September 15, 2026.

Other comparisons