Comparison

Brainwave vs Side Brain

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

Head to head
About

Brainwave

Capture and organize your thoughts with this note-taking application. Create calendar events, reminders, and export notes in various formats. Protect sensitive information with password protection and manage your data with backup and restore options.

Highlights
  • Organize notes with tags
  • Password protect sensitive notes
  • Create calendar events and reminders
  • Export notes to PDF or text
  • Supports various links (web, phone, maps)
  • Backup and restore notes
Read full description

Transfer your ideas from brain wave to Brainwave. • Organize on the fly by tagging notes with any number of tags • Flag important notes; password protect sensitive notes • Create calendar events and reminders based on your notes • Change the size and font of the text • Export notes directly from Brainwave to a variety of destinations, in formats including: ◦ Email as PDF ◦ Send to Dropbox or almost any app as PDF ◦ Email as text • Create restore points, backing up all notes to a single file • Supports links (web, phone numbers, map addresses - that can even be opened in Google Maps, calendar dates) • Numerous configuration options • Length of a note is limited only by device memory • Supports all device orientations Sometimes an idea can circle around and around in your mind - like a whirlpool swirling, or a tidal wave growing, it confuses, it overwhelms, and it isn't until you write it down that it becomes clear. Write it down. Get it out. Record it before it’s washed away. Free your mind to work on other thoughts. Store your brain waves in Brainwave.

About

Side Brain

Features
Read full description

Your second brain for the web. Save articles, read without distractions, and find anything instantly with AI-powered search. Side Brain turns any webpage into a clean, focused reading experience. One tap in Safari saves the article, strips away ads and clutter, generates an AI summary, and makes it searchable — all on your device, all offline. SAVE FROM SAFARI IN ONE TAP See an interesting article? Tap the share button and select Side Brain. The article is saved, cleaned up, and processed automatically. No manual copying, no bookmarking chaos — just a fast, frictionless capture flow that works with any webpage. READ WITHOUT DISTRACTIONS Enjoy articles the way they were meant to be read. Side Brain removes ads, pop-ups, cookie banners, and visual clutter. What remains is pure content in a clean, beautiful reading view designed for focus. AI SUMMARIES IN SECONDS Don't have time to read the full article? Side Brain generates key takeaways so you can grasp the main points at a glance. Decide in seconds whether an article deserves your full attention or a quick skim is enough. TRANSLATE TO YOUR LANGUAGE Reading in a foreign language? Side Brain translates entire articles into your preferred language using AI. Perfect for researchers, students, and professionals who follow international sources. SMART SEARCH THAT UNDERSTANDS YOU Forget keyword matching. Side Brain uses semantic search to find articles by meaning. Ask "articles about productivity tips" or "that piece about climate change" and get relevant results — even if those exact words never appear in the article. WORKS OFFLINE Every saved article is stored locally on your device. Read on the plane, in the subway, or anywhere without an internet connection. Your entire article library is always with you. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Your data stays on your device. Side Brain does not collect, share, or upload your articles, reading habits, or personal information. No accounts, no tracking, no cloud sync to third-party servers. POWERED BY GOOGLE GEMINI Side Brain's AI features — article summaries, translations, and semantic search embeddings — are powered by Google Gemini. We send only the article content needed to generate each result, and nothing is retained for training. WHO IS SIDE BRAIN FOR? • Busy professionals who save dozens of articles but never find time to read them • Students and researchers who need to quickly understand long academic or news articles • Non-native speakers who want to read international content in their own language • Curious minds who collect articles from across the web and want them organized in one place • Anyone tired of ads, pop-ups, and website clutter ruining their reading experience HOW IT WORKS 1. Find an article in Safari or any browser 2. Tap Share → Side Brain 3. The article is saved, cleaned, and summarized automatically 4. Read, search, or translate anytime — even offline SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION Side Brain requires a paid subscription. Start with a free 3-day trial to explore all features. If you love it, choose monthly or yearly billing. • Payment will be charged to your Apple ID account at confirmation of purchase • Subscription automatically renews unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period • Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period • You can manage and cancel your subscriptions by going to your App Store account settings after purchase • Any unused portion of a free trial period will be forfeited when you purchase a subscription Terms of Use: https://apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://cooperative-catmint-496.notion.site/Privacy-Policy-for-Side-Brain-2e3d692d254d8083b4a9e16fa40c2c96

Screenshots

Brainwave4 screens
Side Brain3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Side Brain at Free against Brainwave's $0.99. Side Brain also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 3 months). Brainwave's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 17.6). On ads 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

Side Brain is free to download; Brainwave costs $0.99 up front. Side Brain sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days. Brainwave asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Brainwave ships an update every 3 months, Side Brain every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Brainwave versus Side Brain: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBrainwaveSide Brain
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating2.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews20.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS11.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZymbiotic TechnologiesPetr Nezval

In-app purchases

None

Brainwave

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Side Brain

Subscriptions3
  • Weekly Premium3 Days trial$2.997 Days
  • Monthly Premium$7.991 Month
  • Yearly Premium$39.991 Year

Questions

Is Brainwave free?
Brainwave costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Side Brain free?
Side Brain is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Brainwave or Side Brain have ads?
Neither Brainwave nor Side Brain shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Brainwave or Side Brain?
Brainwave ships an update every 3 months, and Side Brain every 4 days. Most recently, Brainwave was updated on October 17, 2026 and Side Brain on October 25, 2026.

Other comparisons