Comparison

Brainwave vs Metis

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

Metis

Read full description

Metis is a native Markdown editor and local-first knowledge base. Your notes are just .md files in a folder you own - Metis is a fast, beautiful, native view over them. No lock-in, no proprietary format, no account required to write. WRITE IN LIVE PREVIEW A clean Obsidian-style editor styles your Markdown as you type - headings, bold, lists, quotes and code - while keeping the raw syntax one tap away. It feels like writing in a document, not in code. On iPad it's a full three-pane workspace with hardware-keyboard shortcuts. CONNECT YOUR IDEAS Link any two notes with [[wiki links]]. Backlinks appear automatically, so you always see what references the note you're reading. An interactive link graph shows your whole knowledge base at a glance - zoom, pan, and drag nodes to explore the connections. READ BEAUTIFULLY Reading mode renders the full document: headings, tables, task lists, images, syntax-highlighted code, Mermaid diagrams, and real math (LaTeX) rendered natively - no web view. ORGANIZE YOUR WAY Tag anything with #tags, group notes into folders, and see typed properties (status, owner, due...) that live as YAML front matter and are preserved as you edit. A fast switcher and full-text search get you anywhere instantly. ON-DEVICE AI (Apple Intelligence) Summarize a note, suggest tags or related links, and ask your whole vault a question - all running privately on your device. AI is optional; the app is fully functional without it. SYNC ACROSS YOUR DEVICES Keep your vault in iCloud and the same notes are on your Mac, iPad and iPhone - still as plain .md files you can open anywhere. Edits sync in the background, and Metis helps you resolve conflicts if two devices change the same note. LOCK WHAT MATTERS Any note can be locked with your notes password and opened with Face ID or Touch ID. Locked notes are encrypted on disk and stay encrypted in iCloud - and they're kept out of search and previews. PRIVATE AND YOURS Everything stays in plain files on your device. No tracking, no cloud lock-in. Open the same folder in any other Markdown editor whenever you like. Import an existing folder of notes (from Obsidian or anywhere) and Metis just works. ONE PURCHASE, ALL YOUR DEVICES A single one-time purchase unlocks Metis Pro on your Mac, iPad and iPhone - no subscription. Try everything free for 7 days. Metis is made by Empiric Apps. Questions or feedback? contact@empiricapps.com

Screenshots

Brainwave4 screens
Metis4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Metis at Free against Brainwave's $0.99. Metis also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 3 months). Brainwave's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 18.0). 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

Metis is free to download; Brainwave costs $0.99 up front. Metis sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Brainwave asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Brainwave ships an update every 3 months, Metis every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Brainwave versus Metis: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBrainwaveMetis
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating2.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews20.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS11.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZymbiotic TechnologiesBurlac Mihail

In-app purchases

None

Brainwave

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Metis

One-time1
  • Metis Pro$14.99

Questions

Is Brainwave free?
Brainwave costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Metis free?
Metis is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Brainwave or Metis have ads?
Neither Brainwave nor Metis shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Brainwave or Metis?
Brainwave ships an update every 3 months, and Metis every 2 days. Most recently, Brainwave was updated on October 1, 2026 and Metis on September 30, 2026.

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