Comparison

Brainwave vs DearWiki

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

DearWiki

Features
Read full description

DearWiki is a local-first notebook and personal wiki for notes, tasks, daily plans, research, and connected ideas. Write in portable Markdown, capture from the share sheet, find backlinks on the knowledge map, organize readable structured views, and export a complete ZIP whenever you want. Attachment OCR runs on the device. No DearWiki account is required. Optional WebDAV sync uses a server you choose.

Screenshots

Brainwave4 screens
DearWiki3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: DearWiki at Free against Brainwave's $0.99. DearWiki also leads on update cadence (every 8 days vs every 3 months). Brainwave's advantage is iOS requirement (11.0 vs 17.0). On ads, in-app purchases 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

DearWiki is free to download; Brainwave costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Brainwave ships an update every 3 months, DearWiki every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Brainwave versus DearWiki: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBrainwaveDearWiki
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating2.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews20.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 8 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS11.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZymbiotic TechnologiesPedro Brannum

In-app purchases

None

Brainwave

No in-app purchases

None

DearWiki

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Brainwave free?
Brainwave costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is DearWiki free?
DearWiki is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Brainwave or DearWiki have ads?
Neither Brainwave nor DearWiki shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Brainwave or DearWiki?
Brainwave ships an update every 3 months, and DearWiki every 8 days. Most recently, Brainwave was updated on October 1, 2026 and DearWiki on September 29, 2026.

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