Comparison

Vim vs Metanote

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

Head to head
About

Vim

A highly configurable text editor with a long history, designed for efficient editing from both command lines and graphical interfaces. It offers extensive customization options for programmers and writers alike.

Highlights
  • Text editing
  • Command-line interface support
  • Graphical user interface support
  • Highly configurable
  • Free and open source
Features
Read full description

Vim is a text editor first released publicly in 1991. Based on the vi editor common to Unix-like systems, Vim is designed for use both from a command line interface and as a standalone application in a graphical user interface. Vim is free and open source software and is released under a license which includes some charityware clauses, encouraging users who enjoy the software to consider donating to children in Uganda. https://vim.sourceforge.io/about.php

About

Metanote

A privacy-focused offline editor that supports Org mode for writing, task management, and knowledge wikis. It offers real-time editing of rich content and seamless synchronization across devices.

Highlights
  • Privacy-first offline editor
  • Full Org mode support
  • Real-time rich content editing
  • Seamless synchronization
  • Integrated task management
  • Full-text search
Read full description

Metanote is a privacy-first offline editor that supports org mode. In Metanote, everything is text, everything is editable. Supports real-time editing and rendering of images, hyperlinks, tables, Latex mathematical formulas, source code blocks, attachments and other rich content with the text markup language 'org mode'. Literary creation, academic papers, literary programming, task management, knowledge wiki and other usage scenarios can be easily handled. *** Freedom & Private 100% work offline, no account required, no network required, no private document formats, no data collection, your data and privacy are completely under your control. *** Writing every where Whether on the go or in your bedroom, you can create, view and edit your documents anytime, anywhere, and with built-in synchronization, everything will be there when you return to your desk. *** A silky-smooth editing experience Pure native development, lightweight and smooth, rejecting any lag, even for large files! *** Thinking better Through the structured editing function, ideas come to life on screen. It is not only a beautiful outline, but also efficient thinking. *** Never miss a thing There is no more free task management system than this. Notes are to-dos, and to-dos are notes. Everything is plain-text and everything can be edited. Capture inspiration on the go with 'capture' and keep everything in sight with 'agenda view's. *** Org mode Metanote fully supports org mode 9.3.6 syntax, including features like Capture and Agenda View, allowing for a perfect and even enhanced org mode experience on smartphones. - An incredibly smooth editing experience. - Sync using WebDAV(Apache WebDAV Server, ownCloud, Yandex.disk, etc.), Dropbox, OneDrive, Git, iCloud. - Support for adding Obsidian and Logseq working directories, integrating and managing them in a unified manner - Supports full-text search. - Support images, tables and LaTeX. - Support hyperlinks and attachments. 1. Supports internal links and external links. 2. Click on the attachment link to preview and edit, the following types are supported: 1. iWork and Microsoft Office documents 2. Images 3. Live Photos 4. Text files 5. PDFs 6. Audio and video files - Supports multi-window editing. - Customizable startup page - Supports mini buffer. - Compatible with org mode version 9.3.6 - Todo notifications support - View agenda views by year, month, and day - Customizable workflows - Support for custom capture, custom agenda view, refile, log note, and other features. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Vim1 screens
Metanote4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Metanote at 4.5 against Vim's 2.9. Metanote also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 9 months) and review sentiment (73% vs 46%). Vim's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 14.0). On price, ratings volume, 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

Both are free to download. Metanote sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Vim asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Metanote holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 2.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 21 and 11 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 46% of Vim's written reviews are positive against 73% of Metanote's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Vim ships an update every 9 months, Metanote every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Vim versus Metanote: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVimMetanote
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.9 (21 ratings)4.5 (11 ratings) — better
Positive reviews46.2% of reviews72.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings21 — better11
Update frequencyEvery 9 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS9.0 — better14.0
Further details — not scored
Size37 MB16 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperApplidium雪双 陈

Customer experience

Vim

All ratings21 ratings
Positive42.9%
Neutral9.5%
Negative47.6%
Written reviews117 reviews
Positive46.2%
Neutral15.4%
Negative38.5%

Metanote

All ratings11 ratings
Positive81.8%
Neutral9.1%
Negative9.1%
Written reviews11 reviews
Positive72.7%
Neutral9.1%
Negative18.2%

Bugs and requests

Vim

Reported bugs

13 issues
  • Escape key not recognized on external keyboards
  • Space bar non-functional with external keyboards
  • Font illegible on Retina and newer displays
  • Significant input lag between keystrokes and display
  • Window focus not maintained in multitasking
Show 8 more
  • Keyboard recognition delays
  • Graphics scrambled on iPhone 6 and newer
  • Character rendering issues (missing 'f' character)
  • Command line errors with certain commands (:ls, :echo)
  • Syntax highlighting broken
  • App crashes on older iOS versions
  • 32-bit app incompatibility with iOS 11+
  • Slow response to Bluetooth keyboard input

Requested features

15 requests
  • Custom keyboard row with Esc, Tab, Ctrl, and common symbols
  • Dropbox and cloud service integration
  • iOS copy/paste and clipboard integration
  • File browser and file management system
  • Better font rendering and scaling options
Show 10 more
  • Swipe gestures for common operations (Esc, Tab)
  • Plugin support
  • SSH/FTP connectivity
  • Customizable color schemes and themes
  • Better Bluetooth keyboard support and detection
  • MacVim-style tabs
  • iCloud synchronization
  • Open source project status
  • Support for external shell integration
  • Email attachment opening support

Metanote

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Vim

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Metanote

Subscriptions2
  • Metanote Premium$1.991 Month
  • Metanote Premium$12.991 Year
One-time1
  • One-time purchase$19.99

Questions

Is Vim free?
Vim is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Metanote free?
Metanote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Vim or Metanote?
Metanote is rated higher. Vim averages 2.9 out of 5 from 21 ratings, while Metanote averages 4.5 from 11 ratings.
Do Vim or Metanote have ads?
Neither Vim nor Metanote shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Vim or Metanote?
Vim ships an update every 9 months, and Metanote every 2 weeks. Most recently, Vim was updated on October 12, 2026 and Metanote on October 3, 2026.

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