Comparison

Pastor vs Smolpad

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

Head to head
About

Pastor

Securely store and manage your private information, including passwords and account details, directly on your device. Find what you need quickly with powerful search and sorting options. Import and export your data easily.

Highlights
  • Encrypted local storage
  • Face ID/Touch ID unlock
  • Offline functionality
  • Search and filter entries
  • Copy fields and open websites
  • Sort and find inactive entries
  • Import/export data (CSV/TSV)
Read full description

Keep passwords, account details, and short personal notes encrypted on your iPhone or iPad. Pastor is a simple place for information you want to keep private and easy to find. Store a title, website address, user name, password or PIN, and notes for each entry. PRIVATE, LOCAL STORAGE Your entries are stored locally using Apple's device encryption. Unlock Pastor with Face ID, Touch ID, or your device passcode. Pastor works offline and has no account or cloud sync service. FIND WHAT YOU NEED Search titles, website addresses, user names, and notes. Tap a field to copy it, reveal a password when needed, or open an entry's website in Safari. KEEP YOUR COLLECTION USEFUL Sort by title, creation date, last edit, last viewed, or last used. Find entries you haven't viewed or used for 1, 3, 6, or 12 months, and filter by date range or unknown dates. Activity History shows the latest dates for each entry. Using an entry means copying a field or opening its website; viewing alone does not count as use. Earlier activity is unknown for existing or imported entries. Period filters take account of how much history is available. IMPORT AND EXPORT Import Pastor TSV files through Finder on your Mac, choosing Merge or Replace. Export all entries or your current results as CSV or TSV. Exported files are cleartext and do not include activity history. Made for iPhone and iPad, with light and dark appearance. Requires iOS or iPadOS 15 or later and a device passcode. Device backups and clipboard sharing follow your Apple settings. Keep a current backup of information you need.

About

Smolpad

This app offers a minimalist Markdown editor that stores your notes as plain .md files. It syncs via iCloud and allows for beautiful writing with syntax highlighting and task lists. Upgrade for unlimited notes, more sync options, and export features.

Highlights
  • Plain .md file storage
  • iCloud sync
  • Markdown syntax highlighting
  • Task list checkboxes
  • Folder organization and search
  • Trash and version history
  • Export to PDF/HTML (Pro)
Features
Read full description

Smolpad is a smol Markdown editor with respect for your files. Every note is a plain .md file you can open with any app, on any device, forever. Your files are your own. No database. No lock-in. No bloat. Just a tiny, fast home for your notes on Mac, iPhone, and iPad. WRITE IN MARKDOWN, BEAUTIFULLY • Syntax dims as you type, or hides away entirely with one tap • Task lists become real checkboxes. Checkboxes that check. • Headings, bold, italic, code, quotes, and tables, styled as you write • A formatting bar for common touches, plus full keyboard shortcuts • Pictures too: drag or paste one in, resize it by its corner, and it lives as a plain file beside the note YOUR FILES, ANYWHERE • Notes sync through your own iCloud Drive, included free • Open your notes folder in Finder or Files any time • Organize with folders, pins, and instant search • A Trash for deleted notes, and a history of every note's earlier versions • Find notes in Spotlight, and open them with Siri or Shortcuts • Your notes never leave your devices except to your own cloud SMOL ON PURPOSE • On the Mac, Smolpad lives in your menu bar, one hotkey away • Tear off a note into its own window when you want to stay a while • On iPhone and iPad, it opens fast and stays out of your way • Eight hand-picked fonts and a clean, quiet interface MAKE IT YOURS WITH SMOLPAD PRO • Unlimited notes (the free tier includes ten) • Dropbox, pCloud, or Google Drive sync, in a folder that belongs to you • Notepads: open any folder of Markdown files as its own notepad, an Obsidian vault or a Bear export among them • Export to PDF, HTML, or rich text, and print • Widgets on the Mac, iPhone and iPad, Lock Screen widgets on iPhone, and Smolpad on Apple Watch • Twenty-nine editor themes, from Tokyo Night to Catppuccin • Seventeen app icons and the full menu bar icon set Smolpad Pro is available as a monthly or yearly subscription, or a one-time lifetime purchase. The free tier is a real notes app, not a trial. Made by a smol team that believes plain text outlives everything. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://smolpad.com/privacy

Screenshots

Pastor4 screens
Smolpad4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Smolpad at Free against Pastor's $1.99. Smolpad also leads on update cadence (every 10 days vs every 8 months) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). Pastor's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and ratings volume (3 vs 1). 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

Smolpad is free to download; Pastor costs $1.99 up front. Smolpad sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per month. Pastor asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Smolpad holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pastor ships an update every 8 months, Smolpad every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Pastor versus Smolpad: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPastorSmolpad
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating4.7 (3 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews30.6% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 8 monthsEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFreemium — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB76 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMarkus MehlauBaconWorks, LLC

Customer experience

Pastor

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews36 reviews
Positive30.6%
Neutral13.9%
Negative55.6%

Smolpad

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Pastor

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Smolpad

Subscriptions2
  • Smolpad Pro$1.491 Month
  • Smolpad Pro7 Days trial$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Smolpad Pro Lifetime$29.99

Questions

Is Pastor free?
Pastor costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Smolpad free?
Smolpad is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Pastor or Smolpad?
Smolpad is rated higher. Pastor averages 4.7 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while Smolpad averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Pastor or Smolpad have ads?
Neither Pastor nor Smolpad shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pastor or Smolpad?
Pastor ships an update every 8 months, and Smolpad every 10 days. Most recently, Pastor was updated on November 1, 2026 and Smolpad on October 31, 2026.

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