Comparison

Zealous Notes vs Meanwhile

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

Head to head
About

Zealous Notes

Organize your thoughts with a versatile note-taking application. Link related notes, embed various media files directly, and enhance your text with markup tools. Features include searchable PDFs, video playback, and audio transcription.

Highlights
  • Stackable and linked notes
  • Inline PDF, video, and audio embedding
  • Searchable and mark-upable PDFs
  • Audio transcription
  • Hashtag organization
  • Marker mode with zoom
  • Calendar event linking
Features
Read full description

A lot like the Notes app you're used to, plus some added features: • Open several notes as a stack. - related notes can be linked together. • Subdivide your notes into Sections • PDFs, Video & Audio files attach inline, alongside your notes' other contents. - PDFs can be zoomed, scrolled, searched & marked-up. - Videos can play picture-in-picture or full-screen - Voice Notes audio files can be transcribed (with your permission) • Keep related notes together: - embed related notes as attachments - assign relatable #hashtags to your notes • Marker Mode - mark anywhere inside or outside of your notes - link markup with your highlighted or underlined text. - zoom-in for more precise drawings. • Link notes to your Calendar events (with your permission) • Case sensitive Find/Replace/Replace-All • Multiple Line-Spacing options See the included `Getting Started` guide for more, including several additional features available from within the app's Settings.

About

Meanwhile

This app helps you establish a consistent writing habit with a distraction-free environment, inspiring themes, and streak tracking. Visualize your progress with a calendar view and gain insights into your writing patterns. Your work is kept private and secure with local and iCloud storage.

Highlights
  • Distraction-free writing environment
  • Inspiring themes
  • Daily streak tracking
  • Calendar view
  • Writing insights and statistics
  • iCloud sync
  • Dark mode
Features
Read full description

Meanwhile is your dedicated companion for building a consistent writing practice. Whether you're journaling, brainstorming, or working on your next masterpiece, Meanwhile helps you make writing a daily habit. KEY FEATURES: • Clean, distraction-free writing environment • Beautiful themes to inspire your creativity • Daily streak tracking to build consistency • Calendar view to visualize your writing journey • Writing insights and statistics • iCloud sync to keep your entries safe • Dark mode support PRIVACY & SECURITY: • Your writing stays private - all data is stored locally and in your personal iCloud • No third-party analytics or tracking • No ads, ever Make writing a part of your daily routine with Meanwhile. Start your journey today. Terms of Service: https://www.infinitytrigger.com/terms-of-service Privacy Policy: https://www.infinitytrigger.com/privacy-policy End User License Agreement: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Zealous Notes2 screens
Meanwhile4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Meanwhile at Free against Zealous Notes's $4.99. Meanwhile also leads on iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.0). On rating, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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

Meanwhile is free to download; Zealous Notes costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Meanwhile holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 4 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Zealous Notes ships an update every 8 days, Meanwhile every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Zealous Notes versus Meanwhile: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterZealous NotesMeanwhile
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.3 (3 ratings)4.5 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings34 — better
Update frequencyEvery 8 days — betterEvery 9 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.018.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size265 MB17 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperJason BrowningDamien Anthony Lavizzo

Customer experience

Zealous Notes

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral33.3%
Negative0.0%

Meanwhile

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Zealous Notes

No in-app purchases

None

Meanwhile

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Zealous Notes free?
Zealous Notes costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Meanwhile free?
Meanwhile is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Zealous Notes or Meanwhile?
Meanwhile is rated higher. Zealous Notes averages 4.3 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while Meanwhile averages 4.5 from 4 ratings.
Do Zealous Notes or Meanwhile have ads?
Neither Zealous Notes nor Meanwhile shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Zealous Notes or Meanwhile?
Zealous Notes ships an update every 8 days, and Meanwhile every 9 days. Most recently, Zealous Notes was updated on November 3, 2026 and Meanwhile on October 30, 2026.

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