Comparison

SelfNote vs Stowby

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

Head to head
About

SelfNote

Capture ideas, reminders, and links by sending them directly to your email inbox. Supports text, audio, photos, and drawings, with extensions for seamless sharing from other apps. New features include Apple Watch integration and home screen widgets for quick access.

Highlights
  • Send notes via email
  • Attach text, audio, photos, drawings
  • Browser extensions for quick sharing
  • Apple Watch app for wrist capture
  • Home screen widgets for quick actions
  • On-device AI for subject lines and categorization
  • Speech-to-text dictation
Features
Read full description

With SelfNote, you can quickly write notes, reminders or bookmark links from your browser and send them to your own email. The concept is to send notes to self and receive them in the email inbox to be read or managed at a later time. With just a few taps and its quick share to self functions, you can create a new note and send it directly to your email inbox. This makes it easy to capture ideas and thoughts as they occur to you, without having to worry about forgetting them later on. SelfNote allows you to not only write text notes but also to add quick audio recordings, dictate to notes, drawings, and photos as notes. Additionally, you can use one of the extensions available for sending a reminder to self in the form of a link to a website, a photo, or a document (including PDFs) while browsing the internet or using any other app. KEY FEATURES - Mac App: SelfNote is now on your Mac too. Capture a thought from anywhere with the menu bar and your own keyboard shortcut, share from any app, and add widgets to your desktop. Your Pro subscription covers every device. - Apple Watch App: Capture notes from your wrist. Dictate text, record audio, or send quick phrases instantly. Your Watch syncs with your iPhone automatically. - Home Screen Widgets: Quick Actions for one-tap compose, dictate, or record. Quick Send to fire off pre-written phrases without opening the app. Recent Notes to see your latest notes at a glance. - Multiple Recipients: Add up to 10 email addresses and choose which ones receive your notes. Pro subscribers can send to up to 3 recipients simultaneously. - Attachments: Attach several photos and files to a single note. Pick them, paste them, drag and drop them, or share them from other apps (up to 5 with Pro). - On-Device AI (Pro, iOS 26+): Smart Subject generates email subject lines from your note. Auto-Categorization tags your notes. Action Items detects tasks and highlights them. All processing happens on your device. - Speech-to-Text Dictation: Speak your notes with real-time transcription for hands-free capture. - Custom Note Subjects: Set a custom email subject line for any note. - Improved Note History: Gallery and list views, search, filters by color, type, or attachment. - Siri and Shortcuts: Send notes with Siri or build workflows with the Shortcuts app. - Available in 8 Languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Portuguese (Brazilian), and Italian. Whether you're looking to organize your work tasks, read an article later, plan a vacation, remember something, or simply jot down your thoughts as they occur to you, SelfNote has everything you need to stay on top of your thoughts. Overall, SelfNote is a versatile tool that helps you to easily create and manage reminders and notes, making it an essential app for anyone who wants to stay organised and on top of their tasks. Terms and Conditions: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Stowby

Features
Read full description

Where did I put that? Stowby is your personal memory for the things you know you'll need later — but never remember where you left. Snap a photo, save a document, jot a note, or drop a link. Later, just search the way you'd think about it — "my apartment insurance," "the wine I liked," "parking spot at the airport" — and Stowby finds it. No folders. No tagging. No hunting through your camera roll. HOW IT WORKS • Capture anything — photos, screenshots, PDFs, documents, notes, and links • Search in plain language, in any language — describe it and get it back • Open, download, or share what you find, right in the app • Everything lives in one private place you actually remember to check BUILT FOR REAL LIFE • Receipts, warranties, and insurance papers • Where you parked, your hotel room, the locker number • That product, wine, or book someone recommended • Handwritten notes, whiteboards, and business cards PRIVATE BY DESIGN Your captures are yours. Everything is tied to your account and never shared. Sign in with Apple or Google and you're set. FREE TO START Save up to 100 items free. Upgrade any time for more room: • Stowby Plus — 2,000 saved items and 500 captures a month • Stowby Pro — unlimited items, captures, and search Subscriptions are billed monthly through your Apple account and renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the period. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store settings. Terms: https://stowby.app/terms.html Privacy: https://stowby.app/privacy.html

Screenshots

SelfNote4 screens
Stowby4 screens

Verdict

The call

SelfNote and Stowby are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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. SelfNote sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Stowby sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
SelfNote versus Stowby: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSelfNoteStowby
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (5 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings5 — better—
Update frequencyMonthly—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS16.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size23 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMakai Labs SrlYuri Gaiduk

In-app purchases

3 purchases

SelfNote

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly - Unlimited access$1.991 Month
  • Unlimited access7 Days trial$9.991 Year
One-time1
  • Pro Lifetime$29.99
2 purchases

Stowby

Subscriptions2
  • Stowby Plus$4.991 Month
  • Stowby Pro$9.991 Month

Questions

Is SelfNote free?
SelfNote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Stowby free?
Stowby is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do SelfNote or Stowby have ads?
Neither SelfNote nor Stowby shows ads.

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