Comparison

Brain Dump vs Star Tasks

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

Head to head
About

Brain Dump

This minimalist note-taking app lets you capture ideas instantly with a distraction-free interface. It offers AI-powered answers to your notes and can transform them into various formats like summaries, to-do lists, or emails.

Highlights
  • Instant writing on launch
  • AI-powered questions and answers from notes
  • Create summaries, lists, emails, and more from notes
  • Minimalist, distraction-free interface
  • Organize notes with folders
  • Merge notes easily
  • iCloud backup for cross-device access
Features
Read full description

A thought shows up while you're in the middle of something else. By the time you've opened a notes app and picked a folder, it's gone. Brain Dump opens straight to a blank note. Write it down, get back to what you were doing, and sort it out later. Made for ADHD brains and anyone who switches tasks all day. WRITE FIRST, SORT LATER • Opens on a new note, or right where you left off. You choose. • Freewriting space: empty your head across as many notes as you need, then save them all to a folder at once. • No title, no folder, no setup needed before you start typing. CAPTURE FROM WHEREVER YOU ARE • Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets for a new note, your last note, or Freewriting • Control Center and Action Button controls (iOS 18 and later) • Siri and Shortcuts: "New note", "Resume note" • Share sheet: save text and links from other apps • Menu bar access on Mac GET BACK ON TRACK • Jump back into your last note from a widget, a control, or Siri • Reminders on any note, so it comes back when you need it • Alarms that ring even with a Focus mode on (iOS 26 and later) • Location reminders when you arrive at or leave a place (iPhone and iPad, Premium) • Checklists with tappable checkboxes • Search, pinned notes, tags, and nested folders for when you're ready to organize TURN A MESSY DUMP INTO SOMETHING USEFUL • Create: turn notes into a to-do list, summary, email, meeting report, flashcards, and more • Ask: ask questions about what you've written • Rewrite and fix grammar in Freewriting • Merge several notes into one, in the order you choose The free plan includes 3 AI uses every month. CALM BY DESIGN • Three looks: Standard, Minimal, or Essential with no icons and no color • High-focus and dyslexia-friendly fonts, adjustable text size • Background sounds while you write • Light and dark mode YOUR NOTES, EVERYWHERE • iCloud sync across iPhone, iPad, and Mac • Optional Brain Dump account: back up your notes and sync them across your devices • Brain Dump on the web at app.getbraindump.com • Share a note or folder by link: anyone can read and edit in their browser, no account needed • Import from Apple Notes and Evernote • Export to plain text, HTML, RTF, Markdown, or Word (Markdown and Word with Premium) WHAT PEOPLE SAY "Finally, a notes app that gets how my brain works." (App Store review) FREE TO START Writing, quick capture, Freewriting, and merging notes are free. Brain Dump Focus unlocks unlimited reminders and alarms, location reminders, more AI, unlimited tags, and more export formats. Or get Lifetime for everything except AI, with a one-time purchase. Brain Dump is a notes app. It isn't a medical device or a treatment. Questions or ideas? Write to braindump.help@gmail.com

About

Star Tasks

This app uses gamification to help you overcome procrastination and complete tasks. Earn stars for finishing to-dos, unlocking new features as you become more productive. Enjoy a polished experience with widgets and live activities, all without ads or data selling.

Highlights
  • Gamified task completion
  • Star rewards system
  • Unlockable features via achievements
  • Widgets and Live Activities
  • Offline functionality
  • No ads or data selling
Features
Read full description

Welcome to Star Tasks – a gamified approach for you to stop procrastinating and complete planned tasks and chores. Make your brain *want* to accomplish todos the way best games make you want to play them – by leveraging interactions that release dopamine and make your conscious fancy being productive. You finish a task – you get a star! As simple as that. Star Tasks is a polished little app that feels at home on your device with familiar features like Widgets, Live Activities, App Intents, Alternative Icons and more. It doesn’t require you to log in or be connected to the internet, doesn’t have ads and doesn’t sell any data of yours. One of the things you won’t find anywhere else is a mechanic called Achievements. Star Tasks offers a great amount of features which aren’t available when you download the app. You first need to actually “achieve” them by collecting certain amount of stars, setting goals certain amount of days etc. So the more productive you are, the more features are available to you. This is yet another step Star Tasks takes to help you gamify the daily routines and make it enjoyable to being effective. Achievements and corresponding features are activated for Gold members but if you don’t feel like subscribing to Gold, that’s ok, all the progress will be saved behind the scenes and when you’re ready, those features will be waiting for you Terms and Conditions (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Brain Dump4 screens
Star Tasks4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Star Tasks at 5.0 against Brain Dump's 4.3. Star Tasks also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 71%). Brain Dump's advantage is update cadence (every 9 days vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (65 vs 6). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Brain Dump sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per 7 days and Star Tasks sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Star Tasks holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Brain Dump has 65 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of Brain Dump's written reviews are positive against 100% of Star Tasks's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Brain Dump ships an update every 9 days, Star Tasks every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Brain Dump versus Star Tasks: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBrain DumpStar Tasks
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (65 ratings)5.0 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews71.4% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings65 — better6
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size116 MB33 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFrancesco LeoniRoman Mirzoyan

Customer experience

Brain Dump

All ratings65 ratings
Positive83.1%
Neutral4.6%
Negative12.3%
Written reviews28 reviews
Positive71.4%
Neutral7.1%
Negative21.4%

Star Tasks

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Brain Dump

Subscriptions5
  • Weekly$3.997 Days
  • Pro: Monthly Clarity$3.991 Month
  • Monthly$10.991 Month
Show 2 more
  • Pro: Yearly Serenity$34.991 Year
  • Yearly$99.991 Year
One-time2
  • BrainDump Ask Drops$4.99
  • Lifetime$39.99
6 purchases

Star Tasks

Subscriptions4
  • Gold Weekly$0.997 Days
  • Gold Weekly3 Days trial$0.997 Days
  • Gold Monthly$2.991 Month
Show 1 more
  • Gold Annually7 Days trial2 variants$12.991 Year
One-time2
  • Rewards unlock$9.99
  • Star Tasks Gold Lifetime$29.99

Questions

Is Brain Dump free?
Brain Dump is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Star Tasks free?
Star Tasks is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Brain Dump or Star Tasks?
Star Tasks is rated higher. Brain Dump averages 4.3 out of 5 from 65 ratings, while Star Tasks averages 5.0 from 6 ratings.
Do Brain Dump or Star Tasks have ads?
Neither Brain Dump nor Star Tasks shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Brain Dump or Star Tasks?
Brain Dump ships an update every 9 days, and Star Tasks every 3 months. Most recently, Brain Dump was updated on November 7, 2026 and Star Tasks on November 4, 2026.

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