Ideaflow vs roamOS
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Ideaflow
Capture fleeting thoughts, links, and information effortlessly with this AI-powered notebook. Record voice notes and organize insights for your projects and connections. It offers a low-friction experience for managing your ideas.
- AI-powered note-taking
- Instant information capture
- Voice note recording
- Link saving
- Project organization
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Ideaflow is an AI-powered notebook with instant capture, voice notes, and more. We're building the lowest friction way to capture fleeting insights, important links, and tidbits of information for all the projects and people you're working on, helping, or connecting. Also available on the web at https://ideaflow.app/
roamOS
Seamlessly integrate your Roam Research knowledge base into your daily workflow. Capture ideas instantly, access notes via system search, and view tasks with customizable widgets without interrupting your focus.
- Instant capture via Siri and shortcuts
- Customizable home screen widgets
- System-wide search integration
- Natural language queries
- Cross-device compatibility (iPhone, iPad, Mac)
- One-time purchase with lifetime updates
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You've built the perfect knowledge system in Roam. But it's locked away from where you actually work. Your breakthrough insights hit during Zoom calls, but opening Roam breaks your flow. Every TODO check means app switching. Every lookup interrupts your momentum. Your second brain can't help if you can't access it. roamOS bridges your knowledge and your workflow. Finally, your Roam graph works everywhere you do. Capture thoughts instantly via Siri, access notes through system search, and see your TODOs in beautiful widgets. No more app switching. No more lost insights. Instant Capture That brilliant idea hits during a meeting? Capture it instantly with Siri voice commands, keyboard shortcuts, or the quick launcher. Your thoughts flow directly into Roam without breaking focus. Beautiful Widgets Transform your morning routine with customizable widgets that surface exactly what you need. Your TODOs, recent notes, and daily reminders - right on your home screen where you'll actually see them. System-Wide Access Your knowledge becomes part of your system. Press Command+Space on Mac or swipe down on iPhone - search for any thought and jump directly to context. Your Roam graph integrates seamlessly with Spotlight search. Natural Language Queries Ask naturally and get instant results. "Yesterday's TODOs," "meetings this week," or "notes about pricing" - no Datalog required. Just think and ask. Complete Integration Works beautifully across iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Your second brain follows you everywhere - menubar access, Siri shortcuts, system search, and gorgeous widgets that actually help. Built by Roam users, for Roam users. Stop switching apps to access your thoughts. Your knowledge system deserves to work as hard as you do. One-time purchase. Lifetime updates. No subscriptions. Perfect for knowledge workers, researchers, writers, and anyone building their second brain in Roam Research.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Ideaflow at 100% against roamOS's 33%. Ideaflow also leads on price (Free vs $19.99) and rating (4.8 vs 1.0). roamOS's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs fortnightly). On ads, in-app purchases 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
Ideaflow is free to download; roamOS costs $19.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Ideaflow holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ideaflow has 31 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Ideaflow's written reviews are positive against 33% of roamOS's.
Ideaflow ships an update fortnightly, roamOS every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and September 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Ideaflow | roamOS |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $19.99 |
| Rating | 4.8 (31 ratings) — better | 1.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 33.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 31 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 6 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | IdeaFlow, Inc. | Ryan Sonnek |
Customer experience
Ideaflow
roamOS
In-app purchases
Ideaflow
No in-app purchases
roamOS
No in-app purchases









