Comparison

Columns.app vs CleanPad

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

Head to head
About

Columns.app

Organize your thoughts and tasks with a unique column-based list manager. Ideal for planning, tracking, and managing projects, ideas, or collections. It offers a structured, linear approach similar to mind maps for clear visualization.

Highlights
  • Organize with linear columns
  • Plan and track progress
  • Manage projects and ideas
  • Create roadmaps
  • Teamwork organization
Features
Read full description

Columns is a list manager. Lists are great for organizing things and see the big picture. It's perfect for planning, tracking, noting, managing and thinking. It is like mind maps but organized in a linear, columns structure. What for? Make a list of movies you want to see. Put all your recipes together. Create a roadmap for your project. Organize teamwork. Lists help track progress. Write a novel. So it’s a tool for organizing lists, and lists are a tool for organizing things. If you need the ultimate organizer, you found it.

About

CleanPad

Capture your thoughts, ideas, and memories in a cozy and secure digital space. This app offers a minimalist interface with customizable categories and enhanced privacy features, including automatic locking and biometric authentication for your notes.

Highlights
  • Cozy and customizable design
  • Distraction-free editing
  • Note categorization and tagging
  • Automatic private note locking
  • Biometric authentication
  • Local storage for privacy
  • Grid and list view options
Features
Read full description

CleanPad is thoughtfully designed to provide a cozy and secure space for capturing your thoughts, ideas, and memories. With its inviting design and focus on privacy, it feels like a personal sanctuary for note-taking. CleanPad features a minimalist interface that helps you focus on what truly matters. With customizable categories, enhanced privacy, and an experience designed to feel at home, CleanPad makes keeping your thoughts organized simple and intuitive. Features: • Cozy Design: A warm, thoughtfully crafted interface that feels at home and transitions seamlessly between light and dark modes. • Streamlined Editing: A clean and distraction-free Edit Screen for updating titles and content, as well as categorizing, sharing, or deleting your notes. • Categories: Organize your notes with ease. Create, edit, and delete categories, then filter your notes using beautiful color-coded tags. • Private Notes: Keep personal notes in a protected space that locks automatically when you leave the app and supports Face ID, Touch ID, or your device passcode for secure access. • Seamless Navigation: The Dock keeps everything within reach, letting you navigate your notes, access categories, and create new notes with ease. • Local Storage: Your notes stay exclusively on your device, keeping your thoughts personal and private. • Customizable Views: Switch effortlessly between grid and list views to organize your notes your way. NOTE: List View is available only on iOS. • Quick Actions: Long-press a note to quickly share it, move it to or remove it from the private space, or delete it. • VoiceOver Support: Enhanced accessibility features help make CleanPad inclusive and easy to navigate with VoiceOver. Rediscover the joy of note-taking with CleanPad, a place where your ideas and memories stay private, accessible, and beautifully organized.

Screenshots

Columns.app4 screens
CleanPad4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: CleanPad at 5.0 against Columns.app's 4.3. Columns.app's advantage is ratings volume (3 vs 1). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

CleanPad holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Columns.app ships an update every 3 weeks, CleanPad monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Columns.app versus CleanPad: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterColumns.appCleanPad
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (3 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size19 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperColumns, inc.Uriel Alejandro Ortega Aguilar

Customer experience

Columns.app

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral33.3%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative25.0%

CleanPad

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

In-app purchases

None

Columns.app

No in-app purchases

None

CleanPad

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Columns.app free?
Columns.app is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is CleanPad free?
CleanPad is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Columns.app or CleanPad?
CleanPad is rated higher. Columns.app averages 4.3 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while CleanPad averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Columns.app or CleanPad have ads?
Neither Columns.app nor CleanPad shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Columns.app or CleanPad?
Columns.app ships an update every 3 weeks, and CleanPad monthly. Most recently, Columns.app was updated on November 3, 2026 and CleanPad on November 4, 2026.

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