Comparison

Notes and Thoughts vs Rivet

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

Head to head
About

Notes and Thoughts

Capture thoughts and ideas instantly without interrupting your current task. This minimalist tool sits in your menubar, offering a streamlined way to jot down notes and maintain focus. It's designed for users who prioritize efficiency and seamless workflow integration.

Highlights
  • Menubar integration
  • Quick idea capture
  • Workflow disruption-free
  • Focus-oriented design
  • Simple interface
Features
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Little Note redefines the way you take notes on your iPhone. Designed with simplicity and efficiency in mind, it sits quietly in your menubar, ready to capture your thoughts and ideas without disrupting your workflow. With Little Note, you never have to leave the context of your current task, making it the perfect tool for those who value focus and productivity.

About

Rivet

Features
Read full description

Rivet puts your calendars, to-dos, notes, and workouts on one timeline. Plan what’s next and see what you’ve done, in one app. Smart Add Type or say what you want to add, like “lunch with Sam on Thursday at 1” or “move standup to 4”. Rivet shows the change first. Nothing changes until you tap Add. Plans Your to-dos and threads, one tap from the timeline. Group to-dos, notes, and meetings in a thread. Drag a to-do onto the timeline to give it a time. Calendars See Apple Calendar and Google Calendar events next to your to-dos, and create events from Rivet. Add a Google Meet link to an event and join from the timeline. Your Apple Reminders show too. Later Save links, text, images, and files from Safari or the share sheet. Keep things to watch, read, cook, visit, and buy. Read supported pages in Rivet, highlight passages, and add comments. Drag anything you saved onto the timeline to plan when you’ll do it. Fitness Build a workout, import routines from Hevy or Strong, or paste a workout as plain text. Add it to the timeline, then start it. Rivet takes you through each set and rest. See your rest timer on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island. Finished workouts save to Apple Health. Meeting notes Record a meeting and Rivet saves the transcript to Notes. On an iPhone with Apple Intelligence, Rivet also lists the key points and decisions. Rivet records only after you start a recording. Capsules Your workouts, the music you played, and what you watched show on the timeline as Capsules. Connect Apple Health, Apple Music, and Trakt to fill them. Memory See each week, month, and year: what you watched, listened to, read, and cooked, where you went, your meetings, and how you moved and slept. Time Machine Scroll back through past days and tap one to open it on the timeline. Sky The sky and the Earth behind the timeline follow the sun. Open Sky to choose a fixed time of day instead. Search Pull down on the timeline to search to-dos, events, notes, meetings, workouts, music, and what you watched. Built into iOS • Siri: on iOS 27, ask Siri to add, move, or finish to-dos, notes, and events, or say “move this to Friday” about what’s on screen. • Shortcuts: add to Rivet, Notes, or Plans, save a link, mark a to-do done, focus on a to-do, start a workout, or mark an episode watched. • Apple Intelligence: Smart Add, meeting notes, and Later use the on-device model on your iPhone. • Live Activities and the Dynamic Island: follow meetings, events, and rest timers. • Widgets: today, what’s next, the week, and the month on the Home Screen and Lock Screen. • Control Center: a Rivet control to search or add. • Spotlight: find your to-dos, notes, and events. • Share sheet and Safari: save links, text, images, and files to Later. • Apple Health, Apple Music, Apple Calendar, and Apple Reminders. • iCloud sync between iPhone and Mac, Sign in with Apple, and Family Sharing. Privacy Smart Add works on your iPhone. You can let it send a hard sentence to Claude or Gemini for a better result. That’s off unless you turn it on. Fitness asks before it sends a question to Claude. Health data stays on your iPhone. Your timeline syncs through your iCloud account. Try it free, then pay for it once Use all of Rivet free for 14 days. Then pay once to keep everything running. No subscription. Family Sharing includes your family. After the trial, you can still read everything you added. Reminders stop, and Health, Music, and Trakt stop updating. Your local price shows before you buy. If you bought a plan before, it keeps working. Terms: https://rivetcal.app/terms Privacy: https://rivetcal.app/privacy Icons by Icons8: https://icons8.com

Screenshots

Notes and Thoughts1 screens
Rivet4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Notes and Thoughts at none against Rivet's 3. Notes and Thoughts also leads on iOS requirement (17.4 vs 26.0). Rivet's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Rivet sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Notes and Thoughts asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Notes and Thoughts ships an update every 3 weeks, Rivet every 3 days. Both last shipped on October 10, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 5 level
Notes and Thoughts versus Rivet: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotes and ThoughtsRivet
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviews90.0% of reviews—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS17.4 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB126 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKevin ChromikJames Whelan

In-app purchases

None

Notes and Thoughts

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Rivet

Subscriptions2
  • Rivet Pro - Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Rivet Pro - Annual$44.991 Year
One-time1
  • Rivet Pro - Lifetime$149.99

Questions

Is Notes and Thoughts free?
Notes and Thoughts is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Rivet free?
Rivet is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Notes and Thoughts or Rivet have ads?
Neither Notes and Thoughts nor Rivet shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Notes and Thoughts or Rivet?
Notes and Thoughts ships an update every 3 weeks, and Rivet every 3 days. Most recently, Notes and Thoughts was updated on October 10, 2026 and Rivet on October 10, 2026.

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