# Ideas Down Quickly vs Cortex

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Ideas Down Quickly at none against Cortex's 3. Cortex's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 11 days). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Cortex sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Ideas Down Quickly asks for nothing beyond the download.

Ideas Down Quickly ships an update every 11 days, Cortex every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Ideas Down Quickly | Cortex |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[5.0 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ideas-down-quickly/id6529524065/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **2** | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 11 days | **Every 4 days** |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Size | 23 MB | 132 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | **15.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Travis Bumgarner](https://appshunter.io/developer/1755803995) | [JTR Labs LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1892768253) |

## What reviewers say

### Ideas Down Quickly

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ideas-down-quickly/id6529524065)

Capture thoughts instantly with this frictionless note-taking app. Organize ideas into categories and find them quickly. Prioritizes privacy with offline functionality and on-device storage.

**Highlights:** Zero-friction capture, Simple organization, Easy browsing, Offline functionality, On-device storage, Open source

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


### Cortex

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cortex-local-markdown-brain/id6785630809)

**Features:** Safari Extension, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cortex Plus (Monthly) | $4.99 | per month |
| Cortex Plus (Yearly) | $39.99 | per year |
| Cortex Believer | $99.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Ideas Down Quickly free?

Ideas Down Quickly is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Cortex free?

Cortex is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Do Ideas Down Quickly or Cortex have ads?

Neither Ideas Down Quickly nor Cortex shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Ideas Down Quickly or Cortex?

Ideas Down Quickly ships an update every 11 days, and Cortex every 4 days. Most recently, Ideas Down Quickly was updated on October 24, 2026 and Cortex on October 28, 2026.

---

*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*