Comparison

Notebook vs Standard Notes

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

Head to head
About

Notebook

This app offers a natural journaling experience by organizing daily notes on a single page, allowing you to flip through your entries like a physical book. It prioritizes simplicity, security with passcode locks, and seamless iCloud synchronization for easy access across devices.

Highlights
  • Realistic page-turning effect
  • One page per day organization
  • iCloud sync and backup
  • Passcode lock with Face ID/Touch ID
  • Dark mode and font adjustment
  • Ad-free Premium option
Features
Read full description

Record your days like turning the pages of a book. A simple, elegant note-taking and diary app designed to make journaling feel natural. Over 2 million downloads worldwide. Average rating 4.7 from over 21,000 reviews. Notebook is a simple and elegant note-taking and diary app that lets you flip through your digital journal like a real book. Each day’s notes are automatically organized on one page, ready to revisit anytime with a smooth page-turning effect. ■ Your day on one page Keep your daily notes and thoughts neatly organized. You can easily look back on yesterday, last week, or even last month. Swipe or tap to turn the page and rediscover your memories like reading a personal journal. ■ Simple and ready to use Tap the Compose button to write a new note. Change dates by tapping the date field, or adjust the font size with one tap. Copy or print your entries directly — everything is intuitive, no manual required. ■ iCloud sync and backup support Keep your data secure with iCloud synchronization and backup. Access your notes across multiple devices, and restore them easily when you get a new iPhone. No complicated setup needed. ■ Private and secure Protect your personal diary with a passcode lock (Face ID / Touch ID supported). Deleted notes can be recovered within 30 days from “Recently Deleted” in settings. ■ Premium for a distraction-free experience All basic features are free. Upgrade once to Premium (one-time purchase) to remove ads and enjoy a calm, focused writing experience. Your purchase can be restored anytime, even after changing devices. Features • Page-turning effect for a realistic book-like feel • One page per day for simple organization and review • iCloud sync and backup support • Passcode lock (Face ID / Touch ID) for privacy • Dark mode, search, and font adjustment • Ad-free with Premium (one-time purchase) • Restore deleted notes within 30 days • Copy, print, or share all notes at once Capture your everyday moments, one page at a time — in your own private notebook.

About

Standard Notes

Securely capture and sync your thoughts across all devices with end-to-end encryption. This app offers a simple, lasting place for all your notes, from personal thoughts to sensitive information, with robust privacy features.

Highlights
  • End-to-end encryption
  • Cross-device syncing
  • Offline access
  • Passcode and biometric lock
  • Tagging system
  • Open-source code
  • Optional productivity editors and themes
Features
Read full description

Standard Notes is a private and secure end-to-end encrypted notes app. It allows you to write and sync your notes across all your devices, including your iPhone, iPad, Mac, and web browser. Private means your notes are end-to-end encrypted, so only you can read your notes. Even we can't read the contents of your notes. Simple means it does one job and does it well. Standard Notes is a safe and lasting place for your life's work. Our focus is making it easy to write notes wherever you are and syncing them with encryption to all your devices. Our users love us for: • Personal Notes • Tasks & Todos • Passwords & Keys • Code & Technical Procedures • Private Journal • Meeting Notes • Cross-platform Scratchpad • Books, Recipes, & Movies • Health & Fitness Log Standard Notes comes free with: • Seamless sync across all your devices, with easy to use applications on iPhone, iPad, Mac, web browsers, and other platforms. • Offline access, so you can access your downloaded notes even without a connection. • No limit on number of devices. • No limit on number of notes. • Passcode lock protection, along with Touch ID and Face ID protection. • A tagging system to organize your notes (like #work, #ideas, #passwords, #crypto). • The ability to pin, lock, protect, and move notes to trash, which allows you to recover deleted notes until the trash is emptied. Standard Notes is completely open-source, which means when we say your notes are encrypted with industry-leading XChaCha-20 encryption, and that only you can read your notes, you don't have to take our word for it. Our code is open to the world to audit. We made Standard Notes simple because longevity is important to us. We want to make sure we're here, protecting your notes, for the next hundred years. You shouldn't have to find a new notes app every year. To sustain our development, we offer optional paid subscriptions which give you access to powerful tools like: • Productivity editors (like Markdown, Code, Spreadsheets) • Beautiful themes (like Midnight, Focus, Solarized Dark) • Powerful cloud tools including daily backups of your encrypted data delivered to your email inbox every day, or backed up to your cloud provider (like Dropbox and Google Drive). We're always happy to talk, whether it be a question, thought, or issue. Please feel free to email us any time at help@standardnotes.com. When you take the time to send us a message, we'll be sure to do the same. EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Notebook4 screens
Standard Notes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Standard Notes at none against Notebook's shown. Standard Notes also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). Notebook's advantage is review sentiment (73% vs 63%) and ratings volume (14K vs 3.7K). On price, rating, update cadence 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. Notebook sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Standard Notes sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $119.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Notebook against 4.7 for Standard Notes. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 14K and 3.7K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 73% of Notebook's written reviews are positive against 63% of Standard Notes's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Notebook ships an update every 9 days, Standard Notes every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Notebook versus Standard Notes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotebookStandard Notes
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (14K ratings)4.7 (3.7K ratings)
Positive reviews72.7% of reviews — better63.4% of reviews
Number of ratings14K — better3.7K
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB92 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKoji ItoStandard Notes Ltd.

Customer experience

Notebook

All ratings14,310 ratings
Positive94.1%
Neutral3.2%
Negative2.8%
Written reviews271 reviews
Positive72.7%
Neutral12.2%
Negative15.1%

Standard Notes

All ratings3,714 ratings
Positive92.5%
Neutral2.3%
Negative5.3%
Written reviews580 reviews
Positive63.4%
Neutral10.7%
Negative25.9%

User reviews

Notebook

From 14K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Simple and easy to use
  • 🔒 Password protection
  • 💡 Convenient for journaling and note-taking
  • 🚀 Smooth and responsive
  • 👍 Organized by date

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes or glitches
  • 🚫 Unable to insert photos or attachments
  • 🚫 Limited formatting options
  • 🚫 No cloud sync or backup
  • 🚫 Not compatible with iPad

Standard Notes

From 3.7K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fast and reliable sync
  • 🔒 Excellent privacy and security
  • 👍 Simple and intuitive interface
  • 📚 Great for organizing notes
  • 💻 Cross-platform availability

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and crashes
  • 🔑 Frustrating login/authentication issues
  • 💰 Expensive premium subscription
  • 📱 Limited features in free version
  • 🖍️ Lack of formatting options

Bugs and requests

Notebook

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Deleting entries causes the app to crash
  • Long entries can cause the app to become unresponsive
  • Password feature doesn't always work as expected

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to insert photos and attachments
  • Implement cloud sync and backup
  • Allow more formatting options (font, size, color, bold, italic, etc.)
  • Develop an iPad version with optimized layout
  • Add a search function to easily find past entries

Standard Notes

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Notes disappearing or getting deleted unexpectedly
  • Sync issues between devices
  • Keyboard and UI bugs on mobile
  • Compatibility problems with older iOS versions

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add support for images and attachments
  • Implement a more robust search function
  • Introduce a dark mode option
  • Allow for better note organization (folders, nested tags)
  • Add undo/redo functionality

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Notebook

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$6.99
1 purchases

Standard Notes

Subscriptions1
  • Professional Plan7 Days trial$119.991 Year

Questions

Is Notebook free?
Notebook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Standard Notes free?
Standard Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Notebook or Standard Notes?
Notebook and Standard Notes are both rated 4.7 out of 5 on the App Store, from 14K and 3.7K ratings respectively.
Do Notebook or Standard Notes have ads?
Notebook shows ads; Standard Notes does not.
Which is updated more often, Notebook or Standard Notes?
Notebook ships an update every 9 days, and Standard Notes every 2 weeks. Most recently, Notebook was updated on September 24, 2026 and Standard Notes on September 22, 2026.

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