The Stack vs BookStax
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
The Stack
This app offers a straightforward approach to managing tasks and capturing thoughts. It utilizes a single list of text-based notes organized with hashtags for easy retrieval and organization.
- Simple text-based notes
- Hashtag organization
- Easy idea capture
- To-do list management
- Streamlined interface
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The Stack is a different take on To-Do List management. It favours simplicity, and encourages easy capture of your thoughts ("notes to self") as you have them. It uses a single list of simple text-based notes, organised using #hashtags.
BookStax
Access and manage your self-hosted BookStack knowledge base natively on iPhone. Edit pages with a Markdown editor, search your content, and access it offline. Prioritizes privacy with secure API token storage.
- BookStack hierarchy navigation
- Full-text search with filters
- Markdown editor with live preview
- Offline read access
- Secure API token connection
- Light/Dark/System mode
- Multi-language support
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BookStax brings your self-hosted BookStack wiki to iPhone and iPad as a native app. Read, write and search – directly on your own server. Read • Shelves, books, chapters and pages – the same structure as in BookStack • Images, callouts, tables and collapsible blocks look like they do on the web • Favorites and recently opened pages on the home screen Write • Markdown editor with preview, or the visual editor • Upload images, add tags, insert callouts • Quick Note: capture an idea – without a connection it is uploaded later Search • Full-text search with filters for content type and tag • Find downloaded pages in Spotlight, too Notifications (Pro) • Push notifications from your wiki: new and updated pages, comments, new chapters and books • For admins: keep an eye on new users, registrations, API tokens and changed settings • Choose the events per server – BookStax sets up the webhook in BookStack Offline and widgets • Download books and shelves and browse them without a connection, images included • Widgets for your favorites and an overview of your wiki AI helpers for your pages • Summarize, translate or proofread your own pages • With Apple Intelligence right on your device, or with an AI service you connect yourself Privacy • Your API token is stored in the iOS Keychain. If you like, Face ID or Touch ID locks the app. • BookStax connects to your BookStack server. AI requests go only to the service you set up yourself. • For notifications, BookStack sends events to the BookStax push service. It only forwards the ones you choose to Apple and stores no content. • Anonymous usage statistics (e.g. first launch, server connected) help improve the app – no server addresses, content or personal data. You can turn them off in Settings under "Security". Free and Pro Reading, writing, search, offline reading, widgets and AI are free. BookStax Pro, a one-time purchase, adds: • Notifications from BookStack: pages, comments, books and administration • Shortcuts & Siri: search, open and create pages, fetch content for your own automations • Sharing & export: share page links, export as PDF, Markdown, HTML or text, save text, links and photos from other apps to BookStack • Offline editing with automatic sync • Multiple server profiles • Three premium reader themes, a custom accent colour, one colour per server Requirements • Your own BookStack instance and an API token from your BookStack profile • No server yet? You can try BookStax with the BookStack demo server right in the app. Good to know — BookStax is an independent client and not an official product of the BookStack project. It requires your own self-hosted BookStack server and does not include a server of its own. About the project: https://www.bookstackapp.com / BookStax Pro is a one-time purchase – no subscription, no automatic renewal. Purchases can be restored in the app. / Terms of use (Apple's standard EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The Stack and BookStax both sit at 5.0 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of The Stack's written reviews are positive against 50% of BookStax's. The Stack also leads on device support (4 vs 2). BookStax's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and update cadence (every 9 days vs every 5 weeks). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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
Both are free to download. The Stack sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and BookStax sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for The Stack against 5.0 for BookStax. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 100% of The Stack's written reviews are positive against 50% of BookStax's.
The Stack ships an update every 5 weeks, BookStax every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | The Stack | BookStax |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks | Every 9 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 18.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 12 MB | 16 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Elegant Chaos Limited | Sven Uwe Hanold |
Customer experience
The Stack
BookStax
In-app purchases
The Stack
- Fresh Straw$0.99
- A Nice Juicy Carrot$2.99
- Deluxe Hamster Wheel$9.99
BookStax
- Page$2.99
- Themes & more Servers$5.99
- Book$5.99
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- Encyclopaedia$12.99









