Comparison

Goldfish Notes vs FocusCard

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

Head to head
About

Goldfish Notes

Capture and organize your thoughts effortlessly with AI-powered note-taking. This app transforms messy ideas into structured notes, automatically selecting the best format and highlighting key information. It also offers seamless integration with Obsidian for centralized note management.

Highlights
  • AI-powered thought capture
  • Automatic note formatting
  • Extracts key information
  • Obsidian integration
  • Intuitive interface
Read full description

Goldfish is the most intuitive way of capturing your fleeting thoughts the go. It transforms your messy thoughts into clear, structured notes using AI—automatically choosing the best format and keeping only what matters. It also integrates seamlessly with Obsidian, making it easy to manage all your notes in one spot.

About

FocusCard

Features
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FocusCard is the app blocker you plan like a calendar. Instead of starting a timer every time you want to focus, you lay your blocks on a 24-hour grid once — and the day defends itself. Drag a block onto the hour you want protected. Stretch it to the length you need. Choose which apps and which websites stay outside it. From then on those apps shield themselves the second the block begins, and come back the second it ends. THE TIME GRID • A real 24-hour day view, not a list of toggles • Drag to place a card, drag its edge to resize it • Overlapping cards sit side by side in lanes, so a long work block and a short meeting block both stay readable • A live line follows the current time, so you always see what is guarding you right now • Pinch to zoom out to the week, the month, the year, or a five-year map of your habits 15 READY-MADE PRESETS No blank page. Tap a preset and it lands on the grid already timed, already repeating, already pointed at the right apps: • Deep Work — Morning Deep Work, Afternoon Sprint, Meeting Block • Study — Study Session, Exam Lockdown, Reading Hour • Family — Dinner Table, Kids Time • Evening — Evening Wind Down, Gym • Sleep — Lights Out, No Phone In Bed • Detox — Social Media Diet, News Detox, Weekend Reset THREE WAYS TO BLOCK • Soft — a shield you can pass when you genuinely mean it • Hard — no bypass while the block is running • Daily Limit — a budget instead of a ban: sessions per day, minutes per session, and a cooldown between them APP GROUPS YOU SET UP ONCE Sort your distractions into Social, Video, Games, Messaging, News and Shopping. Every preset and every new card pulls from those groups, so you never hunt through the picker twice. REPEATS THAT MATCH REAL LIFE Daily, weekdays, weekends, weekly, biweekly, monthly, every 3 or 6 months, yearly — or just one time. Build the week you want to live in and let it run. PAUSE WITHOUT LOSING IT Drag a card to the side rail when today genuinely needs to be different. It waits there instead of disappearing, and you can drop it back on the grid whenever you want. SEE THE WORK ADD UP Every block you hold becomes a completed session: levels, streaks and a focus score that rewards consistency. A journal keeps the moments you chose to stop and think instead of scroll. PRIVATE BY DESIGN FocusCard runs on Apple Screen Time (Family Controls). No VPN, no profile to install, no account to create. Your Screen Time and app usage stay on this device: FocusCard never uploads them and never sells them. MADE FOR Deep work and meeting-heavy days. Students and exam weeks. ADHD routines that work better when the decision is made in advance. Social media breaks, dopamine detox goals, and anyone who loses an evening to the feed. BUILT FOR iPHONE AND iPAD Native, fast, and at home in both light and dark mode. Stop negotiating with yourself at 9am. Place the card once, and let the day hold the line. FOCUSCARD PRO Free keeps one card live. Pro unlocks unlimited cards, repeating schedules, daily app limits and the full card editor. Pick a weekly or yearly plan — both start with a free trial — or buy Lifetime once. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the period ends; manage them in your Apple Account settings. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://apps.cihat.dev/focuscard/privacy-policy/

Screenshots

Goldfish Notes4 screens
FocusCard4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: FocusCard at daily against Goldfish Notes's every 3 weeks. Goldfish Notes's advantage is iOS requirement (13.4 vs 17.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Goldfish Notes ships an update every 3 weeks, FocusCard daily. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
Goldfish Notes versus FocusCard: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGoldfish NotesFocusCard
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.4 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size26 MB11 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKa Man Carmen LiCihat Salik

In-app purchases

None

Goldfish Notes

No in-app purchases

None

FocusCard

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Goldfish Notes free?
Goldfish Notes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is FocusCard free?
FocusCard is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Goldfish Notes or FocusCard have ads?
Neither Goldfish Notes nor FocusCard shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Goldfish Notes or FocusCard?
Goldfish Notes ships an update every 3 weeks, and FocusCard daily. Most recently, Goldfish Notes was updated on October 16, 2026 and FocusCard on October 13, 2026.

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