Comparison

RIFT NOTES + Voice Memos vs Fire Notes

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

Head to head
About

RIFT NOTES + Voice Memos

Capture thoughts instantly with a message-like interface and organize them on a map. Enjoy a distraction-free writing space that syncs automatically with iCloud, with no ads or trackers. Customize your experience with themes and instant search.

Highlights
  • Message-like note capture
  • Location-based note organization
  • iCloud sync
  • Instant search with previews
  • Hashtag organization
  • Markdown and iCloud export
  • Customizable themes
Read full description

Rift Notes is the fastest way to get a thought down. Type it like a text. Speak it, transcribed offline. Snap a photo. Every note remembers where you were. Pick up where you left off on iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Privacy-first: no ads, no sign-ups, no subscription, no trackers. Your thoughts, under your control. Three Ways to Capture • Type it like a text. A message-style compose card means thoughts hit paper as fast as you think them. • Speak it. On-device transcription (no internet needed) turns spoken notes into clean, searchable text. • Snap it. 4-up camera attaches photos to text and voice in one note. Built for Thinking • Sync across iPhone, iPad, and Mac via iCloud. Pick up where you left off on any device. • Map your notes. Every note saves its location. Retrace your day, find that door code, or replay the voice memo right on the map where you recorded it. • Focus mode. Distraction-free writing, also great for screenshots. • Themes. Match the vibe with a growing library, including the premium 'Scary Numbers' set. • Rich-text editing renders bold, italics, headers, checklists or numbered lists as you type. • #Hashtag organization and color tags. Filter your notes instantly. • Quick Bar. Jump between notes, search, and views without leaving the keyboard. • Smarter search. Full-text with line-preview results and instant filtering by tag or color. • Markdown + iCloud. Every note auto-syncs as a .md file with frontmatter to your iCloud Drive. Read them in any markdown app. No lock-in, ever. • Shortcuts support. Save notes or append text from anywhere on iOS. Powerpack: One-Time Purchase for Life The Mobile Powerpack unlocks voice transcription, photo notes, map view, iCloud sync, and themes on iPhone and iPad. Powerpack is also available for Mac. Privacy First • Voice transcription runs on-device. Your audio stays in your iCloud. • All of your content, notes and attachments sync only through your iCloud. • No ads. No sign-ups. No AI training. • Anonymous crash reporting and anonymous usage is optional. Opt out anytime in Settings. • We collect crash reports and anonymous usage to improve the product, that's it. • Note on app size: to transcribe voice privately offline, we ship a Whisper model with the app. Your notes are yours. Free to download. Powerpack is a one-time purchase, no subscription, no signup.

About

Fire Notes

Features
Read full description

Fire Notes is a private notebook for writing, scanning paper, and dictating by voice - with one unusual feature: you can burn a note. Real fire, rendered live on your screen - the paper catches, curls, chars and falls away as ash. When the flame goes out, the note is gone. It's oddly satisfying. It's also the point. WRITE ANYTHING • A fast, beautiful editor with rich text, checklists, headings and highlights • Choose your paper and your handwriting — from clean type to a looping script • Photos, shelves and pinned notes on a board you can rearrange by hand • Everything stays searchable, right up until you let it go LET IT GO • Burn a note in a moment, or hold for the full cinematic ceremony • Blow on the microphone to light the flame — yes, really • Burn-after timers: write something tonight, let it release itself tomorrow • Every burn leaves an ember in Ashes — proof something was released, without the words SCAN YOUR PAPER • Point the camera at a receipt, bill or letter — Fire Notes finds the edges, straightens the page and files it • Every scan is read on your device, so the words inside are searchable. Find a receipt by what it says, not by what you named it • Scans live in their own shelves — Receipts, Bills, Documents — separate from your notes • And when a document has done its job, shred it. The same fire, for paper you're finished with PRIVATE BY DESIGN • Your notes and your scans live on your device and in your own iCloud, never on our servers • Face ID app lock, plus a separate lock for the notes that matter most • No account. No tracking. No ads. ALSO IN THE BOX • Dictate a note out loud with on-device speech recognition • On-device AI to fix, rewrite or reshape what you wrote — nothing is sent away • Export a note as text or PDF when you decide to keep it after all FIRE NOTES+ A one-time purchase. No subscription, ever. It unlocks the document scanner, voice dictation, the AI writing tools and clean, watermark-free exports. Buy it once and it's yours, on every device you sign in with. The notebook itself stays free. Write as much as you like. Burn as much as you like. Write it down. Let it go.

Screenshots

RIFT NOTES + Voice Memos4 screens
Fire Notes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: RIFT NOTES + Voice Memos at 3 against Fire Notes's 1. On price, ads, in-app purchases and iOS requirement 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. RIFT NOTES + Voice Memos sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Fire Notes sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
RIFT NOTES + Voice Memos versus Fire Notes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRIFT NOTES + Voice MemosFire Notes
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (9 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings9 — better—
Update frequencyWeekly—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size147 MB16 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPrimary Vector Inc.Ivan Trendafilovski

In-app purchases

3 purchases

RIFT NOTES + Voice Memos

One-time3
  • Theme - Scary Numbers$1.99
  • RIFT Pro: Voice, Camera, Map$14.99
  • RIFT Notes Powerpack for Mac$14.99
1 purchases

Fire Notes

One-time1
  • Fire Notes+ Lifetime$9.99

Questions

Is RIFT NOTES + Voice Memos free?
RIFT NOTES + Voice Memos is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Fire Notes free?
Fire Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do RIFT NOTES + Voice Memos or Fire Notes have ads?
Neither RIFT NOTES + Voice Memos nor Fire Notes shows ads.

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