LinkBuddy vs Clover
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
LinkBuddy
This is a free, open-source client for a self-hosted bookmark management service. It allows users to add, edit, archive, and search bookmarks, with support for a share sheet extension and an in-app browser. It's privacy-focused and ad-free.
- Add, edit, archive, delete bookmarks
- Search bookmarks (active, archive, unread, untagged, shared)
- Share sheet extension for external app sharing
- In-app browser with Safari Reader View
- Dark and light mode themes
- iPad compatible
- Privacy focused and ad-free
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LinkBuddy is a free and open source client for linkding, a selfhosted bookmark management service. NOTE: This does not work without a selfhosted instance of linkding and an associated API access token. Please see more information about setting up linkding here: https://linkding.link/ Features: - Add, edit, archive and delete bookmarks - View and search your active, archive, unread, untagged, and shared bookmarks - Supports share sheet extension to share URLs from other apps into LinkBuddy - Open and view links in in-app web browser - Supports Safari Reader View via in-app web browser - Supports dark mode and light mode themes - iPad compatible - Privacy focused - this app doesn't store or track any personal user information, logs, or display any ads - Free and open source: https://github.com/peterto/LinkBuddy
Clover
Access and manage your self-hosted knowledge base on mobile. Read notes offline, search extensively, and write with a rich-text editor. Offers advanced features like AI chat and widgets with a Pro upgrade.
- Offline reading and writing
- Full-text search
- Rich-text editor
- Voice-to-text input
- Share extension
- AI chat integration
- Widgets
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Clover is a third-party iOS client for TriliumNext Notes, designed reading-first: bring the knowledge base on your self-hosted server to your phone — readable offline, fully searchable. All core features are free. Clover Pro (one-time purchase or subscription): multiple servers, unlimited AI chats, alternate icons, home and lock screen widgets (today's journal, continue reading, quick capture), and Spotlight search. No ads. No server yet? Start with the built-in Local Vault and upload everything with one tap once you connect a Trilium server. Reading • Native typography with adjustable paper colour, font and size • Continuous multi-chapter reading for book notes, progress remembered • Images, PDF, Office documents, code highlighting, Mermaid, math • Full-text search that works for any language, including CJK Writing • Rich-text editor fully compatible with desktop Trilium • Journal: one note per day, capture fast; voice-to-text input • Share extension: save web pages, text and images from any app • Every write is queued first — nothing is lost offline, conflicts never overwrite Sync & security • Same login session as the Trilium web UI, with TOTP, SSO and Cloudflare Access • Incremental sync + live updates (foreground WebSocket), low-power and Wi-Fi-only policies • Face ID lock; protected notes unlock separately and never touch the disk • AI chat is powered by your own server — Clover stores no API keys Multiple accounts / servers, three-column iPad layout, localised in English, 简体中文, 繁體中文 and 日本語. Clover is an independent third-party client, not affiliated with the TriliumNext project. Syncing requires a TriliumNext server (0.99+); local-only use works without one. English Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ 简体中文 使用条款(EULA):https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ 繁體中文 使用條款(EULA):https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ 日本語 利用規約(EULA):https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Clover at weekly against LinkBuddy's every 2 months. LinkBuddy's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for LinkBuddy against 5.0 for Clover. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.
LinkBuddy ships an update every 2 months, Clover weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | LinkBuddy | Clover |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 22 MB | 32 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Peter To | 郑 陶 |
Customer experience
LinkBuddy
Clover
In-app purchases
LinkBuddy
No in-app purchases
Clover
No in-app purchases









