Comparison

Capture Your Thoughts vs Zettel

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

Head to head
About

Capture Your Thoughts

Record your thoughts and get instant, private transcriptions offline. This app organizes your ideas and allows easy sharing to other applications.

Highlights
  • One-tap recording
  • Offline AI transcription
  • Private and secure
  • Searchable text notes
  • Organized idea storage
  • Easy sharing
Features
Read full description

Capture Your Thoughts turns speech into text wherever you can use a custom keyboard. Use the Capture keyboard in Messages, Mail, Notes, Safari, and other apps to dictate without losing your place. Choose Transcribe to keep the spoken language, or Translate to English for supported speech. VOICE TO TEXT, ANYWHERE • Start and stop a capture from the custom keyboard • Insert the finished transcript at the cursor exactly once • Choose Original, Rewrite, Email, List, Note, or one of your own rewrite styles PRIVATE, ON-DEVICE PROCESSING • Whisper transcribes or translates speech on your iPhone • Temporary audio is deleted after processing • No account is required • Internet is needed to download your selected speech model before first use MAKE EACH CAPTURE USEFUL • Optional Apple Intelligence rewrite styles clean up wording or format the result on supported devices • Quick Notes keep captured ideas organized and searchable • A personal dictionary preserves the spelling of names and specialized terms • The untouched original transcript remains available when a rewrite is applied iOS requires the containing app to handle microphone recording, so tapping the keyboard microphone briefly opens Capture. Return to the previous app while recording, stop from the keyboard, and the completed text is inserted into the active field.

About

Zettel

This app offers a minimalist note-taking experience, focusing on a single, full-screen note at a time. It features a unique swipe-to-clear gesture with haptic feedback and simple tag functionality for easy organization. Notes are saved as plain Markdown files for versatile use.

Highlights
  • Single full-screen note interface
  • Swipe-to-clear gesture with haptic feedback
  • Simple hashtag tagging system
  • Plain Markdown file export
  • Works with Files app
  • Dark mode support
Read full description

Zettel - Quick Notes for iOS. Write. Swipe to tear. Done. Zettel brings the satisfying feeling of ripping paper to your iPhone. What makes it different: - One note at a time: Full screen. No tabs, no folders, no mess. Just you and your thoughts. - Tear to clear: Swipe from the edge and drag across the screen. Your note tears away with haptic feedback that actually feels real. - Tags that work: Type #anything and it becomes a tag. Find notes instantly without setting up complicated systems. - Your files, anywhere: Notes are plain Markdown files. Edit them in other apps, sync however you want, or just keep them local. Perfect for: - Quick thoughts - Meeting notes - Daily journaling - Project ideas Simple by design: - iPhone only (as it should be) - Works with Files app - Dark mode included - No account required - Zero tracking Built by someone who got tired of overcomplicated note apps. Sometimes the best tools are the simplest ones.

Screenshots

Capture Your Thoughts3 screens
Zettel4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Capture Your Thoughts at Free against Zettel's $2.99. Capture Your Thoughts also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 89%) and iOS requirement (18.4 vs 26.0). Zettel's advantage is rating (4.8 vs 3.0) and update cadence (monthly vs every 7 months). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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

Capture Your Thoughts is free to download; Zettel costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Zettel holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 6 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 100% of Capture Your Thoughts's written reviews are positive against 89% of Zettel's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Capture Your Thoughts ships an update every 7 months, Zettel monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Capture Your Thoughts versus Zettel: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCapture Your ThoughtsZettel
PriceFree — better$2.99
Rating3.0 (2 ratings)4.8 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better88.9% of reviews
Number of ratings26 — better
Update frequencyEvery 7 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, Mac
Requires iOS18.4 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperShivasubramaniam KavindpadiAlexander Moritz Weichart

Customer experience

Capture Your Thoughts

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Zettel

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews27 reviews
Positive88.9%
Neutral11.1%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Capture Your Thoughts

No in-app purchases

None

Zettel

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Capture Your Thoughts free?
Capture Your Thoughts is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Zettel free?
Zettel costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Capture Your Thoughts or Zettel?
Zettel is rated higher. Capture Your Thoughts averages 3.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Zettel averages 4.8 from 6 ratings.
Do Capture Your Thoughts or Zettel have ads?
Neither Capture Your Thoughts nor Zettel shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Capture Your Thoughts or Zettel?
Capture Your Thoughts ships an update every 7 months, and Zettel monthly. Most recently, Capture Your Thoughts was updated on September 24, 2026 and Zettel on October 1, 2026.

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