Comparison

iLinkVault vs SteelNote

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

Head to head
About

iLinkVault

This app helps you save, organize, and secure web links with advanced AI features. It allows for private vaulting, automatic translation, and natural language search to easily find saved content. Syncs across devices and offers desktop browser integration.

Highlights
  • AI-powered link saving and organization
  • App and private vault locking
  • Browser extension for desktop saving
  • Save links from screenshots using AI
  • Natural language search for saved links
  • Automatic title translation
  • Weekly AI-generated link summaries
Features
Read full description

iLinkVault is an AI bookmark manager for saving, organizing, searching, and protecting links across your devices and browsers. Save useful links before they get lost, organize them into categories, and find them later with fast search and AI-powered discovery. Whether it is an article, product page, document link, research source, video, or work resource, iLinkVault keeps everything easy to access. New: temporary file and text syncing with browsers. Send supported files and text snippets from your iPhone or iPad to your connected browser, so you can quickly move content to a work computer, shared machine, or desktop that is not synced with your phone. Files are temporary, browser-session based, and designed for quick handoff. Key Features • Save and organize bookmarks, links, articles, and web resources • Search your saved links quickly with smart AI assistance • Use private vault features for sensitive links • Connect your browser using a simple QR pairing flow • Save pages and links from supported browser extensions • Import selected browser bookmarks • Send temporary files and plain text to your connected browser • Useful when your work computer is not synced with your personal phone • Keep your link library cleaner and easier to manage iLinkVault is built for people who save a lot of useful content but need a better way to find it later. It combines bookmark management, private organization, AI search, browser access, and temporary phone-to-browser sharing in one simple vault. Use iLinkVault to save links, reduce clutter, protect important resources, and move temporary files or text to your browser when you need them. Available as a monthly plan, yearly plan, or one-time lifetime purchase inside the app. Privacy Policy: https://www.ilinkvault.com/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://www.ilinkvault.com/terms.html

About

SteelNote

This app stores your notes as plain Markdown files on your device, ensuring you always own your data. It offers seamless syncing across Apple devices, instant search, and robust import options from other note-taking applications.

Highlights
  • Plain Markdown file storage
  • iCloud sync across Apple devices
  • Local full-text search
  • Import from multiple note apps
  • Link notes and see backlinks
  • Organize with folders and tags
  • Mark notes as private
Read full description

SteelNote is a notes app built on one promise: your notes are plain Markdown files that you own. Every note is a real .md file on your device, openable in the Files app or in any editor you like, today and years from now. No proprietary database. Nothing locked away. Your notes, truly yours. Because every note is plain text, you are never trapped. Read and edit them in SteelNote, in Files, or in any other Markdown app. If you ever move on, you take your files with you as they are, in an open format that lasts. Native on all your Apple devices. SteelNote is built natively for iPhone, iPad and Mac. Your notes sync across all of them through iCloud, with no third party account and no extra sign in. Start a note on your phone and finish it on your Mac. Find anything, instantly. A local full text index makes search immediate, even in large libraries. Link notes together, see backlinks, organize with folders and tags, and turn any line into a task. Private when you want it. Mark a note as private and it stays out of widgets and AI features. Your most sensitive notes remain yours alone. Bring everything with you. Import from Bear, Notion, Obsidian and Evernote, or from Markdown, TextBundle, Word, RTF, PDF and CSV files. Your folders and structure come along. Apple Notes works too, one note at a time, because Apple offers no bulk export. Everything you expect. Add images, PDFs and tables inline. Use checklists, footnotes and links. Reach your notes from Spotlight, Siri and widgets, and hand off between devices. An open format, now standard. Markdown is a first class type across Apple platforms, and SteelNote is built natively around it. Your files are open, portable and yours. Membership. SteelNote comes with a 14 day free trial, then a yearly plan or a one time lifetime purchase. You can cancel during the trial and pay nothing, or skip the subscription and choose the lifetime purchase instead. Sync is always included and never restricted. Payment is charged to your Apple Account. A yearly plan renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the period. You can manage or cancel anytime in your Account settings. Privacy Policy: https://steelnoteapp.com/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

iLinkVault4 screens
SteelNote4 screens

Verdict

The call

iLinkVault and SteelNote are too close to call on the numbers: across 8 compared parameters — price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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. iLinkVault sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and SteelNote sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $24.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
iLinkVault versus SteelNote: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriLinkVaultSteelNote
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (4 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings4 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 daysEvery 4 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size48 MB17 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDeepak SharmaClaude Bezeaud

Customer experience

iLinkVault

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

SteelNote

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

iLinkVault

Subscriptions2
  • iLinkVault PRO Monthly$1.991 Month
  • iLinkVault PRO Yearly$9.991 Year
One-time1
  • iLinkVault Lifetime Access$24.99
3 purchases

SteelNote

Subscriptions1
  • Annual14 Days trial$24.991 Year
One-time2
  • Founder$44.99
  • Lifetime$79.99

Questions

Is iLinkVault free?
iLinkVault is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is SteelNote free?
SteelNote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do iLinkVault or SteelNote have ads?
Neither iLinkVault nor SteelNote shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iLinkVault or SteelNote?
iLinkVault ships an update every 4 days, and SteelNote every 4 days. Most recently, iLinkVault was updated on October 6, 2026 and SteelNote on October 14, 2026.

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