Comparison

PaperTrail vs Gravity

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

Head to head
About

PaperTrail

This app provides a full TaskPaper editing experience on iOS and iPadOS, allowing you to manage projects, tasks, and notes using simple, flexible plain text files. Sync your work with iCloud and edit across devices, with powerful search and filtering capabilities.

Highlights
  • Full TaskPaper format support
  • OPML import
  • Distraction-free editing
  • Full query language search
  • Tag system with progress tracking
  • iOS Reminders integration
  • Shortcuts and Siri integration
Read full description

PaperTrail brings full TaskPaper editing to iOS and iPadOS. TaskPaper is plain text productivity—simple, fast, flexible. Projects, tasks, notes, and tags. Filter, search, and archive. All in plain text files you can sync via iCloud and edit in TaskPaper on your Mac. FEATURES • Full TaskPaper format support (.taskpaper, .todo, .txt, .md) • Open Bike (.bike) and OPML (.opml) outlines, with clear warnings when an import can't carry everything across • OPML and Bike-style export, so tags and done state round-trip back into Bike • Fold and focus into any subtree for distraction-free editing • Full query language with text, tag, boolean, and semantic search • Tag system with dates, progress tracking, and cost aggregation • Tag autocomplete ranked by how often you use each tag • Smart filters with edge-swipe gestures and an iPad side-by-side sidebar • Colour lines by priority, depth, or due date proximity • Natural date parsing and two-way iOS Reminders integration—import a Reminders list as a project • Quick capture: append tasks, notes, clipboard text, or web links to your most recent document • Planning shortcuts: Open in Today, Random Next Task, and Morning Brief • Shortcuts, Siri, Action Button, and Spotlight integration via App Intents • Find & update documents from Shortcuts: run queries, mark done, set tags, append tasks • Command palette for projects, searches, tags, and every editor command • iPadOS menu bar with Item, Tag, Outline, View, and Palette menus • Export documents as interactive HTML slide presentations or as OPML outlines • Built-in and custom document templates • 50+ keyboard shortcuts for power workflow • Native Swift app—tiny install size, built for speed • Dynamic Type, VoiceOver, and dark mode support

About

Gravity

This app offers a streamlined note-taking experience by eliminating folders and tags, focusing on a single, continuous stream of thoughts. Capture ideas instantly and use simple gestures to manage your notes, prioritizing what matters most.

Highlights
  • Instant note capture
  • Single stream organization
  • Swipe gestures for actions
  • Attention-based prioritization
  • Private iCloud sync
  • Lightweight prefixes for filtering
  • Fast search functionality
Features
Read full description

Gravity keeps all your notes in one stream, with the newest at the top. As you add more, older notes sink down the list. When one of them still matters, swipe it right and it comes back to the top. The idea comes from Andrej Karpathy's append-and-review note: write everything in one place, read back through it now and then, and move up whatever you still care about. Gravity has no folders, so there's nothing to file. Writing The cursor is waiting at the top when you open the app. Type your note and press Return twice, or tap the add button. A half-written draft stays where you left it. Rescuing and tidying Swipe right on a note to rescue it. Swipe left to archive, delete, share or copy. Archived notes have a page of their own, and deleted notes stay in Deleted Notes until you restore them or clear them out. Markdown and checklists Headings, bold, italics, lists, links and quotes show formatted in the stream. Start a line with "- [ ]" to make a checklist, then tick items off without opening the note. In the editor the formatting appears as you type, and a small bar above the keyboard adds headings, bold, lists and checklists. Everything is saved as plain Markdown text. Tags Start a note with todo:, idea:, read: or any word followed by a colon, and it gets a colour of its own. Type todo: into search to see only those notes. There's no tag manager to look after. Search Search covers every note on your phone, archived ones too, and works offline. It matches parts of words and ignores accents. Getting notes in The Home Screen widget starts a new note or pastes in whatever you last copied. You can also share text or a link from another app, and it becomes a new note at the top of the stream. Privacy Your notes are stored on your iPhone. Gravity has no accounts and no analytics, and it doesn't collect any data. If you want your notes on your other Apple devices, turn on iCloud sync; it also works with Gravity for Mac, which is sold separately. You can export everything as JSON or Markdown at any time. Looks Choose light, dark or OLED black, or follow the system, and pick from three text sizes. There's a stats page too, worked out on your phone, of course. Price You pay once. There's no subscription, no in-app purchases and no ads. Privacy policy: https://www.gravitynotes.app/privacy-policy

Screenshots

PaperTrail4 screens
Gravity4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Gravity at $9.99 against PaperTrail's $19.99. Gravity also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.2) and review sentiment (92% vs 77%). On ratings volume, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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

PaperTrail costs $19.99 and Gravity $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Gravity holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 15 and 9 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 77% of PaperTrail's written reviews are positive against 92% of Gravity's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PaperTrail ships an update every 10 days, Gravity every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
PaperTrail versus Gravity: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPaperTrailGravity
Price$19.99$9.99 — better
Rating4.2 (15 ratings)5.0 (9 ratings) — better
Positive reviews76.9% of reviews91.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings15 — better9
Update frequencyEvery 10 days — betterEvery 11 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB36 MB
Age rating4+4+
DevelopergingerbeardmanTristan Manchester

Customer experience

PaperTrail

All ratings15 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral6.7%
Negative13.3%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive76.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative23.1%

Gravity

All ratings9 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews12 reviews
Positive91.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative8.3%

In-app purchases

None

PaperTrail

No in-app purchases

None

Gravity

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is PaperTrail free?
PaperTrail costs $19.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Gravity free?
Gravity costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, PaperTrail or Gravity?
Gravity is rated higher. PaperTrail averages 4.2 out of 5 from 15 ratings, while Gravity averages 5.0 from 9 ratings.
Do PaperTrail or Gravity have ads?
Neither PaperTrail nor Gravity shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PaperTrail or Gravity?
PaperTrail ships an update every 10 days, and Gravity every 11 days. Most recently, PaperTrail was updated on October 21, 2026 and Gravity on October 20, 2026.

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