Jiu Jitsu Reference vs MatNotes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Jiu Jitsu Reference
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Jiu Jitsu Reference helps you log live training moments, track what you land, miss, and concede, and review your personal jiu-jitsu knowledge over time. Create logs quickly, connect them to training partners and knowledge nodes, and use the app to spot what is working, what is slipping, and what needs study next.
MatNotes
This app helps martial arts students retain techniques by providing a structured review schedule for short instructional videos. It allows students to ask coaches questions directly from videos and track their progress. Coaches can film techniques once and have them resurface for students on spaced repetition schedules.
- Spaced repetition for technique review
- Video playback with slow-motion and looping
- Timestamped questions for coaches
- Private training notes and progress tracking
- Searchable technique library for coaches
- Academy branding
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MatNotes is how a jiu-jitsu academy makes the details from class actually stick. Coaches film a technique right after teaching it. Sixty to ninety seconds, phone propped on the mat. Students get it that night, then again on a spaced schedule (day 1, 3, 7, and 21), the same rhythm your memory needs to hold onto something new. Instead of "I saw that grip once and forgot it," the move keeps coming back until it is theirs. FOR STUDENTS - A simple checklist of what to review, not an endless feed - Watch tonight, then again each time the app brings it back - Slow any video to half speed and loop the exact section you are stuck on - Tap a moment in a video to ask your coach a question, with the timestamp attached - Keep private training notes and track the techniques you have drilled FOR COACHES - Film once, and the app resurfaces it for every student on the right days - See your students' questions, with the exact video moment, before class starts, so you know what to clean up - Spot where the room got lost on a technique and reteach it - Everything you have filmed, captioned and searchable by position, in one place - Your academy's name and colors throughout MatNotes is used by a whole academy under one plan. Coaches set up and manage their gym on the MatNotes website. Students join with a link from their coach and use the app for free. Questions? Visit thematnotes.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: MatNotes at weekly against Jiu Jitsu Reference's monthly. MatNotes also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Jiu Jitsu Reference ships an update monthly, MatNotes weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Jiu Jitsu Reference | MatNotes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 1 — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | — | Free |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 73 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Eric Javier Hernandez Saura | Jacob Weaver |
In-app purchases
Jiu Jitsu Reference
No in-app purchases
MatNotes
No in-app purchases
