Comparison

Bamboo vs Everglow

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

Head to head
About

Bamboo

This app is a Markdown note-taking tool for organizing knowledge and utilizing AI features. It allows users to capture ideas, write long-form content, and connect notes with wiki links. AI assistance is available for drafting, summarizing, and brainstorming, with users controlling their AI provider.

Highlights
  • Markdown editor with syntax highlighting
  • Wiki link creation for connecting notes
  • AI assistance for drafting and summarizing
  • Organize notes into collections
  • Cross-device synchronization
  • Import and export content
Features
Read full description

Bamboo is a Markdown notes app for writing, organizing knowledge, and using AI on your own terms. Available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, with Web Clipper support, Bamboo helps you capture ideas anywhere and continue working across devices. Capture quick notes, long-form documents, tasks, reminders, research, meeting notes, reading highlights, and personal knowledge. Bamboo keeps your notes in Markdown so they stay portable, readable, and easy to manage. WRITE AND CAPTURE Use a focused Markdown editor with syntax highlighting, task lists, tables, wiki links, footnotes, highlights, math, images, and attachments. Keep ideas, notes, reminders, and tasks together so writing, thinking, and planning stay in one place. ORGANIZE AND CONNECT Organize notes into collections for projects, areas, archives, or research spaces. Connect ideas with wiki links, pin important notes, star favorites, and build a knowledge base that stays easy to navigate as it grows. AI ASSISTANCE, UNDER YOUR CONTROL Bamboo Pro lets you connect supported AI providers and use assistant features directly in your notes. Draft, rewrite, summarize, brainstorm ideas, and work with selected content without leaving your workspace. You stay in control of the provider and model you use. KEEP YOUR NOTES YOURS Your notes stay in Markdown, making them easy to move, back up, and keep for the long term. Search across notes, revisit recent work, import and export your content, create backups, and keep your work available across devices with optional Bamboo Pro features such as iCloud Sync, HTML export, and PDF export. Bamboo includes optional auto-renewable monthly and yearly Pro subscriptions. Payment will be charged to your Apple ID account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions automatically renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current billing period. You can manage subscriptions in your App Store account settings. Privacy Policy: https://zhigui.github.io/app-docs/bamboo/privacy_policy.html Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Everglow

Features
Read full description

Everglow is a private AI journal for life in motion. Write about changing friendships, a new job, or the everyday moments you want to remember. Ask questions about your past entries and reflect with context from your own words. WRITE YOUR LIFE, IN YOUR WORDS Keep a personal diary with moods, tags, bookmarks, and search. There is room for the big conversations and the small, ordinary days. ASK YOUR ARCHIVE What had someone told you about moving? What work priorities did you write about earlier this year? Ask a question and explore relevant memories and source excerpts. AI can make mistakes; check important details against your original entries. TALK IT THROUGH Reflect with an AI companion that can draw on your journal context. Revisit conversations and work through what is on your mind without starting from scratch every time. REMEMBER THE PEOPLE IN YOUR STORY Explore people and places mentioned in your writing, with facts and shared history collected across entries. Review what AI has inferred rather than treating every inference as certain. YOUR JOURNAL, YOUR CHOICE Your archive is stored locally on your device. No Everglow account is required. Cloud AI is optional: choosing Everglow Cloud or an API-key provider sends content needed for AI requests to that service with your consent. Optional iCloud backup uses your private iCloud database. Local archive storage does not mean cloud AI runs offline. BRING YOUR HISTORY. KEEP YOUR WORDS. Import dated entries and review them before saving. Export your archive as plain Markdown that you can read outside Everglow. START FREE Try up to 7 journal entries and 10 companion chat turns. Everglow Unlimited is a one-time purchase that permanently removes the entry and companion-chat limits. Use it with on-device AI or your own API key. Hosted AI is not included. Everglow Cloud is an optional subscription for hosted AI, with no model download or API key needed. It includes a monthly AI usage allowance and removes the entry and companion-chat limits while your subscription is active. Unlimited and Cloud can be purchased separately or together. Designed for iPhone and iPad. Available in English, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, French, and Spanish. Terms of Use: https://xander12138.github.io/Everglow/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://xander12138.github.io/Everglow/privacy.html

Screenshots

Bamboo4 screens
Everglow4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Everglow at every 2 weeks against Bamboo's every 2 months. Everglow also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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

Both are free to download. Bamboo sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Everglow sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bamboo ships an update every 2 months, Everglow every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on November 5, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
Bamboo versus Everglow: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBambooEverglow
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size56 MB95 MB
Age rating4+12+
Developer志贵 陈Haoyu Xu

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Bamboo

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Pro7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Annual Pro7 Days trial$29.991 Year
3 purchases

Everglow

Subscriptions2
  • Everglow Cloud Standard$2.991 Month
  • Everglow Cloud Pro$5.991 Month
One-time1
  • Everglow Unlimited$9.99

Questions

Is Bamboo free?
Bamboo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Everglow free?
Everglow is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Bamboo or Everglow have ads?
Neither Bamboo nor Everglow shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Bamboo or Everglow?
Bamboo ships an update every 2 months, and Everglow every 2 weeks. Most recently, Bamboo was updated on November 5, 2026 and Everglow on November 5, 2026.

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