Dotly vs Metis
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
Dotly
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Dotly โ capture to Workflowy in seconds. A fleeting thought. A sudden idea. A task you can't afford to forget. Dotly helps you capture it instantly and send it straight to Workflowy. Whether you're offline or on the move, Dotly keeps your thoughts safe until you're ready to sync. Designed for speed and calm, it brings the art of writing and the beauty of structure together โ in one elegant flow. Features: - Instant Capture: Add notes, ideas, or reminders to Workflowy in seconds. No friction, no fuss. - Offline Outbox: Write anytime, anywhere. Dotly queues your notes and syncs automatically when you're back online. - Minimal Design: A clean, fluid interface that keeps you focused on what matters: your thoughts. - Smart Shortcuts: Capture with a single tap from widgets or keyboard shortcuts. Send instantly, stay in the flow. - History: Review everything you've sent. Your capture timeline, always accessible. - Custom Settings: Choose how and where your dots land inside Workflowy. - Cross-Platform: Available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. One purchase unlocks all platforms. Dotly is for thinkers, creators, and builders โ for anyone who believes that every great project begins with a single thought. Download Dotly and start capturing.
Metis
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Metis is a native Markdown editor and local-first knowledge base. Your notes are just .md files in a folder you own - Metis is a fast, beautiful, native view over them. No lock-in, no proprietary format, no account required to write. WRITE IN LIVE PREVIEW A clean Obsidian-style editor styles your Markdown as you type - headings, bold, lists, quotes and code - while keeping the raw syntax one tap away. It feels like writing in a document, not in code. On iPad it's a full three-pane workspace with hardware-keyboard shortcuts. CONNECT YOUR IDEAS Link any two notes with [[wiki links]]. Backlinks appear automatically, so you always see what references the note you're reading. An interactive link graph shows your whole knowledge base at a glance - zoom, pan, and drag nodes to explore the connections. READ BEAUTIFULLY Reading mode renders the full document: headings, tables, task lists, images, syntax-highlighted code, Mermaid diagrams, and real math (LaTeX) rendered natively - no web view. ORGANIZE YOUR WAY Tag anything with #tags, group notes into folders, and see typed properties (status, owner, due...) that live as YAML front matter and are preserved as you edit. A fast switcher and full-text search get you anywhere instantly. ON-DEVICE AI (Apple Intelligence) Summarize a note, suggest tags or related links, and ask your whole vault a question - all running privately on your device. AI is optional; the app is fully functional without it. SYNC ACROSS YOUR DEVICES Keep your vault in iCloud and the same notes are on your Mac, iPad and iPhone - still as plain .md files you can open anywhere. Edits sync in the background, and Metis helps you resolve conflicts if two devices change the same note. LOCK WHAT MATTERS Any note can be locked with your notes password and opened with Face ID or Touch ID. Locked notes are encrypted on disk and stay encrypted in iCloud - and they're kept out of search and previews. PRIVATE AND YOURS Everything stays in plain files on your device. No tracking, no cloud lock-in. Open the same folder in any other Markdown editor whenever you like. Import an existing folder of notes (from Obsidian or anywhere) and Metis just works. ONE PURCHASE, ALL YOUR DEVICES A single one-time purchase unlocks Metis Pro on your Mac, iPad and iPhone - no subscription. Try everything free for 7 days. Metis is made by Empiric Apps. Questions or feedback? contact@empiricapps.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Metis at every 2 days against Dotly's every 5 weeks. Metis also leads on iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.0). Dotly's advantage is device support (4 vs 2). On price, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Dotly sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Metis sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Dotly ships an update every 5 weeks, Metis every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Dotly | Metis |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks | Every 2 days โ better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch โ better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 18.0 โ better |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 15 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Andriy Bezemchuk | Burlac Mihail |
In-app purchases
Dotly
- Dotly Pro (Lifetime)$2.99
Metis
- Metis Pro$14.99









