Comparison

Side vs Kosshi Outliner

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

Head to head
About

Side

Features
Read full description

Side-Note instantly transforms your spoken ideas into organised, actionable text. Speak your thoughts and watch them become clear notes, ready to transform into content, summaries, or task lists. With Side-Note, you can: * Capture ideas instantly with one-tap recording * Get accurate transcriptions in 34 languages * Organize notes with titles, tags, and dates * Transform ideas into blogs, scripts, and custom AI outputs * Create personalized AI transformation styles Who’s This For: Anyone who wants to capture ideas on the go — creators, students, professionals, or anyone who needs to remember and organise thoughts quickly. Privacy First: Your audio is never stored, and all transcriptions are end-to-end encrypted. Why Side-Note: Stop losing ideas. Stop fighting the blank page. Speak your mind, and let Side-Note handle the rest. Subscription Required: Side-Note is a subscription-based service. All features require an active subscription with flexible weekly, monthly, or yearly plans.

About

Kosshi Outliner

This native outliner app allows you to organize thoughts with a hierarchical structure, zoom into specific sections, and format text using Markdown. It supports images, sketches, internal links, and reminders, with seamless iCloud sync across Apple devices.

Highlights
  • Hierarchical outlining with indentation
  • Zoom into specific rows
  • Markdown formatting
  • Image and file embedding
  • Apple Pencil sketches
  • Internal linking
  • Reminders and calendar sync
Features
Read full description

Kosshi is a fast, native outliner. Simple and smooth on large outlines. Available on Mac, iPhone, and iPad — one purchase covers all three. Outliner Hit Tab to indent and build a hierarchy. Collapse what you don't need, drag to move things around. Zoom In / Zoom Out Zoom into any row and only its contents are shown. Breadcrumbs tell you where you are, and you can jump home anytime. Markdown Bold, italic, highlight, links, checkboxes, code blocks, and LaTeX math all render right where you type. Formatting markers only appear while editing — move away and they're gone. Images & Files Add images by pasting or dragging, and resize however you want. PDFs and videos show as inline previews too. Apple Pencil Sketches Draw sketches with Apple Pencil on iPad. They sync to Mac and iPhone through iCloud. Search Cmd+F to search your whole outline. Matches get highlighted. Replace works too. Dark Mode Switch between light and dark themes. Automatically follows your system setting. Tags Use #tags to categorize and @tags for dates or status. Filter from the sidebar. Internal Links Type [[ to search and link to another row. Build a web of connected outlines. Bookmarks Press Cmd+D to bookmark a row. Bookmarks appear at the top of the sidebar. Prose Mode Switch a row to Prose Mode for long-form writing. Bullets disappear and children stay expanded. Reminders & Calendar Any @tag with a date syncs to Apple Reminders or Calendar. Use @todo(3/15), @meeting(every monday 10:00), and so on. Keyboard Shortcuts Collapse, move, indent — all without reaching for the mouse. Export Export as Markdown, OPML, or plain text. Your data is never locked in. Auto Backup Restore past outlines from daily backups. Feel free to delete outlines you no longer need. iCloud Sync When iCloud is available, your outlines sync across Apple devices via CloudKit. Data is stored in your iCloud account, and the developer cannot access its contents. Pay Once Built natively for speed. Launches quickly and works offline. One-time purchase covers Mac, iPhone, and iPad — no subscription, no account required. A 7-day free trial is available. Feedback Feature requests and bug reports are always welcome. Reach us via the contact form at https://kosshi.app/contact or on X at @shirokumamake.

Screenshots

Side4 screens
Kosshi Outliner4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Side at daily against Kosshi Outliner's every 3 days. Side also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). 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. Side sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days and Kosshi Outliner sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Side ships an update daily, Kosshi Outliner every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Side versus Kosshi Outliner: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSideKosshi Outliner
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—4 — better
Update frequencyDaily — betterEvery 3 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS15.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size36 MB29 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAdam SoutheyJunichi Sato

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Side

Subscriptions3
  • Side Note Pro Access (Weekly)$4.997 Days
  • Side Note Pro Access (Monthly)$14.991 Month
  • Side Note Pro Access (Annual)$119.991 Year
1 purchases

Kosshi Outliner

One-time1
  • Kosshi Outliner$24.99

Questions

Is Side free?
Side is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Kosshi Outliner free?
Kosshi Outliner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Side or Kosshi Outliner have ads?
Neither Side nor Kosshi Outliner shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Side or Kosshi Outliner?
Side ships an update daily, and Kosshi Outliner every 3 days. Most recently, Side was updated on October 6, 2026 and Kosshi Outliner on October 8, 2026.

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