Comparison

Prism Notes vs Commonplace

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

Head to head
About

Prism Notes

Capture thoughts and links quickly with a familiar texting interface. Organize ideas with AI-suggested tags and develop them across linked threads. Review notes to keep what matters and easily search by keyword or meaning.

Highlights
  • Texting-like note capture
  • AI-suggested tags
  • Threaded idea development
  • Review mode for notes
  • Sync across devices
  • Natural language reminders
  • Lock screen capture
Features
Read full description

Prism is the private place for quick thoughts and links. It feels like texting, rather than writing in a document. Capture easily, organize with tags, develop ideas across threads, review to keep only what matters. Free to try! Features: - Private and on-device - Opt in to iCloud sync between iPhone and Mac - Voice transcription and voice memos - Lock screen widgets for text and voice capture - AI-suggested tags to make organizing easy or automatic AI tagging (requires apple intelligence) - Review mode to keep notes alive or let them go - Threads to evolve a thought and link them together - Search by keyword - Natural language reminders - just say "remind me tomorrow at 2pm" (requires apple intelligence)

About

Commonplace

Capture, organize, and share memorable quotes from various media like articles, books, podcasts, and music. Build collections around your interests and access them across all your devices. Share insights with your community through interactive previews and styled images.

Highlights
  • Capture quotes from articles, books, podcasts, music
  • Scan physical text and search books
  • Share quotes as interactive previews or images
  • Organize quotes into collections
  • Sync quotes across all devices
  • Manually create quotes and sources
Features
Read full description

Save and share quotes from the content you read, watch, and listen to every day: articles, books, podcasts, music, X posts, movies, conversations, and more. Capture what resonates, share ideas with your community, and build collections around your interests. --- CAPTURE QUOTES • Save quotes from articles, books, podcasts, music, X posts, and more • Save posts from X by replying @savecommonplace save this • Capture highlights without breaking your flow - no need to open the app • Scan pages of physical text and search millions of books • Share highlights of podcast transcripts and song lyrics directly from your streaming platform • Manually create quotes and sources --- IMPORT YOUR QUOTES • Bring your existing quotes and highlights into Commonplace • Import quotes from Apple Notes, Kindle, Readwise, or any other note taking app • Upload text and Markdown files and let Commonplace organize your quotes by source • Keep the books, articles, authors, and other source details attached to your quotes --- SHARE ANYWHERE • Share quotes as interactive quote previews • Give every quote its own landing page • Create beautifully styled quotes as previews or images • Share quote images to social media, stories, messages, and more --- BUILD COLLECTIONS • Organize quotes into collections around your interests • View quotes by source • Filter and search quotes by source type, author, and more --- YOUR LIBRARY IS YOURS • Quotes and account data are all private to you • Library is synced over encrypted connections • No data is sold or used in the training of AI • No ads --- ACCESS ANYWHERE • Sync your quotes and collections across all your devices • Pick up where you left off on any device --- COMMONPLACE IS PERFECT FOR • Readers and lifelong learners • Writers and creators • Students and researchers • Podcast listeners and book readers • Anyone who wants to remember more of what they consume --- FREE & PRO • The free version of Commonplace includes: • Unlimited quotes • Unlimited collections • Ability to quote from any website or app, millions of books, and custom sources • Importing your existing quotes and highlights • Upgrade to Commonplace Pro to unlock: • Unlock all custom fonts • Quotes from podcasts and music • Saving directly from your favorite streaming apps • Future premium source types Whether you’re saving a line from a book, a lyric from a song, an insight from a podcast, or a passage from an article, Commonplace helps you capture what resonates and revisit it later. --- Privacy Policy: https://www.usecommonplace.com/privacypolicy Terms of Service: https://www.usecommonplace.com/termsofservice

Screenshots

Prism Notes4 screens
Commonplace4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Prism Notes at free against Commonplace's freemium. Prism Notes also leads on device support (4 vs 2). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. Prism Notes sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Commonplace sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Prism Notes against 5.0 for Commonplace. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 32 and 22 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Prism Notes ships an update every 4 days, Commonplace weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Prism Notes versus Commonplace: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPrism NotesCommonplace
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (32 ratings)5.0 (22 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings32 — better22
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterWeekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.618.5 — better
Further details — not scored
Size19 MB64 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTommy JosephDaniel Galvez

Customer experience

Prism Notes

All ratings32 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Commonplace

All ratings22 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Prism Notes

One-time2
  • Lifetime Unlock$6.99
  • Lifetime Unlock$12.99
2 purchases

Commonplace

Subscriptions2
  • Commonplace Pro Monthy$1.991 Month
  • Commonplace Pro Yearly$19.991 Year

Questions

Is Prism Notes free?
Prism Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Commonplace free?
Commonplace is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Prism Notes or Commonplace?
Commonplace is rated higher. Prism Notes averages 4.9 out of 5 from 32 ratings, while Commonplace averages 5.0 from 22 ratings.
Do Prism Notes or Commonplace have ads?
Neither Prism Notes nor Commonplace shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Prism Notes or Commonplace?
Prism Notes ships an update every 4 days, and Commonplace weekly. Most recently, Prism Notes was updated on October 13, 2026 and Commonplace on October 11, 2026.

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