Comparison

MAI vs Beacon

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

Head to head
About

MAI

Features
Read full description

Your second brain, captured by voice. MAI turns a spoken thought into organized notes, tasks, and summaries—so nothing you think slips away. Open the app, talk, and MAI transcribes, titles, summarizes, and files it for you. No typing, no formatting, no friction. HOW IT WORKS 1. Speak. Tap once and say whatever's on your mind—an idea, a to-do, a reflection, a full meeting. 2. MAI organizes. AI transcribes your voice, writes a clean summary, pulls out action items, and sorts it into the right project. 3. Recall anything. Search everything you've ever captured in plain language and pick up where you left off. BUILT FOR THE WAY YOU THINK • Voice-first — capture at the speed of speech, hands-free. • ADHD & dyslexia friendly — get the thought out before it's gone; let AI handle the structure and spelling. • Busy, multi-project minds — keep every idea, note, and meeting separated by project. • Builders & web coders — save context from your AI coding sessions and pull it back when you need it. WHAT YOU CAN DO • Record voice notes and get instant transcripts + summaries • Send a notetaker to your Google Meet, Zoom, or Teams calls for the full transcript, summary, and action items • Turn any note into tasks and track them across projects • Draft LinkedIn posts, emails, and translations from a note in one tap • Search your entire second brain in natural language • Collaborate—share projects and entries with your team • Capture anywhere—iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac WORKS WITH CLAUDE & ANY MCP AI MAI connects to Claude and other MCP-compatible AI clients. Save references straight from your AI chats, then let your AI read and write your notes, meetings, and tasks—your second brain becomes the memory layer for everything you build. WHY MAI Most notes apps make you do the work—type it, title it, tag it, file it. MAI does that for you, so the only job left is to think out loud. Start free. MAI Premium unlocks unlimited AI capture, meeting notetakers, and advanced recall. Questions or feedback? We'd love to hear from you at somaflow.app. Subscription & Pricing: Free to try, with option for Pro for full AI and second-brain features: Unlimited AI summaries and task extraction Full history search across entries, tasks, and saved links Advanced sharing and recall Pricing: Monthly: $9.99 Annual: $49.99 Prices may vary by region. Subscriptions auto-renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period in your App Store account settings. Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://kai.somaflow.app/privacy

About

Beacon

This app helps individuals with ADHD manage tasks and time effectively. It breaks down large tasks into smaller, manageable steps and uses gentle reminders to keep users on track without causing overwhelm or guilt. It integrates with existing Apple Reminders and Calendar.

Highlights
  • One task at a time display
  • Visual countdown timers
  • Guilt-free task management
  • Task shrinking for easier starts
  • Task parking lot
  • Integration with Apple Reminders/Calendar
  • Smart capture and energy tags
Features
Read full description

Your to-do list keeps growing, time keeps slipping, and starting feels impossible. Beacon is the calm, ADHD-friendly way to finally get things done, one gentle step at a time. Beacon is a reminders app built for the way real brains actually work, especially brains that get overwhelmed by long lists, lose track of time, or freeze at the thought of beginning. Think of it as a calm external brain: it remembers, times, and shrinks your tasks, so you do not have to hold it all in your head. WHY BEACON FEELS DIFFERENT One thing at a time. Beacon shows your next action, not your entire backlog. Less overwhelm, more starting. Time you can actually see. Every task has a calm countdown, so "later" stops turning into "too late." No red alarms, no panic. Kind on the hard days. Miss something? There is no shaming OVERDUE, no broken streak, no guilt. Beacon reframes gently and celebrates every win, the small ones too. Shrink the first step. Any task can collapse into a two-minute starting move, so the hardest part, beginning, gets easier. Park it, guilt-free. Not ready today? Set a task aside in the Parking Lot and Beacon brings it back softly when the time is right. Nothing gets lost. WORKS WITH WHAT YOU ALREADY USE Beacon sits on top of Apple Reminders and Calendar, so you keep everything you already rely on. Say a reminder to Siri and it shows up in Beacon, sorted and doable. Check it off in Beacon and it syncs right back. No migration, no starting over. WHAT YOU GET Smart capture: brain-dump a messy thought and Beacon finds the task and the time for you. Focus timer and body-double sessions to help you start and keep going. Energy tags to match tasks to how you actually feel right now. Gentle, well-timed nudges instead of a wall of notifications. Home Screen widgets, Lock Screen Live Activities, and an Apple Watch app, so your next step is always a glance away. Private by design: no account, no tracking, no cloud sync. The only thing Beacon ever sends is an anonymous crash report. WHO IT IS FOR Beacon was made for people with ADHD, and that turns out to be a lot of us: anyone who has felt buried by their own list, lost time without meaning to, or been too hard on themselves for it. If that sounds familiar, welcome. TRY BEACON FREE Start with a 7-day free trial, then keep going with an affordable subscription. Cancel anytime. Beacon. Your calm external brain. SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS Beacon Pro gives you full access with a 7-day free trial, then a monthly or annual auto-renewing subscription. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. Your subscription renews automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and you can manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Privacy Policy: https://waypointapps.app/beacon/privacy/ Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

MAI4 screens
Beacon4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Beacon at every 2 days against MAI's weekly. 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. MAI sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $12.99 per month and Beacon sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MAI ships an update weekly, Beacon every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
MAI versus Beacon: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMAIBeacon
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Freemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, Apple Watch
Requires iOS17.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size63 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHealth 4 Wealth LTDWaypoint Apps LLC

In-app purchases

3 purchases

MAI

Subscriptions3
  • monthly pro7 Days trial$12.991 Month
  • Annual Pro$29.991 Year
  • annual pro7 Days trial$49.991 Year
2 purchases

Beacon

Subscriptions2
  • Beacon Pro (Monthly)7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Beacon Pro (Annual)7 Days trial$19.991 Year

Questions

Is MAI free?
MAI is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Beacon free?
Beacon is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do MAI or Beacon have ads?
Neither MAI nor Beacon shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MAI or Beacon?
MAI ships an update weekly, and Beacon every 2 days. Most recently, MAI was updated on October 30, 2026 and Beacon on October 31, 2026.

Other comparisons