Comparison

Strayfiles vs Noteline

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

Head to head
About

Strayfiles

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Strayfiles brings all your Markdown files together in one place without moving them. Point to any folder on your device and Strayfiles indexes your notes, docs, and files instantly. ORGANIZE WITHOUT MIGRATING Your files stay exactly where they are. No vault, no restructuring. Strayfiles reads from any folder you choose and builds a unified note tree across all your directories. WRITE IN MARKDOWN Full Markdown editor with syntax highlighting and keyboard shortcuts. Switch to a rendered preview to see your formatting, tables, code blocks, and more come to life. SEARCH EVERYTHING Full-text search across all your Markdown files by title, content, or tags. Find any note instantly no matter where it lives on your filesystem. SMART WORKSPACES Create virtual folders that group notes by project or topic without touching your filesystem. Filter by workspace to focus on what matters. TAG AND FILTER Add color-coded tags to organize notes your way. Filter by tag to find exactly what you need in seconds. SYNC ACROSS DEVICES Keep your notes in sync across iPhone, iPad, and Mac with Stray Cloud. End-to-end encrypted so your data stays private. BUILT FOR DEVELOPERS Mirror files like CLAUDE.md across multiple projects. Get pinged when AI coding agents finish tasks. Give AI assistants direct access to your notes via MCP. TEAMS (PRO) Collaborate on shared workspaces with your team in real time. Everyone sees the same notes, always up to date. KEY FEATURES - Aggregate notes from any folder - Raw Markdown and WYSIWYG editing - Full-text search across all files - Smart workspaces and color-coded tags - Cross-device sync with end-to-end encryption - File mirrors for developer workflows - AI agent notifications (Pings) - Team collaboration (Pro) Terms of Use: https://strayfiles.com/terms

About

Noteline

Features
Read full description

Noteline is a fast, minimal note app for people who write in Markdown. Type a # and it becomes a heading. Type **bold** and it turns bold โ€” right where you typed it. Noteline gives you live preview: your formatting renders inline as you write, so there's no split-screen and no clutter. Just clean text that quietly becomes a clean document. Your notes are plain .md files stored on your device. No account, no sign-in, no servers of ours โ€” and if you want them on your other devices, you can keep the folder in your own iCloud Drive. Open them, back them up, move them, or edit them in any other Markdown app. Noteline works fully offline and stays out of your way. Every note is plain Markdown โ€” the same format AI tools read and write โ€” so your notes stay usable by whatever you reach for next. It's the calm, focused place to think, take notes, and write. Features: โ€ข Live preview Markdown โ€” headings, bold, italics, lists, and checkboxes render inline as you type โ€ข Local-first โ€” your notes are plain .md files on your device โ€ข Works fully offline โ€” no connection required, ever โ€ข No account, no sign-in โ€” nothing to set up โ€ข Open format โ€” your files stay portable and yours โ€ข The format AI speaks โ€” plain Markdown that AI tools read and write directly โ€ข Minimal, distraction-free interface โ€ข Checklists and task lists for quick to-dos โ€ข Fast and lightweight No ads. No tracking. No telemetry. Just notes.

Screenshots

Noteline4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: Noteline at 3 against Strayfiles's โ€”. Noteline also leads on iOS requirement (14.0 vs 26.0). On price 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

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard2 real differences ยท 4 level
Strayfiles versus Noteline: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStrayfilesNoteline
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyโ€”Every 3 weeks
Adsโ€”No
In-app purchasesNoNo
Devicesโ€”iPhone, iPad, iPod โ€” better
Requires iOS26.014.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size13 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRoberto FebusFoo AI Corp.

In-app purchases

None

Strayfiles

No in-app purchases

None

Noteline

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Strayfiles free?
Strayfiles is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Noteline free?
Noteline is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

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