FUTO Notes vs ZenNotes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
FUTO Notes
This app allows you to organize your thoughts and tasks using a folder-based system. Your notes are stored locally, giving you full control over your data without relying on a private cloud.
- Folder-based note organization
- Markdown support
- Local data storage
- User data ownership
- Simple and intuitive interface
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FUTO Notes is a simple notes app that helps you stay on top of your life. Based on a folder full of markdown, your notes belong to *you*, not some private cloud that you can't control.
ZenNotes
This app allows you to write, organize, and connect ideas using plain markdown files stored locally or via iCloud. An optional cloud service offers syncing, backups, and web publishing.
- Local-first markdown notes
- iCloud Drive integration
- Optional cloud sync and backup
- Web publishing for notes
- Rich markdown editor
- Offline preview with math and diagrams
- Home screen widgets
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ZenNotes is a local-first markdown notes app for writing, organizing, and connecting ideas without giving up ownership of your files. YOUR NOTES, YOUR FILES Every note is a plain .md file in a vault you control. Start with storage on your iPhone or iPad, use iCloud Drive, or open a folder through the system document picker. Local and iCloud vaults work without an account. ZENNOTES CLOUD Connect an optional ZenNotes Cloud plan to: • Sync a vault across ZenNotes desktop and mobile • Sync notes and attachments • Create manual and automatic daily backups • Restore a full vault or a single note from a backup • Publish notes to the web and manage their public links Cloud never replaces the free local-first workflow. Use it only when you want hosted sync, backup, or publishing. WRITE IN MARKDOWN Use a focused editor with headings, lists, tasks, tables, code, links, wikilinks, tags, callouts, footnotes, and frontmatter. A mobile formatting bar keeps common actions close to the keyboard, and a pinch resizes the text to your eyes. RICH, OFFLINE PREVIEW Render KaTeX math, Mermaid diagrams, JSXGraph, function plots, tables, callouts, and more directly on your device. ORGANIZE YOUR WAY Pin your go-to notes and folders to the top, swipe rows to act on them, create and rename nested folders, browse tags, search the full vault, manage tasks, create periodic notes, and work with table databases stored as CSV. CAPTURE QUICKLY Create a quick note from the app or send text and links to ZenNotes from the iOS share sheet. HOME SCREEN WIDGETS Start a note, open a recent one, or check today's tasks without opening the app. New Note also lives on the Lock Screen, and the widgets wear your theme. PRIVACY BY DEFAULT ZenNotes has no advertising or tracking. Local and iCloud notes stay in the storage you choose. When you enable ZenNotes Cloud, the account identity, connected-device information, and vault content needed for the Cloud features you use are sent to the ZenNotes service. Payment details are handled by Stripe. ZenNotes is open source. Your vault remains useful outside the app because it is made of ordinary files.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: ZenNotes at daily against FUTO Notes's every 2 weeks. ZenNotes also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.6) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
ZenNotes holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 12 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
FUTO Notes ships an update every 2 weeks, ZenNotes daily. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | FUTO Notes | ZenNotes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (5 ratings) | 4.9 (12 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 5 | 12 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Daily — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 18 MB | 93 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | FUTO Computing | Lumary Labs LLC |
Customer experience
FUTO Notes
ZenNotes
In-app purchases
FUTO Notes
No in-app purchases
ZenNotes
No in-app purchases









