Comparison

Note Hoard vs SteelNote

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

Head to head
About

Note Hoard

Features
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Save anything from the web and Note Hoard turns it into a clean, organized note. Summarized, titled, and filed for you, automatically. No chatbot to interrogate. Just your stuff, ready the moment you come back to it. Bookmarks pile up and links get forgotten. A note that's already summarized, tagged, and filed is something you'll actually use. WHAT YOU CAN SAVE - Articles & web pages: the real content is extracted and cleaned up - Videos: from YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and X/twitter, all transcribed by AI into a searchable note - Images, IG carousels, & screenshots: OCR retrieves clean text - Files: support for PDF, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint - Plain text: upload plaintext files, paste anything, & write your own notes when you need to HOW IT WORKS Tap Share on your phone and choose Note Hoard. That's it. A minute later you've got a clean note with a title, the key points, and tags, filed into the right folder for you. And when you need more control, you can create notes inside the app. AI ENHANCEMENT, HUMAN CONTROL Not every save needs AI. Switch the AI off for a quick bookmark, or set rules that decide exactly when and how it runs. Unprocessed saves are still fully captured and stored. Summarize them later, whenever you're ready. And there's no chatbot you have to prompt to get value: every note is clean and readable on its own. ORGANIZE YOUR WAY Note Hoard files new notes into the right folder using a mix of AI and your own routing rules. Or you can place them by hand. Automation when you want it, control when you need it. No rigid system to learn, no "organize nothing" dogma. FIND IT AGAIN Search across every note and tag to resurface what you saved in seconds. YOUR DATA ISN'T TRAPPED Export clean Markdown files anytime. Sync notes straight to a Notion database. Cancel whenever you like. Your notes stay fully accessible. Open formats, no lock-in, ever. SECURELY PROCESSED BY AI AI processing of extracted content happens securely via OpenRouter through model providers with zero data retention policies. FREE TO START Start free with 30 one-time tokens and 3 tags per note. No credit card required. PLANS Note Hoard's AI runs on tokens: one token turns one save into a finished note (text and web pages cost 1 token, files and images 2, videos 5+, with longer videos costing a little more). Each plan includes a weekly token allowance plus a set number of tags per note. Unused tokens roll over for up to 4 weeks, so your balance can build up to 4ร— your weekly allowance. Upgrade anytime; three plans, each available monthly or yearly: - Starter โ€” 90 tokens/week, up to 5 tags per note - Pro โ€” 300 tokens/week, up to 7 tags per note - Power โ€” 1,200 tokens/week, priority processing, up to 10 tags per note Note Hoard Premium is an auto-renewing subscription. Pricing and full renewal terms are shown in the app before you subscribe. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

SteelNote

This app stores your notes as plain Markdown files on your device, ensuring you always own your data. It offers seamless syncing across Apple devices, instant search, and robust import options from other note-taking applications.

Highlights
  • Plain Markdown file storage
  • iCloud sync across Apple devices
  • Local full-text search
  • Import from multiple note apps
  • Link notes and see backlinks
  • Organize with folders and tags
  • Mark notes as private
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SteelNote is a notes app built on one promise: your notes are plain Markdown files that you own. Every note is a real .md file on your device, openable in the Files app or in any editor you like, today and years from now. No proprietary database. Nothing locked away. Your notes, truly yours. Because every note is plain text, you are never trapped. Read and edit them in SteelNote, in Files, or in any other Markdown app. If you ever move on, you take your files with you as they are, in an open format that lasts. Native on all your Apple devices. SteelNote is built natively for iPhone, iPad and Mac. Your notes sync across all of them through iCloud, with no third party account and no extra sign in. Start a note on your phone and finish it on your Mac. Find anything, instantly. A local full text index makes search immediate, even in large libraries. Link notes together, see backlinks, organize with folders and tags, and turn any line into a task. Private when you want it. Mark a note as private and it stays out of widgets and AI features. Your most sensitive notes remain yours alone. Bring everything with you. Import from Bear, Notion, Obsidian and Evernote, or from Markdown, TextBundle, Word, RTF, PDF and CSV files. Your folders and structure come along. Apple Notes works too, one note at a time, because Apple offers no bulk export. Everything you expect. Add images, PDFs and tables inline. Use checklists, footnotes and links. Reach your notes from Spotlight, Siri and widgets, and hand off between devices. An open format, now standard. Markdown is a first class type across Apple platforms, and SteelNote is built natively around it. Your files are open, portable and yours. Membership. SteelNote comes with a 14 day free trial, then a yearly plan or a one time lifetime purchase. You can cancel during the trial and pay nothing, or skip the subscription and choose the lifetime purchase instead. Sync is always included and never restricted. Payment is charged to your Apple Account. A yearly plan renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the period. You can manage or cancel anytime in your Account settings. Privacy Policy: https://steelnoteapp.com/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Note Hoard4 screens
SteelNote4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: SteelNote at every 4 days against Note Hoard's every 6 weeks. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. Note Hoard sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $6.00 per month and SteelNote sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $24.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Note Hoard ships an update every 6 weeks, SteelNote every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 7 level
Note Hoard versus SteelNote: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNote HoardSteelNote
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviewsโ€”100.0% of reviews
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 4 days โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetizationโ€”Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac โ€” better
Requires iOS18.017.6 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size84 MB17 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerakineticzen LLCClaude Bezeaud

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Note Hoard

Subscriptions6
  • Starter$6.001 Month
  • Pro$18.001 Month
  • Power$58.001 Month
Show 3 more
  • Starter$60.001 Year
  • Pro$179.991 Year
  • Power$590.001 Year
3 purchases

SteelNote

Subscriptions1
  • Annual14 Days trial$24.991 Year
One-time2
  • Founder$44.99
  • Lifetime$79.99

Questions

Is Note Hoard free?
Note Hoard is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is SteelNote free?
SteelNote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Note Hoard or SteelNote have ads?
Neither Note Hoard nor SteelNote shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Note Hoard or SteelNote?
Note Hoard ships an update every 6 weeks, and SteelNote every 4 days. Most recently, Note Hoard was updated on October 13, 2026 and SteelNote on October 14, 2026.

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