Comparison

Inbox vs Second Brain Vault

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

Head to head
About

Inbox

Features
Read full description

Your personal inbox for everything worth saving. Inbox is a universal save-for-later app that brings together articles, videos, links, notes, photos, files, tasks, and events β€” all in one clean, organized space. SAVE ANYTHING Capture content from any app using the Share Extension, save links with one tap from Safari or Chrome, or create notes and tasks right inside the app. Inbox automatically extracts article text, fetches video metadata, and pulls link previews β€” so everything looks great without extra effort. READ WITHOUT DISTRACTIONS Enjoy a beautiful Reader Mode with customizable themes, fonts, and column widths. Highlight important passages and revisit them anytime in your Highlights feed. STAY ORGANIZED Create Collections to group related content. Add color Tags for quick filtering. Archive what you've finished. Search across everything instantly with full-text search. WORKS OFFLINE Save items even without internet β€” they sync automatically when you're back online. Read saved articles anywhere, anytime. MAKE IT YOURS β€’ Light, Dark, and System themes β€’ 9 accent colors β€’ List, Grid, and Magazine layouts β€’ English and Russian language support KEY FEATURES β€’ 9 content types: Articles, Videos, Links, Notes, Files, Photos, Stickers, Tasks, Events β€’ Share Extension for saving from any app β€’ Safari and Chrome browser extensions β€’ Reader Mode with 5 themes and 3 fonts β€’ Text highlights and annotations β€’ Full-text search β€’ Collections and color tags β€’ Bulk actions β€’ Import from Pocket and Raindrop.io β€’ Keyboard shortcuts for iPad and Mac β€’ Reading statistics

About

Second Brain Vault

Features
Read full description

Second Brain Vault isn't another folder-organizing app. You just save β€” the on-device AI files it for you and finds it back later when you ask in plain language. A private memory vault that lives entirely on your iPhone. We're all good at saving. The real question was always "where did I put that?" Second Brain Vault flips the order: you save, the AI organizes and recalls. HOW IT WORKS β€’ Save in one tap β€” a note, a photo, a voice memo, a PDF, or a web link. Anything, instantly, into your vault. β€’ AI organizes it for you β€” every saved item gets a title, a summary, a category, and tags, automatically. Photos are read with OCR, voice is transcribed, PDFs and links have their text extracted. β€’ Recall like a person β€” ask "that real-estate article I read last year," "the best cold-noodle place I saved," "the app idea I jotted last month," and it finds the right memory. It's hybrid retrieval β€” semantic meaning plus keywords plus recency β€” so it works even when you don't remember the exact words. β€’ It grows with you β€” Insights show your top topics and saving trends, and every week the AI writes a short Retrospective of what you saved. The more you save, the higher your Brain Level. WHAT'S INSIDE β€’ Home β€” today's and recent items, plus a one-line AI insight β€’ Quick capture β€” five kinds: note, photo, audio, PDF, link β€’ Natural-language Recall β€” hybrid semantic + keyword + recency ranking β€’ Insights β€” top topics, save volume, Brain Level growth β€’ Weekly Retrospective β€” an AI recap of your week of memories β€’ Automatic categories & tags β€” organized without you filing anything PRIVACY BY CONSTRUCTION Everything is processed on this iPhone. Because it uses Apple's on-device AI (Foundation Models), your notes, photos, voice and documents never leave the device. No account, no server, no ads, no tracking. The only time it uses the internet is to fetch the page of a web link you choose to save. APPLE INTELLIGENCE REQUIRED Auto-organizing, natural-language search, Insights and the Retrospective run on Apple-Intelligence-capable devices. On other devices you can still save and search by keyword; the AI features show an "Apple Intelligence required" state. START FREE, UNLOCK WHEN YOU NEED IT Free: up to 100 items, full on-device AI organizing & search on all 100, every capture type, Insights and Brain Level included. Pro (β‚©6,600 / year): unlimited saves, iCloud backup & sync, weekly Retrospective history, and more. Lifetime (β‚©29,000, one-time): everything in Pro, forever, no renewal. You save it; Second Brain Vault remembers it. Drop in your first memory today. β–  Device requirements AI auto-organizing and semantic (meaning-based) search require an Apple Intelligence–capable device β€” iPhone 15 Pro / 15 Pro Max and iPhone 16/17 or later, iOS 26 or later. On other devices, saving and keyword search still work fully. Everything is processed on-device; nothing is ever sent off your iPhone. β–  Terms of Use (EULA) https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://blue-code.github.io/legal/second-brain-vault/privacy.en.html

Screenshots

Inbox3 screens
Second Brain Vault4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Inbox at none against Second Brain Vault's 1. Inbox also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 26.0). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. Second Brain Vault sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Inbox asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard2 real differences Β· 3 level
Inbox versus Second Brain Vault: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterInboxSecond Brain Vault
PriceFreeFree
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo β€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPod β€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.1 β€” better26.0
Further details β€” not scored
Size49 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPavel VoloshinByoungho Kim

In-app purchases

None

Inbox

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Second Brain Vault

One-time1
  • Second Brain Vault (Lifetime)$17.99

Questions

Is Inbox free?
Inbox is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Second Brain Vault free?
Second Brain Vault is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Inbox or Second Brain Vault have ads?
Neither Inbox nor Second Brain Vault shows ads.

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