Second Brain vs ShowNotes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Second Brain
This AI-powered journal captures your thoughts via voice or text, automatically organizing and connecting them. It helps you recall memories, discover patterns, and reflect on your growth.
- AI classification, tagging, and summarization
- Semantic search by meaning
- Three-layer memory system
- People cards for relationship tracking
- Weekly AI reflections
- Voice input with transcription
- Data export (JSON + Markdown)
Read full descriptionHide full description
Most notes get written once and never read again. Second Brain reads them for you. Write a line whenever something is on your mind, and once a week it tells you what your week was really about. You don't need to keep a diary or a streak. One line a day is enough. YOUR WEEK, READ BACK TO YOU The weekly insight covers what took up your attention, what changed since last week, and one concrete thing to try. Every insight shows the notes it came from, so you can check it against what you actually wrote. Your first weekly insight is free. Once a month you get a longer read on where the month went. After your first five notes there's also a first impression of you, and it fills in as you keep writing. CAPTURE Type, or press and hold to speak. Share text, links or images from other apps, or pick screenshots and the text in them is read on your phone. Each note gets a title and tags automatically, so there's nothing to file. ASK YOUR PAST Explore searches by meaning, not only keywords. Ask "What did I decide about the move?" or "What did Anna say last time?" and get an answer built from your own notes. PEOPLE Keep a card for the people in your life: what they said, what you did together, what to bring up next time. Before you meet someone, a reminder shows your open to-dos and what you talked about last time. REMINDERS AND WIDGETS Write "dentist next Friday at 3pm" and it becomes a reminder and a checklist item. There are widgets for the Home Screen and Lock Screen, and the checklist can run as a Live Activity. PRIVACY Your notes are stored on your device. There's no account to create and no server of mine in between. To title, tag and reflect on your notes, their text is sent to a cloud AI service. If your iPhone supports Apple Intelligence, you can turn on On-Device AI and new notes are handled on the phone instead; Explore and reflections still use the cloud. Every AI result is labeled "On device" or "Cloud AI", so you can see which is which. iCloud sync is optional and uses your own iCloud account. You can export everything as JSON or Markdown at any time, for free. FREE AND PRO Free: 5 notes a day, daily reflections, your first weekly insight, and export. Pro: unlimited notes, weekly insights and monthly reads, 20 Explore questions a day, up to 30 screenshot imports a day, unlimited people, the memory graph and life themes, iCloud sync, and the Rainbow Aurora theme. Pro is a monthly or yearly subscription. The yearly plan comes with a 7-day free trial, the monthly plan with 3 days. Payment is charged to your Apple ID and renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel it in your App Store account settings. Second Brain is made by one person, Lemon. Terms of Use: https://smartkiitos.com/secondbrain/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://smartkiitos.com/secondbrain/privacy/
ShowNotes
Read full descriptionHide full description
ShowNotes turns the chaos of trade shows, conferences, and networking events into organized, ready-to-act follow-ups. You're moving fast on the show floor — shaking hands, collecting cards, having ten conversations you'll never remember by Friday. ShowNotes captures it all in the moment, so nothing slips through the cracks. Capture in seconds • Record voice notes right after a conversation, while it's still fresh in your mind — AI transcribes them automatically • Scan business cards with your camera and instantly create a contact • Add follow-up tasks so you know exactly who to reach and when Everything is organized by event • Each trade show, conference, or networking event keeps its own contacts, notes, and tasks • Tag contacts, jot key details, and find anyone in seconds with global search • Set your role (attendee, exhibitor, speaker, organizer) and event type — ShowNotes adapts Let AI do the busywork • Generate post-event summaries that pull your notes into a clear recap • Get a daily debrief prompt during multi-day events so nothing piles up (why be stuck on your computer debriefing when you could be destressing?) • Spend less time typing and more time actually connecting Share your details instantly • Create a digital business card(s) with a QR code and let new contacts save you in one scan (No more "I just ran out of my business cards") Built for the way you actually work • Works offline — capture notes and scans even when the venue Wi-Fi doesn't cooperate, and everything syncs when you're back online • Fast, mobile-first design made for one-handed use on a busy floor Free to start. Capture notes, scan cards, and manage contacts for free. Upgrade to Pro for unlimited capture, digital business cards, and more. Stop leaving events with a pocket full of random cards, scribbled notes, and a head full of half-remembered conversations. With ShowNotes, every handshake becomes a follow-up you'll actually make. Terms of Use: https://tradeshownotes.app/terms
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is device support: ShowNotes at 3 against Second Brain's 1. ShowNotes also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). On price, ads and in-app purchases 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. Second Brain sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and ShowNotes sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $12.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
| Parameter | Second Brain | ShowNotes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (2 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 12 MB | 24 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Liwei Xie | Mighty Ops, LLC |
In-app purchases
Second Brain
- Second Brain Pro3 Days trial$4.991 Month
- Second Brain Pro7 Days trial$39.991 Year
ShowNotes
- ShowNotes Pro (Monthly)$12.991 Month
- ShowNotes Pro (Annual)$129.991 Year









