Comparison

Lucid vs Ki

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

Head to head
About

Lucid

Organize your thoughts with a minimalist, gesture-driven note-taking app. Connect and nest ideas fluidly with block-based editing. Bookmark sections and navigate easily with intuitive gestures.

Highlights
  • Minimalist and intuitive design
  • Fluid, block-based editing
  • Gesture-driven navigation
  • Bookmark any section
  • Spacebar caret navigation
Features
Read full description

■ Beautifully minimal Intuitive & clean design that keeps you in the flow. A note-taking app that gets out of your way. ■ Connect ideas Organize thoughts as they form. Freely move and nest ideas with fluid, block-based editing. ■ Gesture driven • Swipe right to focus on any subsection • Swipe left to collapse a section • Navigate through parent blocks by swiping from the edge • Pull down to add a block at the top or tap empty space to add at the bottom ■ Other features • Bookmark any section, not just top-level notes • Easily move the caret between blocks by holding the spacebar (not possible in other outliners) ■ Roadmap Lucid is in early development and many more features are coming soon: • External links • Bidirectional linking • Desktop app & iCloud sync • More themes and customization options For the philosophy and reasoning behind the app, visit https://thelucidnotes.com/

About

Ki

Capture, organize, and connect all your learning in one place. This app allows you to save notes, links, code snippets, and ideas, then link them together to build a web of knowledge. Find anything fast with full-text search and visual knowledge graphs.

Highlights
  • Capture notes, links, quotes, code snippets, and ideas
  • Organize with color-coded tags and custom topics
  • Connect notes with bidirectional linking
  • Visualize knowledge with interactive graphs
  • Full-text search and saved searches
  • Quick capture via floating button and widgets
  • Review workflow for managing notes
Features
Read full description

Ki-note is your personal knowledge base. Capture, organize, and connect everything you learn — all in one place. CAPTURE EVERYTHING • Notes, links, quotes, code snippets, ideas, and references • Quick capture with a floating + button from anywhere in the app • Save source URLs and titles for web content. You can share links from Safari to Ki-note! • Tag code snippets with their programming language (Swift, Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Go, Rust) • You can insert notes, text, links, into Ki-notes using the Share functionality • You can insert notes using voice in the Control Center widget or using a shortcut with Siri ORGANIZE YOUR WAY • Tags — color-coded labels to categorize your notes • Topics — group related notes under a single theme with custom icons • Smart Collections — automatic filters like Inbox, Favorites, Reading Queue, Unreviewed, Quotes, Ideas, Links, Untagged, and Unlinked • Configurable Quick Access dashboard on the home screen • Pin, favorite, and archive notes • Review workflow — track notes from Inbox → Unreviewed → Reviewing → Reviewed CONNECT YOUR KNOWLEDGE • Link notes together to build a web of ideas • Bidirectional linking — see which notes link to and from each note • Interactive Knowledge Graph — visualize all your notes and their connections • Customizable graph settings for colors, forces, and display options FIND ANYTHING FAST • Full-text search across all notes • Save frequently used searches for quick access • Browse by tags and topics • Filter by note type, status, or collection BUILT FOR YOU • 100% free — no ads, no subscriptions, all features unlocked • Local-first — your data stays on your device with SwiftData • Localized in 6 languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Portuguese • Light and dark mode with customizable themes • Optional one-time tip to support development Ki-note is designed for students, researchers, developers, writers, and anyone who wants to build a personal knowledge base that grows with them.

Screenshots

Lucid4 screens
Ki4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Lucid at none against Ki's 1. Ki's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs fortnightly). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Ki sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Lucid asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Lucid against 5.0 for Ki. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 2 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Lucid ships an update fortnightly, Ki every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Lucid versus Ki: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLucidKi
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (5 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings5 — better2
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerillia chabanJuan Casanueva

Customer experience

Lucid

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Ki

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Lucid

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Ki

One-time1
  • Buy me a coffee$0.99

Questions

Is Lucid free?
Lucid is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Ki free?
Ki is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Lucid or Ki?
Lucid and Ki are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 5 and 2 ratings respectively.
Do Lucid or Ki have ads?
Neither Lucid nor Ki shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Lucid or Ki?
Lucid ships an update fortnightly, and Ki every 2 days. Most recently, Lucid was updated on September 28, 2026 and Ki on September 29, 2026.

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