Maho Notes vs Papra Mobile
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Maho Notes
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Maho Notes is a markdown-based note-taking app for people who care about their words — and want to keep them. Every note is a plain .md file on your device. No proprietary format, no vendor lock-in, no servers you don't control. Sync through your own iCloud, your own GitHub repo, or keep notes purely local — your choice. A NOTES APP THAT SPEAKS YOUR LANGUAGE Full multilingual support, including search across English, 中文 (Traditional Chinese), 日本語 (Japanese), and 한국어 (Korean) — powered by a CJK-aware tokenizer that actually understands word boundaries in each language. Add furigana to Japanese kanji, Zhuyin to Mandarin, Tâi-lô to Taiwanese, or readings to Korean — all with one simple syntax: {漢字|ふりがな}. THREE WAYS TO SEARCH • Keyword search — fast SQLite FTS5 across every note • Semantic search — on-device vector embeddings find ideas, not just words • Hybrid — both, fused into one ranked list Models run entirely on-device. Nothing about your notes leaves your hardware. WRITTEN IN MARKDOWN, RENDERED BEAUTIFULLY • Full CommonMark + GitHub Flavored Markdown • KaTeX math equations • Mermaid diagrams • Syntax-highlighted code blocks • Ruby annotations for any language • Image and asset embedding • Tables, task lists, footnotes ORGANIZE YOUR WAY Vaults hold collections. Collections hold notes. Drag-and-drop reordering, custom icons and colors, hierarchical sub-collections, and per-collection ordering — all stored in plain YAML you can read. SYNC THAT RESPECTS YOU • iCloud — seamless across your Apple devices • GitHub — version your notes as a private repo, sync through your own account using GitHub's official Device Flow login (no third-party server in the middle) • Device-only — keep everything offline Conflicts get clearly-named files (note.conflict-DeviceName.md), never silent overwrites. UNIVERSAL APP One purchase covers iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Optimized layouts for each: a focus-friendly stack on iPhone, a three-column workspace on iPad and Mac, with the same vault wherever you are.
Papra Mobile
Manage your documents on the go with this native iOS client. Upload, share, preview, and download files directly from your iPhone or iPad. Organize, edit metadata, and search your library with ease.
- Upload files from iPhone/iPad
- Share via Share Sheet/Shortcuts
- Preview documents
- Download files for local access
- Organize with tags
- Edit document metadata
- Search and browse library
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Papra Mobile is an unofficial, native Swift iOS client for Papra that makes it easier to manage your documents on the go. Use Papra Mobile to: - upload files from your iPhone or iPad - share documents directly from the iOS Share Sheet or via iOS Shortcuts - preview documents in the app - download files when you need local access - organize documents with tags - edit document metadata - search your library and browse large document lists - delete, restore, and manage documents in Trash - sign in with email/password, supported identity providers, or a backup API key Papra Mobile is designed for people who want a simple, native way to access their Papra instance from iOS.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Maho Notes at Free against Papra Mobile's $1.99. Papra Mobile's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and chart position (#195 vs unranked). On ads, device support and iOS requirement 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
Maho Notes is free to download; Papra Mobile costs $1.99 up front. Maho Notes sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Papra Mobile asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | Maho Notes | Papra Mobile |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $1.99 |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 2 — better |
| Update frequency | — | Every 8 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | — | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #195 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 17 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Kuo-Chuan Pan | Harrison Rose |
In-app purchases
Maho Notes
- Small Tip$1.99
- Medium Tip$4.99
- Large Tip$9.99
Papra Mobile
No in-app purchases









