# BookStax vs Hjarni Notes

The clearest difference is monetization model: BookStax at free against Hjarni Notes's freemium. Hjarni Notes's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 9 days) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.6). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. BookStax sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and Hjarni Notes sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $11.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for BookStax against 5.0 for Hjarni Notes. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.

BookStax ships an update every 9 days, Hjarni Notes every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | BookStax | Hjarni Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bookstax/id6761068485/reviews) | [5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hjarni-notes-ai-memory/id6761733903/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 1 |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days | **Every 4 days** |
| Monetization | **Free** | Freemium |
| Size | 16 MB | 5 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | **16.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Sven Uwe Hanold](https://appshunter.io/developer/1887623795) | [evert van den bruel](https://appshunter.io/developer/1054483967) |

## What reviewers say

### BookStax

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bookstax/id6761068485)

Access and manage your self-hosted BookStack knowledge base natively on iPhone. Edit pages with a Markdown editor, search your content, and access it offline. Prioritizes privacy with secure API token storage.

**Highlights:** BookStack hierarchy navigation, Full-text search with filters, Markdown editor with live preview, Offline read access, Secure API token connection, Light/Dark/System mode, Multi-language support

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Page | $2.99 | one-time |
| Themes & more Servers | $5.99 | one-time |
| Book | $5.99 | one-time |
| Encyclopaedia | $12.99 | one-time |


### Hjarni Notes

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hjarni-notes-ai-memory/id6761733903)

This app acts as a persistent memory for AI assistants, allowing you to write notes once and have them accessible across different AI models. It organizes information in plain Markdown, supports team collaboration, and lets you control AI instructions.

**Highlights:** Persistent AI memory, Markdown knowledge base, Team collaboration, Customizable AI instructions, Plain text notes, Versioned note history

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Hjarni Pro Monthly | $11.99 | per month |
| Hjarni Pro Yearly | $119.99 | per year |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is BookStax free?

BookStax is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Hjarni Notes free?

Hjarni Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, BookStax or Hjarni Notes?

BookStax and Hjarni Notes are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 1 ratings respectively.

### Do BookStax or Hjarni Notes have ads?

Neither BookStax nor Hjarni Notes shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, BookStax or Hjarni Notes?

BookStax ships an update every 9 days, and Hjarni Notes every 4 days. Most recently, BookStax was updated on October 24, 2026 and Hjarni Notes on October 25, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*