Comparison

openote vs Noteline

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

Head to head
About

openote

Features
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openote โ€” Markdown notes with free sync. No account. No subscription. Other note apps charge a yearly fee just to sync your own devices. openote syncs iPhone, iPad and Mac through your iCloud Drive โ€” free, with no account to create. Your notes stay plain .md files. Open them in the Files app or any Markdown editor, and take them anywhere. No proprietary format, no lock-in. --- WHY OPENOTE Free iCloud sync Notes sync through iCloud Drive on your own Apple account. No sign-up, no subscription. Plain Markdown files Every note is a standard .md file. Front matter, checklists and [[wiki links]] are kept exactly as you wrote them. Safe across devices If a note changes on another device while you're editing, openote keeps both versions instead of silently overwriting one. Your last words are saved even if you switch apps or quit right away. Mermaid diagrams Flowcharts, sequence diagrams and more render live from Markdown. Start from a template, pinch to zoom, tap to edit the code. Rendering works offline. On-device AI On devices with Apple Intelligence, summarize a note, get tag suggestions, or turn a sentence into a diagram. It runs entirely on your device โ€” nothing is sent to a server. --- FEATURES Editor - Rich Markdown editing, with a source mode when you want the raw text - Checklists, tables and code blocks - Auto-save - Word and character count Organize - Folders and #tags with autocomplete - [[Wiki links]] between notes - Full-text search in English, Korean and Japanese Sync & files - iPhone, iPad and Mac via iCloud Drive - Browse your notes in the Files app - Export a note as PDF Shortcuts & Siri - Create, open and search notes from Shortcuts and Siri - Notes appear in Spotlight search --- PRIVACY - No account, no email - No tracking - Your notes stay in your iCloud and on your devices - AI runs on your device Everything is free. openote has no in-app purchases. openote โ€” Your notes, your files.

About

Noteline

Features
Read full description

Noteline is a fast, minimal note app for people who write in Markdown. Type a # and it becomes a heading. Type **bold** and it turns bold โ€” right where you typed it. Noteline gives you live preview: your formatting renders inline as you write, so there's no split-screen and no clutter. Just clean text that quietly becomes a clean document. Your notes are plain .md files stored on your device. No account, no sign-in, no servers of ours โ€” and if you want them on your other devices, you can keep the folder in your own iCloud Drive. Open them, back them up, move them, or edit them in any other Markdown app. Noteline works fully offline and stays out of your way. Every note is plain Markdown โ€” the same format AI tools read and write โ€” so your notes stay usable by whatever you reach for next. It's the calm, focused place to think, take notes, and write. Features: โ€ข Live preview Markdown โ€” headings, bold, italics, lists, and checkboxes render inline as you type โ€ข Local-first โ€” your notes are plain .md files on your device โ€ข Works fully offline โ€” no connection required, ever โ€ข No account, no sign-in โ€” nothing to set up โ€ข Open format โ€” your files stay portable and yours โ€ข The format AI speaks โ€” plain Markdown that AI tools read and write directly โ€ข Minimal, distraction-free interface โ€ข Checklists and task lists for quick to-dos โ€ข Fast and lightweight No ads. No tracking. No telemetry. Just notes.

Screenshots

openote4 screens
Noteline4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Noteline at every 2 weeks against openote's every 5 weeks. Noteline also leads on iOS requirement (14.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

openote ships an update every 5 weeks, Noteline every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and September 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences ยท 4 level
openote versus Noteline: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteropenoteNoteline
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 2 weeks โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod โ€” better
Requires iOS17.014.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size8 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperWooyoung KimFoo AI Corp.

In-app purchases

None

openote

No in-app purchases

None

Noteline

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is openote free?
openote is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Noteline free?
Noteline is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do openote or Noteline have ads?
Neither openote nor Noteline shows ads.
Which is updated more often, openote or Noteline?
openote ships an update every 5 weeks, and Noteline every 2 weeks. Most recently, openote was updated on September 30, 2026 and Noteline on September 8, 2026.

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