openote vs Noteline
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
openote
Read full descriptionHide full description
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.
Noteline
Read full descriptionHide 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: โข Live preview Markdown โ headings, bold, italics, lists, and checkboxes render inline as you type โข Local-first โ your notes are plain .md files on your device โข Works fully offline โ no connection required, ever โข No account, no sign-in โ nothing to set up โข Open format โ your files stay portable and yours โข The format AI speaks โ plain Markdown that AI tools read and write directly โข Minimal, distraction-free interface โข Checklists and task lists for quick to-dos โข Fast and lightweight No ads. No tracking. No telemetry. Just notes.
Screenshots
Verdict
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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
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.
| Parameter | openote | Noteline |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks | Every 2 weeks โ better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod โ better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 14.0 โ better |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 8 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Wooyoung Kim | Foo AI Corp. |
In-app purchases
openote
No in-app purchases
Noteline
No in-app purchases









