Comparison

Raven vs Smolpad

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

Head to head
About

Raven

Create, organize, and manage notes using Markdown on your Apple devices. Turn checkboxes into actionable tasks with local reminders. Your notes are stored locally, ensuring offline access and no vendor lock-in.

Highlights
  • Native Markdown editor
  • Create notes with tables, images, code blocks
  • Checkboxes to tasks with due dates
  • Local reminders for tasks
  • Offline access
  • iCloud Drive sync
  • Full-text search
Read full description

Beautiful notes. Never locked in. Raven is a native Markdown notes app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Write, journal, capture articles, and turn checkboxes into reminders—without putting your work in a proprietary note format. WRITE WITH CONTEXT Create notes with tables, images, checklists, code blocks, wiki links, and backlinks. Organize them with folders and tags, pin what matters, and find anything with full-text search. TURN NOTES INTO ACTION A checkbox can become a task with a due date and time. Raven gathers open tasks from across your notes, keeps each one linked to its source, and can send a local reminder when it is due. Complete or snooze it from the notification. JOURNAL WITHOUT ANOTHER SILO Daily and weekly journals live beside the rest of your writing. Save articles to Read Later, or capture a thought from widgets, Shortcuts, and the share sheet. MARKDOWN YOU CAN KEEP Raven works offline without an account. Keep notes on this device, choose a folder on Mac, or use iCloud Drive to keep the same Markdown files available in Files and Finder across iPhone, iPad, and Mac. No proprietary note format. No forced account. One purchase, with no subscription.

About

Smolpad

This app offers a minimalist Markdown editor that stores your notes as plain .md files. It syncs via iCloud and allows for beautiful writing with syntax highlighting and task lists. Upgrade for unlimited notes, more sync options, and export features.

Highlights
  • Plain .md file storage
  • iCloud sync
  • Markdown syntax highlighting
  • Task list checkboxes
  • Folder organization and search
  • Trash and version history
  • Export to PDF/HTML (Pro)
Features
Read full description

Smolpad is a smol Markdown editor with respect for your files. Every note is a plain .md file you can open with any app, on any device, forever. Your files are your own. No database. No lock-in. No bloat. Just a tiny, fast home for your notes on Mac, iPhone, and iPad. WRITE IN MARKDOWN, BEAUTIFULLY • Syntax dims as you type, or hides away entirely with one tap • Task lists become real checkboxes. Checkboxes that check. • Headings, bold, italic, code, quotes, and tables, styled as you write • A formatting bar for common touches, plus full keyboard shortcuts • Pictures too: drag or paste one in, resize it by its corner, and it lives as a plain file beside the note YOUR FILES, ANYWHERE • Notes sync through your own iCloud Drive, included free • Open your notes folder in Finder or Files any time • Organize with folders, pins, and instant search • A Trash for deleted notes, and a history of every note's earlier versions • Find notes in Spotlight, and open them with Siri or Shortcuts • Your notes never leave your devices except to your own cloud SMOL ON PURPOSE • On the Mac, Smolpad lives in your menu bar, one hotkey away • Tear off a note into its own window when you want to stay a while • On iPhone and iPad, it opens fast and stays out of your way • Eight hand-picked fonts and a clean, quiet interface MAKE IT YOURS WITH SMOLPAD PRO • Unlimited notes (the free tier includes ten) • Dropbox, pCloud, or Google Drive sync, in a folder that belongs to you • Notepads: open any folder of Markdown files as its own notepad, an Obsidian vault or a Bear export among them • Export to PDF, HTML, or rich text, and print • Widgets on the Mac, iPhone and iPad, Lock Screen widgets on iPhone, and Smolpad on Apple Watch • Twenty-nine editor themes, from Tokyo Night to Catppuccin • Seventeen app icons and the full menu bar icon set Smolpad Pro is available as a monthly or yearly subscription, or a one-time lifetime purchase. The free tier is a real notes app, not a trial. Made by a smol team that believes plain text outlives everything. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://smolpad.com/privacy

Screenshots

Raven4 screens
Smolpad4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Smolpad at Free against Raven's $19.99. Smolpad also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.0) and iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.0). Raven's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and update cadence (every 3 days vs every 10 days). On ads and device support 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

Smolpad is free to download; Raven costs $19.99 up front. Smolpad sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per month. Raven asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Smolpad holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Raven ships an update every 3 days, Smolpad every 10 days. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Raven versus Smolpad: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRavenSmolpad
Price$19.99Free — better
Rating4.0 (4 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews57.1% of reviews—
Number of ratings4 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterEvery 10 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFreemium — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS26.018.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size126 MB76 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperThomas SivilayBaconWorks, LLC

Customer experience

Raven

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive57.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative42.9%

Smolpad

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Raven

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Smolpad

Subscriptions2
  • Smolpad Pro$1.491 Month
  • Smolpad Pro7 Days trial$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Smolpad Pro Lifetime$29.99

Questions

Is Raven free?
Raven costs $19.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Smolpad free?
Smolpad is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Raven or Smolpad?
Smolpad is rated higher. Raven averages 4.0 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while Smolpad averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Raven or Smolpad have ads?
Neither Raven nor Smolpad shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Raven or Smolpad?
Raven ships an update every 3 days, and Smolpad every 10 days. Most recently, Raven was updated on October 31, 2026 and Smolpad on October 31, 2026.

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