Notetive vs Keepout
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side β with what reviewers say about each.
Notetive
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Notetive is a fast, local-first notes app designed for writing, thinking, and organizing ideas without distractions. Write in plain text or Markdown and instantly see a clean preview of your content. Everything stays on your device by default, giving you full control and privacy. KEY FEATURES: β’ Local-first storage β your notes stay on your device β’ Markdown support with live preview β’ Fast, lightweight note creation β’ Folder and space organization β’ Clean, distraction-free writing experience β’ Optional iCloud sync across Apple devices β’ Works offline with full functionality DESIGNED FOR: β’ Writers and thinkers β’ Developers writing notes in Markdown β’ Students organizing study materials β’ Anyone who wants a fast, simple note-taking app Notetive focuses on speed, privacy, and simplicity β without requiring accounts or complex setup. Your notes are yours. Always.
Keepout
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Keepout is a private notes app for iPhone and iPad. Your writing stays on your device, encrypted at rest, with local tools for connecting and understanding ideas. PRIVATE BY DESIGN β’ AES-256-GCM encryption protects every note at rest. β’ Your vault key stays in this device's non-synchronizing Keychain. β’ Opaque filenames keep note titles and links out of the file system. β’ There is no account, cloud sync, analytics, remote prompt processing, or plaintext search index. CONNECTED KNOWLEDGE β’ Link notes with familiar double-bracket wiki links. β’ Follow backlinks and suggested related notes. β’ Explore an interactive knowledge graph built with Apple's local sentence embeddings. β’ Search decrypted notes in memory while the vault is unlocked. LOCAL AI β’ Ask questions, summarize a note, and suggest connections without sending note text to a server. β’ Use Apple Foundation Models on supported devices. β’ Choose the optional MLX engine for local inference. Its compact model downloads once on first use; inference then stays on your device. FOCUSED WRITING β’ Open the transient action bar from the toolbar or with Command-K on a hardware keyboard. β’ Type / in the editor for headings, lists, tasks, quotes, code blocks, dividers, and links. β’ Switch to a centered typewriter view that hides the side columns and softly fades the page edges. β’ Navigate with touch or hardware-keyboard shortcuts on iPad. β’ Markdown syntax and link destinations stay visually quiet until the caret enters them. Keepout stores each encrypted note in a .md file so your vault remains a collection of Markdown documents without exposing their contents at rest.
Screenshots
Verdict
Notetive and Keepout are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters β price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them β neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
| Parameter | Notetive | Keepout |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Weekly | β |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac β better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details β not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 27 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ζ±ζ ε’ | Alex Richard Fiore |
In-app purchases
Notetive
No in-app purchases
Keepout
No in-app purchases





