Comparison

mdisco vs Beaver Notes

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

Head to head
About

mdisco

Features
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mdisco β€” A lighter Notion alternative. Save it in Markdown. Find it later. Built for the moment when Notion feels too heavy, Obsidian too plugin-hungry, and Google Keep stops finding what you wrote three weeks ago. Throw in URLs, notes, todos, and code as Markdown β€” then find them later by keyword or tag. Need to collaborate? Get Google-Docs-level real-time co-editing. β–  Capture anywhere - Mobile capture button auto-detects URLs, todos, notes - Inbox to triage in batches β–  Precise search - Keyword Β· tag Β· folder Β· title β€” instant, full-text across every note - Edits and deletions stay searchable through version history β–  Markdown editor - One-tap toggle between WYSIWYG and raw Markdown source - Autosave + automatic version history β€” roll back anytime - Dark mode Β· 5 languages (English Β· ν•œκ΅­μ–΄ Β· ζ—₯本θͺž Β· δΈ­ζ–‡ Β· EspaΓ±ol) β–  Collaborate - Invite to a workspace or share by link - Read-only or edit permissions - Real-time co-editing (Pro) β–  Sync everywhere - The same notes on every device - Localized push notifications for new activity - Offline indicator β–  Private by default - Nothing leaves your workspace until you explicitly share - Email signup with verification, Apple & Google sign-in - Granular read / edit permissions β–  Use cases - Researchers β€” papers, clippings, interview notes - Designers β€” references and decisions - Engineers β€” code snippets, architecture, on-call logs - PMs β€” PRDs, meeting notes, OKR wiki - Students β€” lectures, assignments, exam summaries - Writers β€” from idea to draft Stop juggling seven apps to take one note. One mdisco is enough.

About

Beaver Notes

Features
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Beaver Notes is a fast, native client for the open-source Beaver Notes server β€” a self-hosted note wall you run on your own infrastructure. Write markdown notes. Drop in photos, videos and files. Everything lands on your server, nowhere else. No accounts to sign up for, no third-party services, no analytics, no telemetry. FEATURES β€’ Multi-server β€” connect to as many self-hosted Beaver Notes servers as you need and switch between them from the sidebar. β€’ Local-first sync β€” an outbox queue keeps everything working offline and catches up the moment the server comes back. β€’ Markdown editor β€” bold, italic, code, lists, links, headings, with live preview. β€’ Attachments β€” photos, videos, and arbitrary files. Images appear in an adaptive grid with a fullscreen viewer. Inline video playback. β€’ Upload progress β€” per-file and per-message progress overlays, including retry on failure. β€’ Image editor β€” crop, draw, filters, and optional optimization before upload. β€’ Video trim & optimize β€” HEIC and H.265 encoding to keep uploads small. β€’ Quick input β€” a compact composer at the bottom of the wall for fast capture. β€’ Search β€” local full-text search with type, tag, pinned and date filters. β€’ Spotlight β€” your notes are findable from the system search. β€’ Privacy β€” biometric lock with Face ID / Touch ID, auto-lock timeout, and the option to hide previews in the App Switcher. β€’ Storage controls β€” per-server cache size limit and one-tap erase. β€’ Multi-platform β€” adapted layouts for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, with native sidebar, context menus, swipe actions, and keyboard shortcuts. PRIVACY The app talks only to the self-hosted server you configure. No analytics SDKs. No third-party services. No developer-side backend. Read the full privacy policy at https://eduard256.github.io/beaver-notes-apple/PRIVACY.md REQUIREMENTS You need a running Beaver Notes server. The server is open source β€” see https://github.com/eduard256/beaver-notes

Screenshots

mdisco4 screens
Beaver Notes4 screens

Verdict

The call

mdisco and Beaver Notes 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

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

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

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
mdisco versus Beaver Notes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParametermdiscoBeaver Notes
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 4 daysβ€”
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac β€” better
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details β€” not scored
Size19 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DevelopertapahalabArtur Jeremicz

In-app purchases

None

mdisco

No in-app purchases

None

Beaver Notes

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is mdisco free?
mdisco is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Beaver Notes free?
Beaver Notes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do mdisco or Beaver Notes have ads?
Neither mdisco nor Beaver Notes shows ads.

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