Ink vs Estratum
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Ink
Transform spoken words into organized notes and lists with AI-powered transcription and editing. Features include collaborative sharing, customizable shelving, and multiple daily planning views. Print beautifully formatted documents and track your productivity habits.
- Voice-to-text transcription
- AI-powered editing
- Collaborative list sharing
- Customizable shelves for organization
- Multiple daily planning views
- Printable notes and lists
- Productivity statistics tracking
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Ink turns your voice into finished notes and lists. No re-typing, no cleanup. Tap the microphone, speak naturally, and watch your words land as a clean list, a note, or a tidy paragraph. Ink shapes the transcript while you watch, so you see the result before it's saved. WHAT'S INCLUDED, WHAT'S PRO Notes, to-dos, reminders, repeats, links, shelves, Markdown export, and iCloud sync are free, no account required. Pro adds dictation with AI formatting, file import, your own templates, version history, a focus timer, ledger mode, the richer copy formats, shared lists, Today layouts you can arrange, font packs, accent colors, and paper tones. Your 14 days of Pro don't begin when you install. They begin the first time you open something Pro, so the two weeks are two weeks you spend. EARLIER VERSIONS OF EVERY PAGE Ink keeps a version of a page as you leave it. Read last week's draft beside today's, lift a paragraph back out, or bring the whole thing back as a new page, which leaves everything you have written since where it is. Stored on your device, the newest 50 per page. THE INDEX AT THE BACK OF THE NOTEBOOK Every unfinished checkbox scattered through your notes, gathered on one page. Every passage you marked, on another. Check something off and it leaves the index on its own. Nothing to file, nothing to keep tidy. TEMPLATES FOR THE THINGS YOU DO AGAIN Turn a list you already keep into one you can run again. Ink clears last time's checkmarks and amounts, then asks for a name and a date, so "book transport seven days before" lands on the right day this time. PULL THE WORDS OUT OF A FILE Send a PDF, a document, or a photo of a page to Ink, or tap + and choose Import, and it reads the words into a note. Ink keeps the words, not the file. Scans and photos are read on your device, so nothing is sent anywhere. ON YOUR WRIST Ink on Apple Watch shows what's due and lets you check it off without reaching for your phone. Put the next thing on your watch face and it's there at a glance. ASK SIRI, WITHOUT OPENING THE APP Say "Add an item to Ink" or "Show my Ink today" and it happens. Every action works in Shortcuts and on the Action Button, and your notes turn up in Spotlight. DATES YOU CAN JUST TYPE Write "Dentist Friday 4pm" or "rent next week" and Ink reads the date and leaves the title clean. A chip shows what it heard, so you can wave it off and keep your exact words. DESIGNED LIKE A BOOK, NOT AN APP Ink draws from print: warm cream paper, ink-dark serif type, the editorial details of well-made books. Four Today layouts to open to, from a newsprint spread to a magazine front page. WRITE IT THE WAY YOU MEAN IT Bold, italic, strikethrough, underline. Section headers. Checklists inside a note, tap a line to check it off. REMINDERS, ONLY IF YOU ASK One quiet notification on the day something is due, at the time you choose. Off by default. Set an item to repeat daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly and it comes back on its own. A TIMER FOR SITTING DOWN TO WORK Set 15, 25, 45, or 60 minutes and Ink keeps a quiet countdown, then sounds a soft chime you choose. SHARE A LIST, KEEP IT IN SYNC Invite another Ink user by email. Check off, add, reorder, even dictate, and both copies stay in sync. A quiet byline shows who added each item. LISTS THAT KEEP A LEDGER Flip a list into Ledger mode and it keeps score. Type signed amounts (+$25, -$10, +200) and Ink totals each section, then the whole list. BRING IT WITH YOU, OR TAKE IT SOMEWHERE ELSE • Import PDFs, HTML, rich text, Markdown, plain text, and photos of a page • Copy any note or list as Markdown, or as plain text, HTML, or rich text with Pro • One-tap JSON backup and one-tap restore • iCloud sync across iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac • Universal purchase, buy once, use everywhere Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://basicapps.tech/privacy
Estratum
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LESS NOISE IN YOUR HEAD. MORE CLARITY IN YOUR DAY. How much energy do you spend trying not to forget an appointment, an idea, a task or a small detail you may need later? Estratum reduces that mental load. Write down what is on your mind and get back to your day: it saves it, organizes it and helps you find it when it matters again. CAPTURE BEFORE IT SLIPS AWAY Write, dictate or photograph a printed appointment, a receipt, a whiteboard or a set of instructions. No folders, categories or tags to prepare. Organization happens afterwards. AI DOES THE INVISIBLE WORK Estratum recognizes notes, tasks, appointments, deadlines, expenses, ideas and memories. You capture the moment; the app brings order to it. Search by meaning retrieves the context even when you do not repeat the exact words you wrote. Ask “What did we decide about Atlas?” or “What do I have tomorrow?” and open the notes behind the answer. CAPTURE WITH SIRI, TOO Save a note with Siri or Shortcuts without finding the app first. Text is saved before confirmation and organized when Estratum opens. Voice and dictation depend on Apple. YOUR DAY, IN ONE THREAD See appointments, tasks and dated items in a timeline centered on today. Move into the past or future and return to today when you need to. MORE ROOM, ON IPAD AND IPHONE DUO TOO On iPad and an open iPhone Duo, keep your timeline in view while writing. Notes shows list and detail together; Calendar pairs the month with your agenda. Close Duo to return to one column. When partially folded, content stays clear of the hinge. Draft text survives display changes. YOUR MEMORY CAN LIVE ON YOUR DEVICE With a local engine, Estratum organizes, searches and answers on-device. After the initial download it can work without internet: your notes are not sent to a server, no account is required, and there are no token or query fees. Local AI depends on device compatibility and memory. Below 6 GB RAM, Qwen is not offered; Apple's model appears only when available. Without a compatible local engine, you need to configure your own external-provider API key, subject to that provider's fees. If you prefer an external provider, connect your own OpenAI or OpenRouter key. The app warns you before sending the required context to the provider you choose. On compatible systems and devices, Apple PCC is another optional cloud engine: it requires consent and internet, may send text and context to Apple, and has a quota separate from Pro. ESTRATUM REMEMBERS FOR YOU. PRO NOTICES, TOO. Free includes the same AI, every engine, unlimited saves, basic reminders and 7 questions per week. Estratum Pro adds unlimited questions, Knowledge Map, Journal, reminders that choose a useful lead time, and automatic Home/Work switching. Unlock it with one purchase—no subscription or recurring fee. Designed for people with ADHD, neurodivergent minds and anyone living with a high mental load. Estratum does not diagnose or treat any condition. YOUR LIFE IS YOURS The main database lives on your device. With Pro, Apple Calendar integration is optional and writes to a separate calendar. No ads. No selling your data. Write it down. Estratum takes care of the order.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is device support: Ink at 4 against Estratum's 2. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Ink sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Estratum sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Ink ships an update every 5 days, Estratum every 9 days. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.
| Parameter | Ink | Estratum |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 3 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Every 9 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 55 MB | 28 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Sean Trapani | LyXeoN |
In-app purchases
Ink
- Ink Monthly$4.991 Month
- Ink Annual$49.991 Year
Estratum
- Estratum Pro — Lifetime$24.99









