Comparison

JotBox vs Peel

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

Head to head
About

JotBox

A fast, local-first scratchpad for quick notes, drafts, and lists. Offers rich text formatting, image attachments, and powerful search. Notes are private by default, with optional iCloud sync and backups.

Highlights
  • Rich text formatting
  • Image and camera capture
  • Full-text search and filters
  • Note locking and read-only mode
  • Export to multiple formats
  • Optional iCloud sync and backup
Features
Read full description

Your thoughts, minus the filing cabinet. JotBox is a fast, private scratchpad for the thoughts you need to catch before they disappear. Open the app and start typing. A blank page is always ready, notes live in one simple timeline, and structure appears only when it helps. WRITE AND FORMAT - Bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, text color, and highlight - Headings (H1, H2, H3) with # shortcuts and a collapsible outline for jumping through long notes - Bullets, numbered lists, and checklists you can tick without raising the keyboard - Left, center, justified, and right alignment, plus indent and outdent - Links, and inline images from your photo library, camera, pasteboard, or the Share Sheet - Rearrange the formatting bar to put your favorite tools first PASTE AND COPY CLEANLY - Formatted paste keeps headings, emphasis, links, and lists while dropping foreign fonts and colors - Paste from Markdown turns Markdown into real formatting - Copy a whole note or a selection as Markdown FIND AND ORGANIZE - Full-text search with snippets and highlights - Pin notes, reorder them, or sort by most recent - Lock private notes with a password and optional Face ID - Mark reference notes read-only - Keep tags protect important notes from automatic Recycle Bin cleanup - Undo a delete, or restore notes from the Recycle Bin KEEP YOUR NOTES YOURS - No account required - Optional live sync through your private iCloud account - Separate iCloud Drive backups and a restorable backup file - Export as text, Markdown, or PDF - No ads and no analytics JotBox runs on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, with keyboard shortcuts throughout. Try everything free for 7 days. JotBox Pro is a one-time $3.99 unlock for editing, creating and managing notes, and rich attachments. No subscription. Your existing notes always stay viewable, copyable, shareable, and exportable.

About

Peel

Features
Read full description

Your notes deserve a new home. Import saved .postit archives, preview your notes and groups, and keep your ideas moving. Capture paper sticky notes, turn handwriting into searchable text, and organize everything into boards that make sense to you. BRING YOUR BOARDS Open previously exported .postit files from Files, one at a time or from a folder. Preview archives before importing. Saving imported boards requires Peel Pro. CAPTURE THE WHOLE WALL Take a photo or choose up to 20 from your library. Peel finds individual sticky notes, crops and straightens them, and keeps their colors. Add a missed note later from the original capture. SEARCH YOUR HANDWRITING On-device recognition turns handwriting into editable text. Add typed notes and search across your boards. ORGANIZE IDEAS Group and move notes in free-form or grid layouts. Edit text, colors and sizes; duplicate or combine boards. TAKE YOUR WORK FURTHER Export boards as PDF, PPTX, Excel, CSV, plain text, an image or a ZIP of note images. Share a note or a board. START FOR FREE Capture, handwriting recognition, editing, search, iCloud sync and your first personal board are free. Peel Pro lets you add more boards, save imported boards, and export or share your work. Peel is independent and is not affiliated with 3M or the Post-it brand. It cannot restore data from another app's account or service. Terms of Use: https://taxlite.net/peel/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://taxlite.net/peel/privacy.html

Screenshots

JotBox4 screens
Peel4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Peel at daily against JotBox's every 5 weeks. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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

Both are free to download. JotBox sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Peel sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

JotBox ships an update every 5 weeks, Peel daily. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 8 level
JotBox versus Peel: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterJotBoxPeel
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDaniel BragilevskyZHENGQIAO JIANG

In-app purchases

1 purchases

JotBox

One-time1
  • JotBox Pro$3.99
3 purchases

Peel

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Yearly$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$39.99

Questions

Is JotBox free?
JotBox is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Peel free?
Peel is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do JotBox or Peel have ads?
Neither JotBox nor Peel shows ads.
Which is updated more often, JotBox or Peel?
JotBox ships an update every 5 weeks, and Peel daily. Most recently, JotBox was updated on October 24, 2026 and Peel on October 29, 2026.

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