Comparison

Fountain Notes vs Beaver Notes

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

Head to head
About

Fountain Notes

Features
Read full description

Fountain Notes opens to a blank note so you can get an idea out before it slips away. No formatting maze. No folders to manage. No decision fatigue before the thought is even written. Write the note, file it away, and move on. Fountain Notes keeps old notes organized automatically and hidden from view until you need them. Search and the drawer are there when you want to find something, but they do not crowd the writing surface. Built for quick ideas, tiny reminders, quotes, fragments, and the little thoughts that usually vanish while you are deciding where they belong. Fountain Notes is intentionally small: - Blank note first - Fast local saving - One thought at a time - Clean search - Calm history drawer A quiet place to catch the thing and keep going.

About

Beaver Notes

Features
Read full description

Beaver Notes is a fast, native client for the open-source Beaver Notes server โ€” 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 โ€ข Multi-server โ€” connect to as many self-hosted Beaver Notes servers as you need and switch between them from the sidebar. โ€ข Local-first sync โ€” an outbox queue keeps everything working offline and catches up the moment the server comes back. โ€ข Markdown editor โ€” bold, italic, code, lists, links, headings, with live preview. โ€ข Attachments โ€” photos, videos, and arbitrary files. Images appear in an adaptive grid with a fullscreen viewer. Inline video playback. โ€ข Upload progress โ€” per-file and per-message progress overlays, including retry on failure. โ€ข Image editor โ€” crop, draw, filters, and optional optimization before upload. โ€ข Video trim & optimize โ€” HEIC and H.265 encoding to keep uploads small. โ€ข Quick input โ€” a compact composer at the bottom of the wall for fast capture. โ€ข Search โ€” local full-text search with type, tag, pinned and date filters. โ€ข Spotlight โ€” your notes are findable from the system search. โ€ข Privacy โ€” biometric lock with Face ID / Touch ID, auto-lock timeout, and the option to hide previews in the App Switcher. โ€ข Storage controls โ€” per-server cache size limit and one-tap erase. โ€ข Multi-platform โ€” 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 โ€” see https://github.com/eduard256/beaver-notes

Screenshots

Fountain Notes2 screens
Beaver Notes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: Beaver Notes at 3 against Fountain Notes's 1. On price, ads, in-app purchases and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

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

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 5 level
Fountain Notes versus Beaver Notes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFountain NotesBeaver Notes
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 5 daysโ€”
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, Mac โ€” better
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size2 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBrandon WilsonArtur Jeremicz

In-app purchases

None

Fountain Notes

No in-app purchases

None

Beaver Notes

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Fountain Notes free?
Fountain Notes 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 Fountain Notes or Beaver Notes have ads?
Neither Fountain Notes nor Beaver Notes shows ads.

Other comparisons