Benchpad vs Slips

Benchpad is a scratchpad, not a second brain. Three pads. You name them — Work / Personal / Scratch, Today / This Week / Someday, whatever fits your head. No folders, no tags, no filing decisions. Open, type, close. WRITE WITHOUT DECIDING Every note app asks "where does this go?" before you've written a word. Benchpad doesn't. Three pads means the decision is already made. WORKS ON A PLANE Offline-first, not offline-tolerant. Every keystroke saves to your device before any network request. Sync happens in the background when you're online — and merges conflict-free if you edited on two devices at once. CONSTRAINT IS THE PRODUCT Benchpad is for people who want to write things down — not maintain a system. A note app that knows when to stop. When you can't create infinite folders, you write instead of organizing. Constraint isn't a compromise. It's the product. A REAL EDITOR Headings, checklists, tables, code blocks with syntax highlighting, images, file attachments all with slash commands and a block editor. NO AI. NO ADS. NO DATA MINING. Nothing reads, summarizes, or trains on your notes. Notes are encrypted at rest. Plain markdown — copy everything out anytime, no lock-in. FREE FOREVER, REALLY One pad, the full editor, offline support, sync, and an archive of 100 notes — free, no credit card, no time limit. Pro ($10/year flat) unlocks all three pads, all six themes, attachments, voice-note audio, and Markdown/PDF export. Benchpad is for people who want to write things down — not maintain a system. A note app that knows when to stop.

Slips — Five notes, made yours Five slips. That's all. Slips is a notes app built on a simple idea: five fixed notes are enough for the things you actually return to, and few enough that you always know where everything is. No folders to organize, no archive to dig through, no blank-page guilt. Pick a slip and write. MADE YOURS Name each slip, choose an icon from hundreds of symbols, and give it a color. Groceries, Books, Trips, Meds, Faith, Projects, whatever your five are. Reorder them any time. ALWAYS IN SYNC Your slips live in your own private iCloud and stay current on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Edit on one device, and it's on the others. Nothing is collected, nothing is tracked, and there are no accounts to create. BACKED UP, JUST IN CASE Every device quietly saves a daily backup of your slips, keeping the last three. Restoring takes one tap, and a safety copy is made first, so even a restore can be undone. You can also export your slips to a file and keep it anywhere. RICH WHERE IT COUNTS Bold, italic, underline, highlight, headers, bulleted and numbered lists, tap-to-check checklists, dividers, and links that turn into preview cards. FAST WAYS IN Add to a slip from any app with the share sheet. Automate with Siri and Shortcuts. Put a slip on your Home Screen or Lock Screen with widgets, or capture instantly from Control Center. AT HOME ON THE MAC A real Mac app: your slips in the sidebar, formatting in the menu bar, Cmd+1 through Cmd+5 to switch slips, an optional menu bar icon, and sharing straight from Safari. SIMPLE PRICING Try a single Slip for free forever. Slips Plus unlocks all five. One purchase covers iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and is shareable with your family. Slips Plus subscriptions renew automatically until canceled in your App Store account settings, at least 24 hours before the current period ends. Lifetime is a one-time purchase. Privacy policy: https://mattlangford.com/slips-privacy Terms of use: Apple's standard EULA Support: https://mattlangford.com/slips-support