Comparison

Folio vs Sidenote

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

Head to head
About

Folio

Capture, organize, and secure your thoughts with a beautiful note-taking app. Features include folders, tags, and device synchronization. Keep your private notes safe with passcode and biometric locking.

Highlights
  • Capture notes quickly
  • Organize with folders and tags
  • Lock private notes with passcode/biometrics
  • Sync across all devices
  • Offline note-taking
  • Light and dark mode
Features
Read full description

Beautiful notes with folders, tags, locking, and sync across all your devices. Capture in a tap Open the app, tap once, and start writing. Pick a color, format the way you like, and Folio saves automatically. Nothing is ever lost. Organize when you're ready Drop notes into folders. Add tags so you can find things later. Pin the ones that matter most, favorite the ones you keep coming back to. Filter your wall by tag, folder, or color in a single tap. Keep private notes private Lock any note with a 4-digit passcode. Unlock with Face ID, Touch ID, or fingerprint when you need it. Wherever you are Your notes sync across all your devices. Write offline on a flight or in the subway, Folio catches up the moment you're back online. Made to feel good Light and dark mode. Smooth, thoughtful animations. Search that finds what you mean. A trash that holds onto deleted notes for 30 days, just in case.

About

Sidenote

Features
Read full description

Some thoughts don't need a folder, a title, or a five-step workflow. They just need to be written down before they disappear. Sidenote is a quiet capture app for the in-between moments - the reminder you think of on a walk, the sentence that arrives in the shower, the idea you don't want to lose before you reach your desk. Open the app, start typing, tap Done. Your thought drops into a simple stream, timestamped and waiting whenever you scroll back. No accounts. No sync. No noise. Everything stays on your iPhone. CAPTURE WITHOUT FRICTION Sidenote opens ready to write. A single prompt, a clean canvas, and nothing else competing for your attention. When you're done, your thought settles into your stream with a subtle, satisfying motion - then the screen is clear again for whatever comes next. Drafts are saved automatically, so if you're interrupted mid-thought, nothing is lost. YOUR THOUGHT STREAM Scroll down to revisit earlier sidenotes, grouped by day with timestamps. Search when you need to find something specific. Edit a note, share it, or remove it with a long press. Export your entire stream as plain text whenever you want a copy outside the app. Removed sidenotes stay on your device for 30 days, so you can restore them if you change your mind. GO LIVE Pin any sidenote to your Lock Screen and Dynamic Island with Go Live. Keep a reminder, a phrase, or an idea in sight for up to eight hours - without opening the app again. Choose a default or clear appearance to match how you want it to look on your Lock Screen. HOME SCREEN WIDGET Add a Sidenote widget to see your latest thought at a glance. Tap it to jump straight back into your stream. MAKE IT YOURS • Light, Dark, or System appearance • Font choices: System, New York, Georgia, or Mono • Adjustable text size across the app, widget, and Live Activity • Thoughtful haptics and animations (respects Reduce Motion) Sidenote is designed to feel calm, fast, and personal - like jotting something in the margin of your day. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Sidenote keeps your thoughts on this iPhone. There is no account to create, no server to sync to, and no data leaving your device. Your sidenotes belong to you. Built for people who think in fragments, capture in bursts, and want a place that stays out of the way until they need it. Start typing.

Screenshots

Folio4 screens
Sidenote4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Sidenote at none against Folio's shown. Sidenote also leads on update cadence (every 8 days vs every 2 months). Folio's advantage is iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.0). On price, 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Folio ships an update every 2 months, Sidenote every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 6 level
Folio versus Sidenote: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFolioSidenote
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 8 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.1 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size47 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZluck SolutionsAlexander James Walters

In-app purchases

None

Folio

No in-app purchases

None

Sidenote

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Folio free?
Folio is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Sidenote free?
Sidenote is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Folio or Sidenote have ads?
Folio shows ads; Sidenote does not.
Which is updated more often, Folio or Sidenote?
Folio ships an update every 2 months, and Sidenote every 8 days. Most recently, Folio was updated on October 19, 2026 and Sidenote on October 20, 2026.

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