Comparison

PinNote vs Dabbly

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

Head to head
About

PinNote

Features
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PinNote turns your daily notes into Live Activities, right there on your Lock Screen, without unlocking your phone. Create a daily note in seconds. It appears instantly on your Lock Screen. Note: iPhone clears Lock Screen live activities after up to 8 hours. As long as you open PinNote at least every 8 hours, your notes refresh on their own and stay pinned for good. Nothing is ever lost. FEATURES โ€” Inline editing directly in the list โ€” Gesture-based: swipe to edit or delete, drag to reorder, pull to create โ€” Custom colors, fonts, and text alignment โ€” Up to 5 notes on your Lock Screen at once โ€” Add a note directly from Control Center โ€” one tap, anywhere HOW IT WORKS PinNote is for your daily notes, the quick things you want in sight all day. Each note is a Live Activity. Add a note โ†’ it pins to your Lock Screen. Done with it โ†’ swipe it away and it will appear as "done". Tick a note to switch it between to do and done. Only to dos show on your Lock Screen. Clear one from your Lock Screen and it's marked done automatically. FREE TRIAL Try every feature free for 7 days. After that, choose your plan: โ€” One-time purchase: unlock forever, no recurring fees. โ€” Monthly plan: low monthly subscription, cancel anytime. Made with love in Brussels, by Quentin Hocdรฉ. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Dabbly

Features
Read full description

Dabbly is the fastest way to jot down your day. Open the app and you're already on today's note โ€” no menus, no setup. Type a bullet, check it off, move on. Everything you write is saved instantly and works completely offline. WHY DABBLY โ€ข Daily by design. Each day gets a fresh note, so your thoughts stay organized by when you had them. โ€ข Check things off. Turn any line into a to-do and tick it when it's done. โ€ข Folders for what matters. Group notes into folders โ€” work, recipes, trips, anything โ€” and drag notes in with a tap. โ€ข Whiteboards. Sketch a diagram or doodle an idea with freehand drawing, right alongside your notes. โ€ข Look back anytime. Your history keeps every day you've written, easy to scroll through. BUILT TO BE FAST AND PRIVATE โ€ข Offline-first. Everything is stored on your device and opens instantly โ€” no waiting on the network. โ€ข Optional sync. Sign in with just your email (a quick code, no password) and your notes sync securely across your devices. โ€ข Your data, yours. No ads, no tracking, no selling your information. Export a full backup whenever you want. Whether it's a daily to-do list, a running journal, quick meeting notes, or a place to keep your ideas, Dabbly stays out of your way so you can just write. Simple. Fast. Yours.

Screenshots

PinNote4 screens
Dabbly3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Dabbly at none against PinNote's 2. Dabbly also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.6). On price, update cadence, ads and device support 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. PinNote sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.00 per month. Dabbly asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PinNote ships an update every 2 weeks, Dabbly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences ยท 4 level
PinNote versus Dabbly: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPinNoteDabbly
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks โ€” betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo โ€” better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPod โ€” better
Requires iOS18.615.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size2 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperQuentin HocdeJohn Gillespie

In-app purchases

2 purchases

PinNote

Subscriptions1
  • PinNote Monthly$2.001 Month
One-time1
  • PinNote Lifetime$5.99
None

Dabbly

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is PinNote free?
PinNote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Dabbly free?
Dabbly is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do PinNote or Dabbly have ads?
Neither PinNote nor Dabbly shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PinNote or Dabbly?
PinNote ships an update every 2 weeks, and Dabbly every 3 weeks. Most recently, PinNote was updated on November 5, 2026 and Dabbly on October 31, 2026.

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