Comparison

relnote vs PrivacyNotes

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

Head to head
About

relnote

Features
Read full description

One calm app for everything you think, write, and remember — private by design. Relnote brings your notes, ideas, and knowledge into a single elegant workspace. Write in clean Markdown, connect your thinking with #tags and [[wikilinks]], and see it come together in a visual graph. Then lock anything you want behind zero-knowledge encryption that not even we can read. WRITE THE WAY YOU THINK - Clean Markdown editor: headings, lists, checkboxes, bold and italic. - Inline math with $...$ for quick formulas. - Draw inside any note — sketch a diagram or jot an idea by hand. - Voice notes: dictate and it becomes text. - OCR: snap a photo and pull the text straight out of it. ORGANIZE WITHOUT FRICTION - Notebooks to group related notes. - #tags that auto-link as you type. - [[wikilinks]] between notes — tap to jump, or create a new note on the spot. - Quick switcher: find any note by title in a keystroke. - Local-first and fully offline — your notes are always there. SEE THE BIGGER PICTURE - Brain view: a living graph of how your notes connect. - Mood line: on-device sentiment of your writing over time — your journal's emotional arc, computed privately with no server AI. - Daily note: today's calendar events pulled in automatically. BRING IN WHAT MATTERS - Import EPUB or PDF — each chapter becomes its own note. - Presentation mode: turn any note into clean slides in seconds. PRIVATE BY DESIGN - Zero-knowledge end-to-end encryption (AES-256) for any note or notebook. - Optional biometric unlock with Face ID or Touch ID. - Everything is encrypted on-device. Nobody — not even us — can read your content. - End-to-end encrypted sync keeps your notes in step across your devices, still unreadable to us. - Share a note through a secure link, only when you choose to. Because your encryption is zero-knowledge, only you hold the key. If you forget your password, no one — including us — can recover that content. That is what private means. Whether you keep a private journal, a diary, a second brain, or a knowledge base of ideas, Relnote stays elegant, fast, and genuinely secure. A serious markdown notes app and note organizer that respects what you write. Relnote is free and ad-supported.

About

PrivacyNotes

Securely manage your notes, tasks, and journal with end-to-end encryption. This app ensures your data is private by design, with no trackers or ads. It works offline and syncs encrypted across your devices without requiring an account.

Highlights
  • Zero-knowledge encryption
  • Markdown-native notes
  • Task management
  • Private journaling
  • Offline functionality
  • Cross-device sync
Features
Read full description

One encrypted home for everything you would never post. Your 12-word recovery phrase is your key, and with self-custody not even we can read a word. Seven pillars, one key: - Notes: rich editor, tags, note-links, instant search - Tasks: every checkbox in one view - Journal: mood, sleep and medication tracking - Vault: passwords, cards, SSH keys - Files: encrypted photos, documents, audio, video - Bookmarks: your saved links, with icons - Contacts: an address book that stays private Private by design: - Zero-knowledge encryption, data stored in Switzerland - Open source, no trackers, no ads - Works offline, syncs across all your devices - No email needed: a recovery phrase is enough Free forever on 2 devices. Pro is a one-time purchase, not a subscription. Privacy Policy: https://lifetimelabs.dev/privacy/ Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

relnote4 screens
PrivacyNotes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: relnote at none against PrivacyNotes's 4. PrivacyNotes's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 3 days vs every 3 months). On price, device support and iOS requirement 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. PrivacyNotes sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per year. relnote asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

relnote ships an update every 3 months, PrivacyNotes every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 6 level
relnote versus PrivacyNotes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterrelnotePrivacyNotes
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 3 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
Monetization—Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16 — better17.4
Further details — not scored
Size92 MB12 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRELTECO TEKNOLOJI SANAYI VE TICARET LIMITED SIRKETILifetime Labs LLC

In-app purchases

None

relnote

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

PrivacyNotes

Subscriptions3
  • 1 GB Encrypted Storage$4.991 Year
  • 2 GB Encrypted Storage$8.991 Year
  • 5 GB Encrypted Storage$17.991 Year
One-time1
  • PrivacyNotes Pro$49.99

Questions

Is relnote free?
relnote is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is PrivacyNotes free?
PrivacyNotes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do relnote or PrivacyNotes have ads?
relnote shows ads; PrivacyNotes does not.
Which is updated more often, relnote or PrivacyNotes?
relnote ships an update every 3 months, and PrivacyNotes every 3 days. Most recently, relnote was updated on October 15, 2026 and PrivacyNotes on October 7, 2026.

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