Comparison

JoeEditor vs Pad Notes AI

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

Head to head
About

JoeEditor

Read full description

JoeEditor is a fast, minimal text editor for Mac and iPad. Built for people who want to write code, markdown, notes, or anything else without an AI in the corner trying to help. Native, sandboxed, universal. No tracking, no ads, no telemetry. EDITING • Tabbed interface — open as many files as you need, drag to reorder • Markdown preview, side-by-side • Syntax highlighting for Markdown, JSON, YAML, HTML, and CSS • Bracket matching, auto-close, and smart indent • Word wrap toggle (Mac) • Customizable font and theme • Minimal mode — hide every chrome element for a clean writing surface FIND & REPLACE • Standard find with case-sensitive and whole-word options • Regex find and replace • Find across all open tabs in one search TEXT TOOLS • Sort, reverse, deduplicate, and trim lines • Convert case (upper, lower, title) • Encode/decode URL, Base64, and HTML • Tabs ↔ spaces conversion • Add prefix or suffix to every line • Add or remove line breaks by delimiter • Extract a column from delimited text • Remove empty lines or collapse extra spaces • Insert date and time at cursor INSPECTOR • Character info, code points, hex values • File info: encoding, line ending, size • Live word, line, and character counts • Share sheet integration iCLOUD SYNC • Open tabs sync between your Mac and iPad • Settings sync — font, theme, tab bar position, and more • Files in iCloud Drive open natively PRINTING • Native Mac and iPad print • Optional filename header and page-number footer PRIVACY • Zero tracking. Zero ads. Zero data collection. • No telemetry. No analytics. No "anonymous usage statistics." • No AI features. No cloud round-trips. • Sandboxed; only files you explicitly open are read. JoeEditor opens fast, stays out of the way, and lets you get to work.

About

Pad Notes AI

Features
Read full description

Pad Notes AI brings handwriting, typed notes, PDF annotation and a note-focused AI assistant into one workspace on iPhone, iPad and Mac. WRITE AND CREATE Write with Apple Pencil on compatible iPads or draw with touch. Adjust ink and stroke size, highlight, add text and images, and hold a stroke to turn it into an editable shape. Erase whole strokes or just part of them. MAKE EACH NOTEBOOK YOURS Choose from 15 cover styles, 19 page templates and 12 paper colors. Use ruled, dotted, grid, Cornell, planner, music and reading journal pages. Organize notebooks in folders, pin favorites, search your notes, and import or export PDFs. WORK WITH YOUR NOTES Record audio, use transcription and translation, and ask the assistant to summarize, explain or create study questions from selected pages. Apple on-device AI requires a supported device with Apple Intelligence available. Online AI requires your own provider API key and an internet connection. The basic offline mode extracts text and keywords using rules. Start with up to 20 notebooks for free. A one-time lifetime purchase unlocks unlimited notebooks. iCloud sync uses your device's Apple Account and requires iCloud to be available.

Screenshots

Pad Notes AI2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Pad Notes AI at Free against JoeEditor's $3.99. Pad Notes AI also leads on update cadence (daily vs monthly). JoeEditor's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). On ads, 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

Pad Notes AI is free to download; JoeEditor costs $3.99 up front. Pad Notes AI sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. JoeEditor asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

JoeEditor ships an update monthly, Pad Notes AI daily. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 3 level
JoeEditor versus Pad Notes AI: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterJoeEditorPad Notes AI
Price$3.99Free — better
Update frequencyMonthlyDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
DevicesiPad, MaciPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS17.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB685 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJoseph MorganelliHung Tien Pham

In-app purchases

None

JoeEditor

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Pad Notes AI

One-time1
  • Lifetime Access$9.99

Questions

Is JoeEditor free?
JoeEditor costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Pad Notes AI free?
Pad Notes AI is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do JoeEditor or Pad Notes AI have ads?
Neither JoeEditor nor Pad Notes AI shows ads.
Which is updated more often, JoeEditor or Pad Notes AI?
JoeEditor ships an update monthly, and Pad Notes AI daily. Most recently, JoeEditor was updated on October 18, 2026 and Pad Notes AI on October 19, 2026.

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