Comparison

Second Brain vs Second Brain Vault

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

Head to head
About

Second Brain

Features
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Second Brain is your offline-first personal knowledge management app. Capture every idea, note, and insight β€” and never lose a thought again. No ads. No tracking. No account required. Your data stays on your device. FEATURES: β€’ Rich Notes β€” Write with Markdown support, add images, link notes together β€’ Collections β€” Organize notes into collections with icons and colors β€’ Tags β€” Tag anything for instant filtering β€’ Daily Notes β€” One note per day, automatically created β€’ Goals β€” Track personal goals with milestones and progress β€’ Book Notes β€” Capture key takeaways from books you read β€’ Quotes β€” Save your favorite quotes β€’ Knowledge Graph β€” See how your ideas connect visually β€’ Bi-directional Links β€” Link notes and see backlinks automatically β€’ Full-Text Search β€” Find anything instantly β€’ Favorites & Archive β€” Star important notes, archive the rest β€’ Quick Capture β€” Capture thoughts from the home screen widget β€’ Face ID / Touch ID β€” Lock your app for privacy β€’ iCloud Backup β€” Optional, off by default β€’ Export β€” PDF, CSV, Markdown β€’ 15 Languages β€” English, Turkish, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Arabic, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Russian PRIVACY FIRST: Second Brain collects zero data. No analytics, no tracking SDKs, no servers. Everything lives on your device. PREMIUM (one-time purchase): Unlock unlimited notes, collections, Knowledge Graph, exports, Face ID, and home screen widgets with a single lifetime purchase.

About

Second Brain Vault

Features
Read full description

Second Brain Vault isn't another folder-organizing app. You just save β€” the on-device AI files it for you and finds it back later when you ask in plain language. A private memory vault that lives entirely on your iPhone. We're all good at saving. The real question was always "where did I put that?" Second Brain Vault flips the order: you save, the AI organizes and recalls. HOW IT WORKS β€’ Save in one tap β€” a note, a photo, a voice memo, a PDF, or a web link. Anything, instantly, into your vault. β€’ AI organizes it for you β€” every saved item gets a title, a summary, a category, and tags, automatically. Photos are read with OCR, voice is transcribed, PDFs and links have their text extracted. β€’ Recall like a person β€” ask "that real-estate article I read last year," "the best cold-noodle place I saved," "the app idea I jotted last month," and it finds the right memory. It's hybrid retrieval β€” semantic meaning plus keywords plus recency β€” so it works even when you don't remember the exact words. β€’ It grows with you β€” Insights show your top topics and saving trends, and every week the AI writes a short Retrospective of what you saved. The more you save, the higher your Brain Level. WHAT'S INSIDE β€’ Home β€” today's and recent items, plus a one-line AI insight β€’ Quick capture β€” five kinds: note, photo, audio, PDF, link β€’ Natural-language Recall β€” hybrid semantic + keyword + recency ranking β€’ Insights β€” top topics, save volume, Brain Level growth β€’ Weekly Retrospective β€” an AI recap of your week of memories β€’ Automatic categories & tags β€” organized without you filing anything PRIVACY BY CONSTRUCTION Everything is processed on this iPhone. Because it uses Apple's on-device AI (Foundation Models), your notes, photos, voice and documents never leave the device. No account, no server, no ads, no tracking. The only time it uses the internet is to fetch the page of a web link you choose to save. APPLE INTELLIGENCE REQUIRED Auto-organizing, natural-language search, Insights and the Retrospective run on Apple-Intelligence-capable devices. On other devices you can still save and search by keyword; the AI features show an "Apple Intelligence required" state. START FREE, UNLOCK WHEN YOU NEED IT Free: up to 100 items, full on-device AI organizing & search on all 100, every capture type, Insights and Brain Level included. Pro (β‚©6,600 / year): unlimited saves, iCloud backup & sync, weekly Retrospective history, and more. Lifetime (β‚©29,000, one-time): everything in Pro, forever, no renewal. You save it; Second Brain Vault remembers it. Drop in your first memory today. β–  Device requirements AI auto-organizing and semantic (meaning-based) search require an Apple Intelligence–capable device β€” iPhone 15 Pro / 15 Pro Max and iPhone 16/17 or later, iOS 26 or later. On other devices, saving and keyword search still work fully. Everything is processed on-device; nothing is ever sent off your iPhone. β–  Terms of Use (EULA) https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://blue-code.github.io/legal/second-brain-vault/privacy.en.html

Screenshots

Second Brain4 screens
Second Brain Vault4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: Second Brain at 3 against Second Brain Vault's 1. Second Brain also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. Second Brain sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Second Brain Vault sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Scorecard2 real differences Β· 4 level
Second Brain versus Second Brain Vault: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSecond BrainSecond Brain Vault
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsβ€”
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod β€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 β€” better26.0
Further details β€” not scored
Size25 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSelahattin BozatByoungho Kim

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Second Brain

One-time1
  • Second Brain Premium$9.99
1 purchases

Second Brain Vault

One-time1
  • Second Brain Vault (Lifetime)$17.99

Questions

Is Second Brain free?
Second Brain is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Second Brain Vault free?
Second Brain Vault is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Second Brain or Second Brain Vault have ads?
Neither Second Brain nor Second Brain Vault shows ads.

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