Shell Notes vs Vault Notes

Encrypted notes that never leave your device. No cloud, no account, no tracking. Shell Notes is a private, offline notes app with one sharp focus: keep your writing local, encrypted, and yours alone — in a fast markdown and code editor with a calm, dark, developer-flavored theme. · Real AES-256-GCM encryption (audited open-source crypto: @noble/ciphers, @noble/hashes), keyed off your passphrase via PBKDF2-SHA256. · A master passphrase only you know. No recovery, by design — there is no backdoor and no copy of your data. · App-lock with optional Face ID. · Plain text, Markdown,JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, JSON, Shell, HTTP and CSS syntax highlighting. · Folders, starring, pinning, full-text search. · Eleven monospace typefaces — JetBrains Mono, Fira Code, IBM Plex Mono, Source Code Pro, Ubuntu Mono, Inconsolata, Anonymous Pro, Space Mono, Roboto Mono, VT323, and a default UI font. · A subtle scanline overlay you can switch off. · No analytics. No advertising. No sign-up, no email, no phone number. · No cloud sync, no remote model calls, no leakage. Your notes, folders and search index stay on this device. Export your vault to JSON through the iOS share sheet whenever you choose — nothing leaves otherwise. Shell Notes protects your notes at rest, on this device, with strong encryption. If you forget your passphrase, your locked notes are gone — there is no recovery. If your unlocked iPhone is in someone else's hands, the app is only as safe as your iOS lock screen and the auto-lock setting you choose inside Shell Notes. For developers, journalists, and anyone who closes an app the moment it asks for an email address. Quiet, local, yours. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://shellnotes.surge.sh/privacy

Vault Notes is a private notes app built on plain Markdown. Your notes are real .md files stored locally, (and with Pro, in your own Google Drive), not rows in a database we control. We run no servers and never see what you write. WRITE WITHOUT FRICTION Live Markdown editing. Headings, bold, and checklists render as you type. Daily notes are one tap away, so journaling and quick capture stay fast. Banners, callouts, code blocks, footnotes, highlights, and LaTeX math. Paste a link and get a clean preview card. Rename the title to whatever you want. Attach images, PDFs, and GIFs. Read PDFs a page at a time. YOURS, ORGANIZED Folders and subfolders, pinned notes, instant search. Connect notes with [[wikilinks]], or embed one note inside another. Chain notes like chapters with Previous / Next follow-ups. Canvas boards when you need to think spatially. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Public View hides your private notes and images, either on a schedule or with one tap. Hand your phone to someone and don't worry about it. Mark any note or folder Private. Blur the images you'd rather not show. No analytics. No tracking. Nothing phones home. MAKE IT YOURS Features are plugins, so toggle math, callouts, timelines, and image styling as you like. Accent colors that follow you across devices. Apple Pencil sketch notes on iPad. VAULT PRO (optional subscription) Two-way sync between iPhone, iPad, and desktop, all through your own Google Drive. Version history and attachment sync included. Your notes move through your cloud. We never host or read them. Vault Notes is built by one person who uses it every day, and it shows. Download it, write something in it, see if it fits.