Shard vs AppendX
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side β with what reviewers say about each.
Shard
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Capture notes to Obsidian in seconds. Open. Type. Done. Shard gives you a fast path from a thought to plain Markdown in your Obsidian vault. After setup, it opens to a focused capture field with the keyboard ready. QUICK CAPTURE β’ Add notes or tasks to your daily note β’ Use common Daily Notes and Periodic Notes folder and date settings β’ Write directly to vaults in iCloud Drive, Obsidian Sync, or on your device β’ Keep text captures queued on your device when the vault is temporarily unavailable TASKS β’ Manage Markdown checkboxes from your phone β’ Add due dates and times β’ Filter by Today, Overdue, Upcoming, or No Date β’ Create subtasks and move completed tasks under βCompletedβ WEB CLIPPER β’ Save webpage links from the Share Sheet β’ Open the live page in Shard β’ Add bullet notes to a linked Markdown note FREE β’ Quick capture for notes and tasks β’ Task management β’ Web link clipping β’ Lock Screen buttons for New Post and New Task SHARD PLUS β’ Local reminders for tasks with a due date and time β’ Home Screen task widgets for today and overdue β’ Custom Post templates and destinations β’ Post and Task actions in Shortcuts and the Share Sheet β’ Image attachments and custom clip destinations PRIVATE BY DESIGN No Shard account. No analytics. No tracking. Your content is written directly to the vault you choose. If a text capture cannot be written immediately, it waits locally on your device. Shard works with plain Markdown, so your notes stay portable and there is no proprietary format. Obsidian is a trademark of Dynalist Inc. Shard is an independent app and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Dynalist Inc. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
AppendX
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You find a link worth saving. You read a quote worth keeping. You discover a band worth remembering. By the time you switch apps, find the right file, and paste it in β you've lost your train of thought. AppendX gives you two ways to get it down. Share from any app on your iPhone, or open AppendX and capture a thought that isn't on screen anywhere. Either way it lands in exactly the right markdown file, formatted exactly how you want it. SMART TARGETS Set up your destinations once β a file for books, one for links, one for ideas. Each with its own emoji, format, and file. AppendX reads your files' headings to name targets automatically, and suggests icons as you type. LISTS, BLOCKS, OR YOUR OWN FORMAT Capture as a clean list item that adapts to whatever you share, a block that keeps every piece of data, or build a custom template with tokens. A live preview shows exactly what will land in your file β before you commit. PASTE AS MARKDOWN Copy a paragraph from the web and paste it into AppendX. Bold stays bold. Links stay links. iOS hands most apps plain text and drops the formatting β AppendX reads the clipboard's HTML instead, so what you copied is what you keep. TYPE, TALK, OR PASTE Capture mode opens straight to a text field. Type it, dictate it with the keyboard's microphone, or paste formatted text from anywhere. SMART CAPTURE Different apps share data differently β AppendX sorts it out. Clean URLs with tracking junk stripped. Real titles instead of bare hostnames. Selected text recovered even when apps bury it in odd places. What you meant to save is what gets saved. NEVER LOSE DATA Every capture is queued locally before it's written. If iCloud hiccups, your capture waits safely and syncs when your files are reachable. A full history shows everything you've captured and its status. WORKS WITH YOUR SETUP Any app that stores markdown files: Obsidian, iA Writer, 1Writer, or a plain folder. iCloud Drive or on-device storage. No account, no analytics, no server β your notes never leave your control. Free, with an optional tip jar if it earns a place in your routine.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Shard at every 5 days against AppendX's every 2 weeks. Shard also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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
Both are free to download. Shard sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and AppendX sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Shard ships an update every 5 days, AppendX every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Shard | AppendX |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days β better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad β better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 β better | 26.0 |
| Further details β not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Daiki Yamaguchi | Michael Susz |
In-app purchases
Shard
- Shard Plus (Monthly)7 Days trial$2.991 Month
- Shard Plus (Yearly)7 Days trial$24.991 Year
- Shard Plus (Lifetime)$59.99
AppendX
- Buy me a coffee$0.99
- Buy me a burrito$4.99
- Buy me lunch$9.99









