Comparison

Shard vs AppendX

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

Head to head
About

Shard

Features
Read full description

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 β€œCompleted” 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/

About

AppendX

Features
Read full description

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

Shard4 screens
AppendX4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

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

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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

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.

Scorecard2 real differences Β· 4 level
Shard versus AppendX: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShardAppendX
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 5 days β€” betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad β€” better
Requires iOS17.0 β€” better26.0
Further details β€” not scored
Size6 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDaiki YamaguchiMichael Susz

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Shard

Subscriptions2
  • Shard Plus (Monthly)7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Shard Plus (Yearly)7 Days trial$24.991 Year
One-time1
  • Shard Plus (Lifetime)$59.99
3 purchases

AppendX

One-time3
  • Buy me a coffee$0.99
  • Buy me a burrito$4.99
  • Buy me lunch$9.99

Questions

Is Shard free?
Shard is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is AppendX free?
AppendX is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Shard or AppendX have ads?
Neither Shard nor AppendX shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Shard or AppendX?
Shard ships an update every 5 days, and AppendX every 2 weeks. Most recently, Shard was updated on September 24, 2026 and AppendX on September 22, 2026.

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