Comparison

Shard vs Cairn

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — 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 • Add notes or tasks to your daily note • Use common Daily Notes and Periodic Notes folder and date settings • Write directly to vaults in iCloud Drive, Obsidian Sync, or on your device • Keep text captures queued on your device when the vault is temporarily unavailable TASKS • Manage Markdown checkboxes from your phone • Add due dates and times • Filter by Today, Overdue, Upcoming, or No Date • Create subtasks and move completed tasks under “Completed” WEB CLIPPER • Save webpage links from the Share Sheet • Open the live page in Shard • Add bullet notes to a linked Markdown note FREE • Quick capture for notes and tasks • Task management • Web link clipping • Lock Screen buttons for New Post and New Task SHARD PLUS • Local reminders for tasks with a due date and time • Home Screen task widgets for today and overdue • Custom Post templates and destinations • Post and Task actions in Shortcuts and the Share Sheet • 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

Cairn

Manage tasks and notes directly within your existing Markdown files. This app offers focused views, quick capture, and robust task management features, all while keeping your data private and locally stored. It integrates seamlessly with Obsidian and other file sync services.

Highlights
  • Native Markdown task and note management
  • Works with Obsidian vaults or any folder
  • Quick capture with date, tag, and priority parsing
  • Multiple task views (Today, Upcoming, Inbox, Pool)
  • Full support for sub-tasks and recurring tasks
  • Local reminders and Live Activity integration
  • Data stays local, no cloud sync required
Read full description

Cairn is a fast, native task and note companion that lives on top of the Markdown files you already own. Point it at your Obsidian vault — or any folder of Markdown notes — and your tasks and notes appear in clean, focused views. Everything you do in Cairn is written straight back to your files as plain text, in the Obsidian Tasks format. YOUR NOTES STAY YOURS • No account, no sign-up, no Cairn cloud database — your tasks live in your own files • Cairn does not send your notes or tasks to the developer • Careful, patch-based edits change only the content you touched, preserving the rest of your note • Works alongside Obsidian, iCloud Drive, Git, or any sync you already use CAPTURE, BROWSE, AND PLAN • Browse and edit Markdown notes directly in your vault • Quick capture into your daily note, with date, tag, and priority tokens parsed as you type • Choose where longer captures are saved • Today, Upcoming, Inbox, and Pool views, plus a global filter for folders, tags, dates, priority, and status • Full support for sub-tasks and task hierarchies • Recurring tasks in Obsidian Tasks format, with safe completion handling • Convert upcoming calendar events into tasks, or mirror your dated tasks into a calendar you choose (optional) STAY ON TRACK • Local reminders for due tasks — including sunrise-relative reminders computed entirely on your device • A Live Activity keeps today's progress on your Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island • Home Screen widgets and a Control Center quick-capture control • Search across every task in your vault MADE FOR OBSIDIAN — NOT ONLY OBSIDIAN Cairn reads and writes the Obsidian Tasks plugin format (due, scheduled, start, and done dates, priorities, recurrence, tags), so your vault stays fully compatible with your desktop setup. Don't use Obsidian? Create a plain task folder in the Files app and Cairn works as a stand-alone Markdown to-do app. Cairn asks for access only to the folder you pick. Calendar access and location (used to compute local sunrise times) are optional and processed on your device. If you choose iCloud Drive or another Files or calendar provider, that provider's own sync and privacy terms apply.

Screenshots

Shard4 screens
Cairn4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Cairn at none against Shard's 3. On price, update cadence, ads and device support 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

Both are free to download. Shard sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Cairn asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Shard ships an update every 5 days, Cairn every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Shard versus Cairn: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShardCairn
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterEvery 6 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDaiki YamaguchiYoung Hun JEONG

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
None

Cairn

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Shard free?
Shard is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Cairn free?
Cairn is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Shard or Cairn have ads?
Neither Shard nor Cairn shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Shard or Cairn?
Shard ships an update every 5 days, and Cairn every 6 days. Most recently, Shard was updated on September 24, 2026 and Cairn on September 13, 2026.

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