Comparison

Recto Notes vs Carbon

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

Head to head
About

Recto Notes

Features
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For years I kept separate apps: one for writing, one for reminders and to-do's. They never talked to each other. The idea lived in the notes app, the deadline in the to-do app, and I lived somewhere in between. So I built Recto. All on the same page. You just write a note and if you give a task a date with '@', that task automatically becomes part of your neatly organised Task Center. You work inside a note, focused on a single project. As ideas turn into things that need doing, you capture them right there and give them a date, without breaking your train of thought. The plan grows out of the writing instead of living apart from it. Recto - Inline tasks with dates, captured without leaving the note - Task Center: overdue, today, tomorrow, this week, next week - Native iOS, fast and quiet Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internetservices/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Carbon

Features
Read full description

Carbon copies events from one calendar to another, so time blocked in one shows up in the other. Point it at a source calendar and a destination, choose what to copy, and Carbon keeps the destination in step. One way, always Carbon copies from a source calendar to a destination. It never writes back to the source. Your work calendar stays exactly as your employer's system left it. Choose what crosses over Copy full event details, or copy only a "Busy" placeholder that reserves the time without revealing the title, location, or notes. Set this per mirror, so a sensitive work calendar and a shared family calendar can be handled differently. See it before it happens Every new mirror shows you a preview of exactly what will be created before anything is written to your calendar. It won't touch what you've touched Carbon only ever changes events it created. Edit one of its copies yourself and Carbon steps back and leaves it alone - permanently. Undo any sync Sync history shows your recent runs. Reverse any one of them and the events it created are removed. Filters that keep the noise out Skip all-day events, skip invitations you declined, skip anything shorter than a set length, or exclude events whose titles contain particular words. Two years ahead if you want it Choose how far each mirror reaches - up to two years ahead and a year back. Keep the window narrow for quicker syncs, or open it up so next year is already blocked out. Everything stays on your device No account. No server. No analytics. Carbon has no way to send your calendar anywhere. The only thing it ever sends is your purchase, to Apple. Free for 30 days, then pay once Try every feature for 30 days. After that, one purchase and Carbon is yours. No subscription, no renewals, nothing to cancel. If you decide not to buy, Carbon stops syncing and leaves every event it copied exactly where it is - nothing is deleted, and you can remove the copies yourself whenever you like. When Carbon syncs Carbon syncs when you open it, and periodically in the background when iOS allows. iOS decides how often background refresh happens, and it can be infrequent. For syncs on a schedule you control, add Carbon's "Sync Calendars" action to a Shortcuts automation - Carbon walks you through it. A note on invitations iOS does not allow apps to add attendees to an event, so copies are standalone events without invitees. This is an iOS limitation, not a Carbon one. A note on work calendars Some employers restrict copying work calendar data to personal accounts, and managed accounts may block access entirely. Check your organization's policy.

Screenshots

Recto Notes4 screens
Carbon4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Carbon at 18.0 against Recto Notes's 27.0. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Recto Notes ships an update every 6 days, Carbon every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 5 level
Recto Notes versus Carbon: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRecto NotesCarbon
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 6 days โ€” betterEvery 9 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, Mac, Apple Watch โ€” betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS27.018.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size6 MB2 MB
Age rating+44+
DeveloperThijs KremersBMP Research LLC

In-app purchases

None

Recto Notes

No in-app purchases

None

Carbon

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Recto Notes free?
Recto Notes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Carbon free?
Carbon is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Recto Notes or Carbon have ads?
Neither Recto Notes nor Carbon shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Recto Notes or Carbon?
Recto Notes ships an update every 6 days, and Carbon every 9 days. Most recently, Recto Notes was updated on October 6, 2026 and Carbon on October 10, 2026.

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