FlatNote vs Joeny Notes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
FlatNote
This app allows you to create and organize notes using markdown formatting. It offers live formatting, image support, and robust organization features. Your notes are stored as plain files and sync via iCloud across your Apple devices.
- Live markdown formatting
- Image embedding in notes
- Folder organization and pinning
- Real checkboxes
- In-note search
- Cross-device iCloud sync
- Plain .md file export
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FlatNote is a markdown notes app for people who want their writing to stay plain, portable, and theirs. It runs on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and your notes sync across all of them through your own iCloud, or stay in a folder you choose. Type markdown and watch it format as you go. Headings, bold, italic, strikethrough, links, quotes, bullet lists, and tappable checkboxes all render while you write. The raw symbols stay out of your way and reappear only on the line you are editing, so you always know exactly what you typed. WHAT YOU GET - Live formatting. See the result as you type, with a one minute reference note included. - Photos in your notes. Paste an image or attach one; it is saved next to the note as an ordinary file, not in a database. - Folders, pins, and sorting. Organize notes into real directories and keep the ones you use on top. - Real checkboxes. Tap to check things off, right in the note. - Find in a note. Search the open note and jump between highlighted matches. - Quick formatting. A formatting bar above the keyboard on iPhone and iPad, and standard shortcuts on Mac. - Find your notes fast. Search the whole library by title or content. YOUR WORDS BELONG TO YOU - Every note is a plain .md file. No proprietary format, no lock-in, readable in any app, on any device, years from now. - Your notes live in your iCloud and sync across your iPhone, iPad, and Mac automatically, signed in with your Apple ID. No separate account to make. - Export carries everything. Share any note as markdown, with its pictures included, or export your whole library as one zip of ordinary files. The files are also right there in the Files app on iOS and Finder on Mac. - Delete is honest. Deleted notes go to Trash, where they can be recovered. QUIET BY DESIGN - No ads. No tracking. No analytics. Nothing about you leaves your devices and your iCloud. - Works on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, in light and dark. FlatNote keeps the format simple so you can keep your thinking clear.
Joeny Notes
A fast, native note-taking application for Apple devices that organizes your thoughts with notebooks and tags. It supports Markdown writing, powerful search, and syncs across your devices via iCloud.
- Notebooks and stacks
- Nested tags
- Markdown editor with formatting bar
- Full-text search with operators
- iCloud sync across devices
- End-to-end encrypted notes
- Share notebooks for collaboration
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BetterNote is a fast, native notes app for iPhone, iPad and Mac. It has notebooks, tags and powerful search, and your notes are stored as plain Markdown in your own iCloud account. ORGANIZE YOUR WAY • Notebooks and stacks • Nested tags, such as work/clients • Favorites, saved searches and a Trash you can restore from • A Home Screen widget for your favorite notes • Recent Activity, showing which notes changed and on which device WRITE IN MARKDOWN • An editor that styles Markdown as you type, with a formatting bar • Notes open in Read mode, which renders tables, code blocks and task lists • Read a note aloud with the current word highlighted • Full-screen reading that can keep the screen on while you cook • Dark mode and Dynamic Type, with VoiceOver support • Photo and file attachments, with Quick Look previews FIND ANYTHING • Instant full-text search with ranked, highlighted results • Evernote-style operators: notebook:, tag:, intitle:, created:day-7, todo:false, resource:image and more • Text inside images and PDFs is recognized on your device and included in search SYNC AND SHARE WITH iCLOUD • Syncs across all your devices through your iCloud account • Note text is end-to-end encrypted • Share a notebook with other people to read or edit BRING YOUR NOTES WITH YOU • Import .enex exports from Evernote • Export everything as Markdown files at any time PRIVATE BY DESIGN BetterNote has no accounts, no ads, no analytics and no servers of its own. Your notes stay on your devices and in your iCloud.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Joeny Notes at every 5 days against FlatNote's every 2 months. FlatNote's advantage is iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for FlatNote against 5.0 for Joeny Notes. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.
FlatNote ships an update every 2 months, Joeny Notes every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | FlatNote | Joeny Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 21 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Kate Benediktsson | Joeny Bui |
Customer experience
FlatNote
Joeny Notes
In-app purchases
FlatNote
No in-app purchases
Joeny Notes
No in-app purchases









