Comparison

Second Brain Vault vs Stacks

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

Head to head
About

Second Brain Vault

Features
Read full description

Second Brain Vault isn't another folder-organizing app. You just save β€” the on-device AI files it for you and finds it back later when you ask in plain language. A private memory vault that lives entirely on your iPhone. We're all good at saving. The real question was always "where did I put that?" Second Brain Vault flips the order: you save, the AI organizes and recalls. HOW IT WORKS β€’ Save in one tap β€” a note, a photo, a voice memo, a PDF, or a web link. Anything, instantly, into your vault. β€’ AI organizes it for you β€” every saved item gets a title, a summary, a category, and tags, automatically. Photos are read with OCR, voice is transcribed, PDFs and links have their text extracted. β€’ Recall like a person β€” ask "that real-estate article I read last year," "the best cold-noodle place I saved," "the app idea I jotted last month," and it finds the right memory. It's hybrid retrieval β€” semantic meaning plus keywords plus recency β€” so it works even when you don't remember the exact words. β€’ It grows with you β€” Insights show your top topics and saving trends, and every week the AI writes a short Retrospective of what you saved. The more you save, the higher your Brain Level. WHAT'S INSIDE β€’ Home β€” today's and recent items, plus a one-line AI insight β€’ Quick capture β€” five kinds: note, photo, audio, PDF, link β€’ Natural-language Recall β€” hybrid semantic + keyword + recency ranking β€’ Insights β€” top topics, save volume, Brain Level growth β€’ Weekly Retrospective β€” an AI recap of your week of memories β€’ Automatic categories & tags β€” organized without you filing anything PRIVACY BY CONSTRUCTION Everything is processed on this iPhone. Because it uses Apple's on-device AI (Foundation Models), your notes, photos, voice and documents never leave the device. No account, no server, no ads, no tracking. The only time it uses the internet is to fetch the page of a web link you choose to save. APPLE INTELLIGENCE REQUIRED Auto-organizing, natural-language search, Insights and the Retrospective run on Apple-Intelligence-capable devices. On other devices you can still save and search by keyword; the AI features show an "Apple Intelligence required" state. START FREE, UNLOCK WHEN YOU NEED IT Free: up to 100 items, full on-device AI organizing & search on all 100, every capture type, Insights and Brain Level included. Pro (β‚©6,600 / year): unlimited saves, iCloud backup & sync, weekly Retrospective history, and more. Lifetime (β‚©29,000, one-time): everything in Pro, forever, no renewal. You save it; Second Brain Vault remembers it. Drop in your first memory today. β–  Device requirements AI auto-organizing and semantic (meaning-based) search require an Apple Intelligence–capable device β€” iPhone 15 Pro / 15 Pro Max and iPhone 16/17 or later, iOS 26 or later. On other devices, saving and keyword search still work fully. Everything is processed on-device; nothing is ever sent off your iPhone. β–  Terms of Use (EULA) https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://blue-code.github.io/legal/second-brain-vault/privacy.en.html

About

Stacks

Features
Read full description

Everything you save online ends up scattered β€” a restaurant buried in your Instagram saves, a recipe in a TikTok favourite, a hotel in a Safari tab you'll never find again. Stacks brings all of it into one place and organizes it for you. Share a link to Stacks from any app and it reads the page, works out what it is, and files it away: the restaurant into Food, the hotel into Travel, the outfit into Fashion β€” with a title, a summary, tags and a cover image, ready to find months later. SAVE FROM ANYWHERE β€’ Share from Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, Reddit, YouTube, X, Facebook or Safari β€” anything with a share sheet β€’ Or paste a link straight into the app β€’ Shared links are imported and organized in the background, before you next open the app ORGANIZED FOR YOU β€’ Every save is categorized automatically β€” Food, Travel, Fashion, Fitness, Shopping, Learning and more β€’ Tags, topics, summaries, places, brands and recipes pulled out of the page for you β€’ Smart collections group related saves into a trip, a reservation, a concert, a birthday β€’ Or build your own collections by hand FIND IT BY MEANING β€’ Search understands what you meant, not just the words you typed β€’ "Sushi in Tokyo" or "black outfit" surfaces the right save, even when those exact words aren't in it β€’ Filter by category, platform, tag or collection MORE THAN A BOOKMARK β€’ Map β€” every saved place on one map, exactly what you want before a trip β€’ Calendar β€” put a save on a date and get a reminder when it matters β€’ Notes and checklists on any save, for packing, shopping and planning β€’ Favourites and an archive to keep the list clean PRIVATE BY DESIGN β€’ No account. Nothing to sign up for β€’ On iPhones with Apple Intelligence, saves are analyzed by Apple's on-device model; on every other iPhone an on-device fallback does the same job β€’ Search runs on-device too β€” no query ever leaves your iPhone β€’ No analytics, no ads, no tracking, no third-party SDKs, and no servers of ours for anything to be sent to Free, with no subscription and no in-app purchases.

Screenshots

Second Brain Vault4 screens
Stacks4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Stacks at none against Second Brain Vault's 1. On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Second Brain Vault sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Stacks asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard1 real difference Β· 4 level
Second Brain Vault versus Stacks: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSecond Brain VaultStacks
PriceFreeFree
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo β€” better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad β€” better
Requires iOS26.026.0
Further details β€” not scored
Size2 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperByoungho KimGerard Rodriguez

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Second Brain Vault

One-time1
  • Second Brain Vault (Lifetime)$17.99
None

Stacks

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Second Brain Vault free?
Second Brain Vault is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Stacks free?
Stacks is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Second Brain Vault or Stacks have ads?
Neither Second Brain Vault nor Stacks shows ads.

Other comparisons