Comparison

Notate vs ZenNotes

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

Head to head
About

Notate

Features
Read full description

Notate transcribes speech, music, and audio files entirely on your iPhone. No account, no cloud, no subscription. Your audio never leaves the device. Powered by an on-device Whisper model, Notate transcribes live from the microphone or from audio files you import—whether it's your voice, song lyrics, podcasts, or lectures. Everything runs locally, so it works on a plane, in a basement, anywhere, and nothing you say is ever uploaded. FREE, FOREVER - Unlimited live microphone transcription - Transcribe music and lyrics - Auto, Tiny, and Base models - Full history, copy, and share - 12 languages with auto-detect VOXPRINT PRO, ONE PAYMENT - Unlimited audio file transcription - The Small model, the most accurate - One purchase. Not a subscription, ever. WHY VOXPRINT - On device. Your voice stays yours. - No account, no sign-up, no tracking. - No monthly fee. Own it once. Notate is built for people who want their words, music, and audio transcribed without uploading to a server.

About

ZenNotes

This app allows you to create and manage notes using plain Markdown files. It offers flexible storage options, rich text formatting with live previews, and powerful organization tools like task management and note linking. Designed for both phone and tablet, it prioritizes user privacy with no accounts or tracking.

Highlights
  • Plain Markdown file storage
  • Live rich text previews
  • Wikilinks and #tags
  • Vault-wide task management
  • Table databases as CSV
  • Excalidraw drawing support
  • Share extension for quick capture
Features
Read full description

ZenNotes is a local-first markdown notes app for writing, organizing, and connecting ideas without giving up ownership of your files. YOUR NOTES, YOUR FILES Every note is a plain .md file in a vault you control. Start with storage on your iPhone or iPad, use iCloud Drive, or open a folder through the system document picker. Local and iCloud vaults work without an account. ZENNOTES CLOUD Connect an optional ZenNotes Cloud plan to: • Sync a vault across ZenNotes desktop and mobile • Sync notes and attachments • Create manual and automatic daily backups • Restore a full vault or a single note from a backup • Publish notes to the web and manage their public links Cloud never replaces the free local-first workflow. Use it only when you want hosted sync, backup, or publishing. WRITE IN MARKDOWN Use a focused editor with headings, lists, tasks, tables, code, links, wikilinks, tags, callouts, footnotes, and frontmatter. A mobile formatting bar keeps common actions close to the keyboard, and a pinch resizes the text to your eyes. RICH, OFFLINE PREVIEW Render KaTeX math, Mermaid diagrams, JSXGraph, function plots, tables, callouts, and more directly on your device. ORGANIZE YOUR WAY Pin your go-to notes and folders to the top, swipe rows to act on them, create and rename nested folders, browse tags, search the full vault, manage tasks, create periodic notes, and work with table databases stored as CSV. CAPTURE QUICKLY Create a quick note from the app or send text and links to ZenNotes from the iOS share sheet. HOME SCREEN WIDGETS Start a note, open a recent one, or check today's tasks without opening the app. New Note also lives on the Lock Screen, and the widgets wear your theme. PRIVACY BY DEFAULT ZenNotes has no advertising or tracking. Local and iCloud notes stay in the storage you choose. When you enable ZenNotes Cloud, the account identity, connected-device information, and vault content needed for the Cloud features you use are sent to the ZenNotes service. Payment details are handled by Stripe. ZenNotes is open source. Your vault remains useful outside the app because it is made of ordinary files.

Screenshots

Notate4 screens
ZenNotes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: ZenNotes at Free against Notate's $0.99. ZenNotes also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 2 weeks) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On ads, in-app purchases 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

ZenNotes is free to download; Notate costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Notate ships an update every 2 weeks, ZenNotes daily. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Notate versus ZenNotes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotateZenNotes
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating—4.9 (12 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—12 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size438 MB90 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJoshua TrommelLumary Labs LLC

In-app purchases

None

Notate

No in-app purchases

None

ZenNotes

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Notate free?
Notate costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is ZenNotes free?
ZenNotes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Notate or ZenNotes have ads?
Neither Notate nor ZenNotes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Notate or ZenNotes?
Notate ships an update every 2 weeks, and ZenNotes daily. Most recently, Notate was updated on October 24, 2026 and ZenNotes on October 24, 2026.

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