Comparison

Swish vs ZenNotes

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

Head to head
About

Swish

Organize tasks with color-coded folders and track progress on your lock screen. Features include live activities, home screen widgets, and iCloud syncing. Set alarms for important to-dos and customize the app's appearance.

Highlights
  • Organize tasks by color-coded folders
  • Live Activities on lock screen
  • Home and lock screen widgets
  • iCloud syncing across devices
  • Alarms for to-dos
  • Customizable appearance
Features
Read full description

Keep your to-dos organized in folders and check your progress right from the Lock Screen. Swish is a simple to-do list app that shows your tasks and upcoming events in Lock Screen and Home Screen widgets and Live Activities, without opening the app. - Organize with Folders Work, study, groceries, daily routines. Sort your tasks into color-coded folders and keep every checklist in its place. - Live Activities on the Lock Screen See a folder's tasks and today's progress on your Lock Screen without opening the app. - Folder Widgets Pin any folder to a Home Screen or Lock Screen widget. Tap the widget to open that folder and add or complete tasks instantly. Widgets match each folder's color, and you can adjust the font size. - Upcoming Events Widget Tasks with reminders appear on a timeline, so you can see what's coming today and in the days ahead at a glance. - Time and Location Reminders Get a notification or an alarm at the time you choose, or a location-based reminder at a specific place. Whatever you're doing, you won't miss what matters. - Focus Zone Work in focus and break rounds with the focus timer and stay on the task in front of you. You can also block distracting apps. - Sync Across Devices Set up iCloud once and your folders and tasks stay the same on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. - Make Swish Yours Gradient backgrounds and glass-style themes, light and dark mode, and adjustable text size. Available in English and Korean, with more languages coming soon. Great for - Anyone who keeps forgetting tasks - People who want their to-do list on the Lock Screen at all times - Students and professionals who manage study and work tasks by folder - Anyone who wants a fast, lightweight checklist instead of a complicated planner Swish Pro is available as a monthly subscription or a lifetime purchase. Payment is charged to your Apple ID account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel anytime in your Apple ID account settings. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://numansoftkr.blogspot.com/2026/07/privacy-policy-swish-ios-app.html

About

ZenNotes

This app allows you to write, organize, and connect ideas using plain markdown files stored locally or via iCloud. An optional cloud service offers syncing, backups, and web publishing.

Highlights
  • Local-first markdown notes
  • iCloud Drive integration
  • Optional cloud sync and backup
  • Web publishing for notes
  • Rich markdown editor
  • Offline preview with math and diagrams
  • Home screen widgets
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

Swish4 screens
ZenNotes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ZenNotes at none against Swish's 2. ZenNotes also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 3 days) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. Swish sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. ZenNotes asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Swish against 4.9 for ZenNotes. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 9 and 12 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Swish ships an update every 3 days, ZenNotes daily. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Swish versus ZenNotes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSwishZenNotes
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (9 ratings) — better4.9 (12 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings912 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 daysDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size245 MB93 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSeunggyu LeeLumary Labs LLC

Customer experience

Swish

All ratings9 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

ZenNotes

All ratings12 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Swish

Subscriptions1
  • 1 Month$0.991 Month
One-time1
  • Pro Lifetime$17.99
None

ZenNotes

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Swish free?
Swish is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ZenNotes free?
ZenNotes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Swish or ZenNotes?
Swish is rated higher. Swish averages 5.0 out of 5 from 9 ratings, while ZenNotes averages 4.9 from 12 ratings.
Do Swish or ZenNotes have ads?
Neither Swish nor ZenNotes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Swish or ZenNotes?
Swish ships an update every 3 days, and ZenNotes daily. Most recently, Swish was updated on October 31, 2026 and ZenNotes on October 31, 2026.

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