Private Notes vs markdown notes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side ā with what reviewers say about each.
Private Notes
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Private Notes: Offline NotePad is a private, on-device notes app built to help you capture ideas fast, write the way you think, and actually find things later ā with real intelligence that never sends your notes to a server. Perfect for jotting a quick thought, writing in Markdown, recording a voice note that transcribes itself, sketching or scanning a document, and linking your ideas together ā all wrapped in search that understands what you meant. Your notes, your data ā and yours alone. PRIVATE BY DESIGN ⢠No account, no login, no sign-up ā just open the app and start ⢠All your notes are stored locally on your device by default ⢠No analytics, no tracking, no ads, no third-party data collection ⢠Optional iCloud sync runs through your own private iCloud ā never our servers ⢠On-device AI: the intelligence runs on your iPhone, your notes never leave it WRITE THE WAY YOU THINK ⢠A fast, focused Markdown editor with a formatting keyboard toolbar ⢠Checklists, headings, an outline view and font choices ⢠Notebooks with your own colors and icons, plus flexible tags ⢠Smart Folders that collect notes by rules, automatically ⢠Wiki-style [[links]] and backlinks to connect your ideas ⢠Pin and star what matters, and restore anything from Trash ⢠Full version history so you can go back to any earlier draft ON-DEVICE INTELLIGENCE ⢠Summarize any note in a tap ⢠Smart auto-tagging that keeps your tags consistent ⢠Automatic titles for notes you never got around to naming ⢠Ask your notes ā get answers grounded in what you actually wrote ⢠Turn a voice recording into a clean, structured note ⢠Pull action items straight out of meetings and lectures ⢠Turn a photo into editable Markdown ⢠Semantic search that finds notes by meaning, not just keywords (On-device AI features require a supported iPhone.) CAPTURE ANYTHING ⢠Quick Capture and an Inbox for frictionless jotting ⢠Attach images, and ā with Premium ā audio, scans, sketches and PDFs ⢠Scan documents with the camera, sketch with Apple Pencil ⢠A Share Extension to send text and links straight into your notes FIND IT INSTANTLY ⢠Fast full-text search across everything ⢠A Quick Switcher to jump to any note in seconds ⢠Spotlight integration so your notes show up in system search ⢠Filter and browse by tag, notebook or Smart Folder BRING YOUR NOTES WITH YOU ⢠Import from Bear archives and Evernote (ENEX) ⢠Keep everything in one private, searchable home ON YOUR HOME SCREEN ⢠Home Screen widgets for Quick Capture, recent notes and your daily streak ⢠Create, open and append to notes with Siri and Shortcuts ⢠Your notes, one tap away A PRIVATE APP LOCK ⢠Lock individual notes behind Face ID or Touch ID ⢠A Privacy Shield hides locked notes from lists, search and the switcher PREMIUM INCLUDES ⢠Unlimited notes and nested notebooks ⢠Audio, scan, sketch, PDF and file attachments ⢠Lecture and meeting transcription with AI summaries and action items ⢠Unlimited on-device AI ⢠Private iCloud sync across all your devices NotesApp stays simple when you just want to jot something down, and powerful when you want your whole second brain ā capture in a tap, find anything in a second. SUBSCRIPTIONS ⢠Auto-renewable Premium plans (1 month, 1 year with a 3-day free trial) ⢠A one-time Lifetime unlock is also available ⢠Payment is charged to your Apple ID account ⢠Subscriptions automatically renew unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period ⢠Manage or cancel anytime in your Apple account settings ⢠Restore Purchases is available in-app Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://darianhanci-legal.web.app/datenschutz
markdown notes
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Smolpad is a smol Markdown editor with respect for your files. Every note is a plain .md file you can open with any app, on any device, forever. Your files are your own. No database. No lock-in. No bloat. Just a tiny, fast home for your notes on Mac, iPhone, and iPad. WRITE IN MARKDOWN, BEAUTIFULLY ⢠Syntax dims as you type, or hides away entirely with one tap ⢠Task lists become real checkboxes. Checkboxes that check. ⢠Headings, bold, italic, code, and quotes, styled as you write ⢠A formatting bar for common touches, plus full keyboard shortcuts ⢠Pictures too: drag or paste one in, resize it by its corner, and it lives as a plain file beside the note YOUR FILES, ANYWHERE ⢠Notes sync through your own iCloud Drive, included free ⢠Open your notes folder in Finder or Files any time ⢠Organize with folders, pins, and instant search ⢠Nothing ever leaves your devices except to your own cloud SMOL ON PURPOSE ⢠On the Mac, Smolpad lives in your menu bar, one hotkey away ⢠Tear off a note into its own window when you want to stay a while ⢠On iPhone and iPad, it opens fast and stays out of your way ⢠Seven hand-picked fonts and a clean, quiet interface MAKE IT YOURS WITH SMOLPAD PRO ⢠Unlimited notes (the free tier includes ten) ⢠Dropbox sync, in an app folder that belongs to you ⢠Twenty-nine editor themes, from Tokyo Night to Catppuccin ⢠Seventeen app icons and the full menu bar icon set Smolpad Pro is available as a monthly or yearly subscription, or a one-time lifetime purchase. The free tier is a real notes app, not a trial. Made by a smol team that believes plain text outlives everything. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://smolpad.com/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: markdown notes at every 10 days against Private Notes's every 2 months. markdown notes also leads on iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.4). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Private Notes sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and markdown notes sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Private Notes ships an update every 2 months, markdown notes every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Private Notes | markdown notes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 10 days ā better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, Mac ā better |
| Requires iOS | 26.4 | 18.0 ā better |
| Further details ā not scored | ||
| Size | 15 MB | 66 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Cengiz Darian Hanci | BaconWorks, LLC |
In-app purchases
Private Notes
- Premium Monthly$0.991 Month
- Premium Yearly3 Days trial$9.991 Year
- Premium Lifetime - Welcome$19.99
- Premium Lifetime$27.99
markdown notes
- Smolpad Pro$1.491 Month
- Smolpad Pro$14.991 Year
- Smolpad Pro Lifetime$29.99
Questions
Is Private Notes free?
Is markdown notes free?
Do Private Notes or markdown notes have ads?
Which is updated more often, Private Notes or markdown notes?
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