Smolpad vs Stillwater Focus
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Smolpad
A minimalist Markdown editor that stores your notes as plain .md files, accessible across all your devices via iCloud. Offers beautiful writing tools and robust file management without bloat.
- Plain .md file storage
- iCloud sync
- Markdown syntax highlighting
- Task list checkboxes
- Folder organization and search
- File version history
- Menu bar app on Mac
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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, quotes, and tables, 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 • A Trash for deleted notes, and a history of every note's earlier versions • Find notes in Spotlight, and open them with Siri or Shortcuts • Your notes never leave 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 • Eight hand-picked fonts and a clean, quiet interface MAKE IT YOURS WITH SMOLPAD PRO • Unlimited notes (the free tier includes ten) • Dropbox, pCloud, or Google Drive sync, in a folder that belongs to you • Notepads: open any folder of Markdown files as its own notepad, an Obsidian vault or a Bear export among them • Export to PDF, HTML, or rich text, and print • Widgets on the Mac, iPhone and iPad, Lock Screen widgets on iPhone, and Smolpad on Apple Watch • 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
Stillwater Focus
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Still Water helps you put down your phone, and keep it down. Pick the apps that pull you in, choose how long, and Still Water blocks them. No snooze button, no “five more minutes.” When the timer ends, they unlock on their own. FOCUS SESSIONS • Block any apps for 15 minutes up to a full day • Run more than one session at a time • A live countdown on your Lock Screen and Dynamic Island WEEKLY SCHEDULES • Block apps at set times: mornings, work hours, bedtime • Pick the days, then repeat for 1 to 8 weeks • Once you commit, it can’t be paused or deleted until it ends INSIGHTS • Time focused today, yesterday and this week • See when you focus most, hour by hour PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account. No ads. Your app choices and history stay on your iPhone. Still Water uses Apple’s Screen Time framework. You’ll be asked to allow Screen Time access the first time you open the app.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Stillwater Focus at none against Smolpad's 3. Stillwater Focus also leads on iOS requirement (16.6 vs 18.0). Smolpad's advantage is device support (4 vs 1). On price 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. Smolpad sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per month. Stillwater Focus asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | Smolpad | Stillwater Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 16.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 76 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | BaconWorks, LLC | Rohit Agrawal |
In-app purchases
Smolpad
- Smolpad Pro$1.491 Month
- Smolpad Pro7 Days trial$14.991 Year
- Smolpad Pro Lifetime$29.99
Stillwater Focus
No in-app purchases








