markdown notes vs Mena
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
markdown notes
A minimalist Markdown editor that stores all your notes as plain text files, accessible across your devices. It offers beautiful writing tools, seamless cloud sync, and powerful organization features without any bloat.
- Plain .md file storage
- iCloud Drive sync
- Markdown syntax highlighting
- Task list checkboxes
- Folder and instant search organization
- Menu bar app on Mac
- Export to PDF, HTML, RTF (Pro)
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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 • Find notes in Spotlight, and open them with Siri or Shortcuts • 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, pCloud, or Google Drive sync, in a folder that belongs to you • Export to PDF, HTML, or rich text, and print • 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
Mena
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Private visual notes for iPad. Build mind maps on an infinite canvas, study with FSRS flashcards, and sync through your private iCloud storage — no account required. Mena is an infinite canvas and visual second brain for iPad. Sketch ideas, build mind maps, embed media, and turn any board into spaced-repetition flashcards you actually review — no account required. INFINITE CANVAS Pan, zoom, and draw with no page limits. Pastel sticky notes, shapes and connectors for mind maps and flowcharts, frames, tables, and 19 polygon shapes. Apple Pencil support with Draw to Shape — sketch a rough shape and Mena snaps it perfect. EVERY KIND OF CONTENT Drop anything onto your board: sticky notes, rich text and Markdown, code blocks with syntax highlighting, images, PDFs with full page navigation, video, audio files, and live maps. Record voice memos directly on the canvas — ink drawn during recording is seekable by playback time. Web embeds and URL preview cards keep sources right where you need them. PAPER TEMPLATES Note pages come in blank, lined, dotted, and grid. Change one page or every blank page at once, and choose auto, light, or dark paper independently of your system theme. The same page renders identically in the reader, sidebar, overview grid, library thumbnail, and exported PDF. STUDY WITH FSRS Turn any deck board into spaced-repetition flashcards. Mena uses FSRS — the most accurate scheduling algorithm available — to surface cards exactly when you need them. Again / Hard / Good / Easy grading with interval preview. Cloze deletion with one tap. Auto-generate flashcards from your notes on-device, no network needed. STUDY DASHBOARD Track your streak, retention rate, and 14-day due forecast. See today's review count at a glance. ANKI COMPATIBLE Import any .apkg file directly. Mena imports your cards, scheduling data, embedded images, and cloze deletions. Export any deck back as .apkg and study it in Anki on any device. SLIDES & PRESENTATION Draw a frame around anything and it becomes a slide. Open the filmstrip panel, jump to any slide, present full-screen, or export the whole deck as a crisp PDF. 6 BOARD TYPES Board — infinite whiteboard. Note — vertical scroll page. Journal — one auto-created page per day. Atlas — a spatial map of all your boards. Collection — a live saved query across all boards. Deck — FSRS study deck with review session. HOME SCREEN WIDGETS 4 widget types for home screen and lock screen: New Board (one-tap creation), Board Preview (live thumbnail of any board), Today's Study (due count, streak, retention), and Deck (per-deck stats). All fully configurable. SHARE FROM ANYWHERE A share extension catches text, links, images, PDFs, and videos from any other app — tap Share → Mena, pick a board, done. PRIVATE iCLOUD SYNC Every board, element, and attachment syncs across your Apple devices through your private iCloud CloudKit database. No Mena account. No third-party cloud server stores your Mena content. Flashcard generation runs on-device. Optional web embeds and Unsplash search connect only when you choose to use them. Mena fits how your brain actually works — capture, connect, and remember. FREE & PRO Free covers 3 boards, 3 notes, 3 documents and 5 decks; journals and system boards are never limited. Mena Pro lifts every limit — Pro Monthly and Pro Yearly renew automatically, Pro Lifetime is a one-time purchase. Prices appear in the app before you buy, and you can restore purchases at any time. Privacy Policy: https://apps.cihat.dev/mena/privacy-policy/ Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Mena at every 3 days against markdown notes's every 10 days. markdown notes's advantage is device support (4 vs 2). On price, ads, in-app purchases and iOS requirement 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. markdown notes sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per month and Mena sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
markdown notes ships an update every 10 days, Mena every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | markdown notes | Mena |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 — better | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 71 MB | 48 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | BaconWorks, LLC | Cihat Salik |
In-app purchases
markdown notes
- Smolpad Pro$1.491 Month
- Smolpad Pro$14.991 Year
- Smolpad Pro Lifetime$29.99
Mena
- Mena Pro - Monthly$3.991 Month
- Mena Pro - Yearly$29.991 Year
- Mena Pro - Lifetime$79.99








