Smolpad vs Anchu

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

Anchu gives your work a place to land. Keep tasks, notes, and documents together in a calm workspace that stays useful when life gets busy. A focused task board shows what needs attention now. The knowledge base keeps projects, research, and reference material in a simple folder tree. Search looks through document text—not only filenames—so the idea you remember is enough to find the page you need. On Mac, documents open ready to edit. On iPhone and iPad, they open in a clear reading view with native text selection, then switch to editing when you choose. Your document files remain ordinary, portable Markdown, HTML, or text files in the Vault you choose. Open that folder in Finder or Files, edit it with another app, back it up, or give a local AI agent permission to read and process the same files. Anchu indexes the files for fast navigation and search; it does not turn a hidden server-side document database into your source of truth. Privacy stays understandable: the local Vault remains under your control, and the service handles account, task synchronization, and the metadata needed to keep devices organized. Network connections use HTTPS. You choose which devices, folders, and local tools can access your documents. Anonymous mode lets you start without an account; sign in only when you want sync and device continuity. Anchu is deliberately quiet: no advertising profile, no dark patterns, and no lock-in to a proprietary document format.