Comparison

Secure Notepad vs Standard Notes

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

Head to head
About

Secure Notepad

Securely store personal notes, contacts, and passwords with password protection. Features a simple interface, biometric unlock options, and password recovery. Keep your sensitive information private and organized.

Highlights
  • Password protection for all notes
  • Biometric unlock (Face ID/Touch ID)
  • Sort notes by date or alphabetically
  • Automatic app lock
  • Password recovery via security question
  • Recover recently deleted notes
Features
Read full description

This app will let you save personal notes, contacts, and passwords as well as any other personal or secret information which will be hidden from strangers' eyes and securely protected by a password. The free version has no ads! Another great feature of Secure Notepad is its simplicity and ease of use. The app has a clean and user-friendly interface, allowing you to quickly and easily create and edit notes. If you have forgotten your password for entering the app, it can be easily restored by answering the security question. Key features: • Very easy to use. • All of your notes are securely protected and accessible only to you. • Use Face ID or Touch ID to unlock the app. • Sort your notes by date or alphabetically. • Automatic lock (you have 30 seconds to return to the app without entering the password). • Restore password by answering the security question. • Ability to recover recently deleted notes. Whether you're taking notes in class, brainstorming ideas for a project, or just jotting down your thoughts, Secure Notepad is a great choice for keeping your information secure and organized. With its strong password protection and advanced security features, you can be sure that your notes will always be safe and secure.

About

Standard Notes

Securely capture and sync your thoughts across all devices with end-to-end encryption. This app offers a simple, lasting place for all your notes, from personal thoughts to sensitive information, with robust privacy features.

Highlights
  • End-to-end encryption
  • Cross-device syncing
  • Offline access
  • Passcode and biometric lock
  • Tagging system
  • Open-source code
  • Optional productivity editors and themes
Features
Read full description

Standard Notes is a private and secure end-to-end encrypted notes app. It allows you to write and sync your notes across all your devices, including your iPhone, iPad, Mac, and web browser. Private means your notes are end-to-end encrypted, so only you can read your notes. Even we can't read the contents of your notes. Simple means it does one job and does it well. Standard Notes is a safe and lasting place for your life's work. Our focus is making it easy to write notes wherever you are and syncing them with encryption to all your devices. Our users love us for: • Personal Notes • Tasks & Todos • Passwords & Keys • Code & Technical Procedures • Private Journal • Meeting Notes • Cross-platform Scratchpad • Books, Recipes, & Movies • Health & Fitness Log Standard Notes comes free with: • Seamless sync across all your devices, with easy to use applications on iPhone, iPad, Mac, web browsers, and other platforms. • Offline access, so you can access your downloaded notes even without a connection. • No limit on number of devices. • No limit on number of notes. • Passcode lock protection, along with Touch ID and Face ID protection. • A tagging system to organize your notes (like #work, #ideas, #passwords, #crypto). • The ability to pin, lock, protect, and move notes to trash, which allows you to recover deleted notes until the trash is emptied. Standard Notes is completely open-source, which means when we say your notes are encrypted with industry-leading XChaCha-20 encryption, and that only you can read your notes, you don't have to take our word for it. Our code is open to the world to audit. We made Standard Notes simple because longevity is important to us. We want to make sure we're here, protecting your notes, for the next hundred years. You shouldn't have to find a new notes app every year. To sustain our development, we offer optional paid subscriptions which give you access to powerful tools like: • Productivity editors (like Markdown, Code, Spreadsheets) • Beautiful themes (like Midnight, Focus, Solarized Dark) • Powerful cloud tools including daily backups of your encrypted data delivered to your email inbox every day, or backed up to your cloud provider (like Dropbox and Google Drive). We're always happy to talk, whether it be a question, thought, or issue. Please feel free to email us any time at help@standardnotes.com. When you take the time to send us a message, we'll be sure to do the same. EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Secure Notepad4 screens
Standard Notes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Standard Notes at every 2 weeks against Secure Notepad's every 5 months. Standard Notes also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.0). Secure Notepad's advantage is ratings volume (13K vs 3.7K). On price, rating, review sentiment 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Secure Notepad sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Standard Notes sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $119.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Secure Notepad against 4.7 for Standard Notes. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 13K and 3.7K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 70% of Secure Notepad's written reviews are positive against 63% of Standard Notes's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Secure Notepad ships an update every 5 months, Standard Notes every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Secure Notepad versus Standard Notes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSecure NotepadStandard Notes
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (13K ratings)4.7 (3.7K ratings)
Positive reviews69.9% of reviews — better63.4% of reviews
Number of ratings13K — better3.7K
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB92 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDmytro VynokurovStandard Notes Ltd.

Customer experience

Secure Notepad

All ratings13,196 ratings
Positive92.7%
Neutral3.1%
Negative4.2%
Written reviews555 reviews
Positive69.9%
Neutral9.0%
Negative21.1%

Standard Notes

All ratings3,714 ratings
Positive92.5%
Neutral2.3%
Negative5.3%
Written reviews580 reviews
Positive63.4%
Neutral10.7%
Negative25.9%

User reviews

Secure Notepad

From 13K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🔒 Password protection
  • 🔒 Security question for password recovery
  • 👍 Simple and easy to use
  • 🚀 Straightforward note-taking
  • 🔒 Prevents others from accessing private notes

Room to improve

  • 💰 Paid version required for more than 3 notes
  • 🐛 Notes disappearing or not syncing across devices
  • 🐛 Password/security question issues
  • 🔒 Lack of customization options

Standard Notes

From 3.7K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fast and reliable sync
  • 🔒 Excellent privacy and security
  • 👍 Simple and intuitive interface
  • 📚 Great for organizing notes
  • 💻 Cross-platform availability

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and crashes
  • 🔑 Frustrating login/authentication issues
  • 💰 Expensive premium subscription
  • 📱 Limited features in free version
  • 🖍️ Lack of formatting options

Bugs and requests

Secure Notepad

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashing or freezing
  • Inability to restore deleted notes
  • Sync issues between iOS devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to change app icon
  • Syncing notes across devices
  • More formatting options (bold, italic, etc.)
  • Ability to organize notes into folders
  • Dark mode option

Standard Notes

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Notes disappearing or getting deleted unexpectedly
  • Sync issues between devices
  • Keyboard and UI bugs on mobile
  • Compatibility problems with older iOS versions

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add support for images and attachments
  • Implement a more robust search function
  • Introduce a dark mode option
  • Allow for better note organization (folders, nested tags)
  • Add undo/redo functionality

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Secure Notepad

One-time1
  • Unlimited Notes$9.99
1 purchases

Standard Notes

Subscriptions1
  • Professional Plan7 Days trial$119.991 Year

Questions

Is Secure Notepad free?
Secure Notepad is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Standard Notes free?
Standard Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Secure Notepad or Standard Notes?
Secure Notepad and Standard Notes are both rated 4.7 out of 5 on the App Store, from 13K and 3.7K ratings respectively.
Do Secure Notepad or Standard Notes have ads?
Neither Secure Notepad nor Standard Notes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Secure Notepad or Standard Notes?
Secure Notepad ships an update every 5 months, and Standard Notes every 2 weeks. Most recently, Secure Notepad was updated on September 23, 2026 and Standard Notes on September 22, 2026.

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