Comparison

Pensieve vs DotList

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

Head to head
About

Pensieve

Easily capture fleeting thoughts, ideas, and to-dos by emailing them to yourself. This app provides quick capture tools like audio recording, photo attachments, and text pasting, ensuring your ideas are saved without interrupting your flow. It prioritizes user privacy with no data mining or ads.

Highlights
  • Audio recording with speech-to-text
  • Built-in camera for photo attachments
  • Attachment picker for photos and files
  • Quick paste for text, links, and images
  • Email from Apple Watch
  • Share extension for in-app capture
  • Customizable email formatting
  • Offline capture
Features
Read full description

If you’ve ever emailed yourself, Pensieve is for you. Just capture, send, and remember! Pensieve is the perfect Idea Inbox companion, a Magic Warp Zone for your mind. Ideas, to-dos, and inspiration pop into your head throughout the day, often at the wrong time and in the wrong place. You want to capture those thoughts somehow, but you’ll forget to check your other notes app, texting yourself won’t work, and writing an email is clunky. You need to get these ideas out of your mind and off of your phone now, so you can get back to what you’re doing and stay in the moment with a clear head. You need a powerful, easy-to-use tool that can teleport your thoughts from here and now to the time and place where they belong. You need an idea warp zone. You need Pensieve, the notes app you'll actually use. == Features == Powerful capture tools, deep customization, and lightning-fast email delivery: • Record audio memos and get automatic speech-to-text transcripts. • Built-in camera that attaches photos as soon as you take them. • Attachment picker with quick access to your photo library and files. • Quick paste button for emailing yourself text, links, and images. • Email yourself from your Watch using the Pensieve watch app. • Email yourself from within other apps using Pensieve Share. • Custom rules put you in control over how emails from Pensieve are formatted. • With the power of Pensieve you can send to multiple inboxes with one tap. • Works offline. Capture thoughts without the internet and send them later. == Privacy & Security First == Pensieve is committed to your privacy and security. The app doesn't contain any of the icky practices of big tech or other companies! - NO data mining. - NO advertisements. - NO attention-grabbing tactics. Only respect for you and your time, attention, and data. Learn more at https://privacy.pensieve.io. == Get in Touch == Tweet to @PensieveTweets with questions, feedback, etc. == Terms == By using Pensieve you agree to the Pensieve Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

DotList

Organize your life with a simple, colorful checklist app. Create, share, and manage tasks, errands, and plans with ease. Features include offline access, customizable reminders, and home screen widgets.

Highlights
  • Share lists with others
  • Organize and reorder items
  • Reset checklists for reuse
  • Offline access to lists
  • Customizable reminders
  • Home screen widgets
  • Import and export lists
Features
Read full description

DotList is a simple, colorful checklist app for iPhone and iPad. Keep groceries, errands, packing lists, work tasks, and everyday plans organized in one place. Tap a dot to check something off. Pin important items, arrange things your way, and share lists with family and friends to work through them together. • Share Lists Together Share a grocery list, plan a trip, or organize tasks with family, friends, or a group. Add items, make changes, rearrange them, and check things off together through iCloud. Sharing is included free. No Pro purchase is required. You choose which lists to share. Your other lists stay on the device where you created them and don’t automatically sync between devices. Choose Send Copy to send a separate copy without sharing future changes. • Organize Your Way Create, rename, and reorder lists. Pin important tasks, drag items into place, sort alphabetically, or move completed items below everything still to do. Choose whether newly typed items appear at the top or bottom in Preferences. Edit longer items in a text box that grows as you type. Undo recent edits, item deletions, imports, and reordering. • Copy, Reset, and Reuse Duplicate a list or choose individual items to copy into another list. Copies keep item order, checkmarks, and pins without copying reminders. Use Reset Dots to uncheck items and work through a favorite checklist again. • Keep Going Offline Keep using lists you’ve already opened without an internet connection. Changes to shared lists are saved on your device and sent when your connection returns. • Reminders That Fit Your Schedule Set one-time reminders for individual items, or repeat them daily, weekly, monthly, or on a custom schedule. View and manage your reminders from one place. Reminders are available on lists you aren’t sharing. • Home Screen Widgets Keep your own lists or upcoming reminders visible without opening the app. Choose from List and Reminders widgets for your Home Screen. • Themes to Make DotList Yours Choose a theme and switch between light and dark appearances. Preview every theme, including premium themes, before deciding whether to upgrade. • Bring Your Lists Along Import a checklist from your clipboard, or select text in another app and share it to DotList. Review the items and choose a new or existing list. Save shared text for review later. You can also export a readable copy of your available DotList data from Help. Included Free Create up to 10 lists, set 5 reminders total, and choose from a selection of free themes. Lists shared with you don’t count toward your 10-list limit. Group collaboration, Home Screen widgets, list copying, text import, and the everyday checklist tools are also included. Optional DotList Pro One purchase unlocks unlimited lists, unlimited reminders on lists you aren’t sharing, and every premium theme, including Firefly, Midnight, Gold, Rose Gold, Blue, Green, and Yellow. No subscription. DotList has no ads and requires no separate DotList account. Everyone collaborating needs an up-to-date version of DotList and must be signed into iCloud.

Screenshots

Pensieve4 screens
DotList4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: Pensieve at 4 against DotList's 2. Pensieve also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.2). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. Pensieve sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and DotList sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. 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 Pensieve against 4.8 for DotList. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 82 and 57 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 91% of Pensieve's written reviews are positive against 94% of DotList's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Pensieve versus DotList: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPensieveDotList
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (82 ratings)4.8 (57 ratings) — better
Positive reviews91.2% of reviews93.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings82 — better57
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.2
Further details — not scored
Size33 MB27 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperWindow Seat Labs, LLCDanz L.L.C.

Customer experience

Pensieve

All ratings82 ratings
Positive91.5%
Neutral3.7%
Negative4.9%
Written reviews34 reviews
Positive91.2%
Neutral2.9%
Negative5.9%

DotList

All ratings57 ratings
Positive93.0%
Neutral5.3%
Negative1.8%
Written reviews16 reviews
Positive93.8%
Neutral6.3%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Pensieve

Subscriptions4
  • Boost Monthly3 Days trial$0.991 Month
  • All Access Monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Boost Yearly3 Days trial$9.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • All Access Yearly7 Days trial$24.991 Year
1 purchases

DotList

One-time1
  • DotList Pro$4.99

Questions

Is Pensieve free?
Pensieve is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is DotList free?
DotList is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Pensieve or DotList?
DotList is rated higher. Pensieve averages 4.7 out of 5 from 82 ratings, while DotList averages 4.8 from 57 ratings.
Do Pensieve or DotList have ads?
Neither Pensieve nor DotList shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pensieve or DotList?
Pensieve ships an update every 6 weeks, and DotList every 6 weeks. Most recently, Pensieve was updated on November 1, 2026 and DotList on November 7, 2026.

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