Comparison

Nextcloud Notes vs Zulip

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

Head to head
About

Nextcloud Notes

This app allows you to create, edit, and organize notes on your mobile device. It syncs seamlessly with a Nextcloud server, ensuring your notes are accessible across all your devices and the web interface. Supports plain text and markdown formatting for versatile note-taking.

Highlights
  • Syncs with Nextcloud server
  • Create and delete notes
  • Organize notes in categories
  • Plain text editing
  • Markdown formatting
  • Export notes
Features
Read full description

Note: Access to a Nextcloud server with the Notes app installed is required to use this app. Visit https://nextcloud.com for more information. Nextcloud Notes is a notes editor that syncs with the Notes app (https://github.com/nextcloud/notes/releases) on your server. Once you have logged in to your server, all notes will be kept in sync between devices and also the web interface. Optionally supports sync on startup. You can create and delete notes directly on the device. Notes can be organized in categories. Edit as plain text or use markdown for rich formatting. Notes can be copied or exported to other apps or services in several formats. If you have a sync client (optional) installed on your desktop computer all notes will be there too, and can be edited with any text editor.

About

Zulip

This app provides organized team chat for groups of any size, enabling users to read and respond to messages in context. It helps maintain focus by allowing users to catch up on topics of interest at their own pace. The application is open-source and available as a cloud service or self-hosted solution.

Highlights
  • Organized team chat
  • Contextual message reading
  • Topic-based conversations
  • Focus maintenance
  • Open-source software
  • Cloud and self-hosted options
Features
Read full description

Zulip (https://zulip.com/) helps teams of all sizes be more productive together, from a few friends hacking on a new idea, to globally distributed organizations with hundreds of people tackling the world's hardest problems. Unlike other chat apps, Zulip lets you read and respond to every message in context, no matter when it was sent. Maintain your focus and then catch up on your own time, reading the topics you care about, and skimming or skipping the rest. Like everything Zulip, this official Zulip mobile app is 100% open-source software: https://github.com/zulip/zulip-flutter . Thank you to the hundreds of contributors who have made Zulip what it is! Zulip is available as a managed cloud service or a self-hosted solution. Please send questions, comments, and bug reports to support@zulip.com, or tweet @zulip.

Screenshots

Nextcloud Notes4 screens
Zulip3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Zulip at 3.7 against Nextcloud Notes's 2.2. Zulip also leads on review sentiment (39% vs 27%) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). Nextcloud Notes's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and ratings volume (93 vs 16). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Zulip holds the better App Store score, 3.7 against 2.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Nextcloud Notes has 93 ratings behind it against 16, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 27% of Nextcloud Notes's written reviews are positive against 39% of Zulip's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Nextcloud Notes ships an update every 2 months, Zulip monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Nextcloud Notes versus Zulip: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNextcloud NotesZulip
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.2 (93 ratings)3.7 (16 ratings) — better
Positive reviews27.3% of reviews39.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings93 — better16
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size18 MB44 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperNextcloud GmbHKandra Labs, Inc.

Customer experience

Nextcloud Notes

All ratings93 ratings
Positive26.9%
Neutral5.4%
Negative67.7%
Written reviews231 reviews
Positive27.3%
Neutral9.1%
Negative63.6%

Zulip

All ratings16 ratings
Positive62.5%
Neutral12.5%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews89 reviews
Positive39.3%
Neutral13.5%
Negative47.2%

Bugs and requests

Nextcloud Notes

Reported bugs

19 issues
  • Notes randomly appear empty and lose content
  • Empty files being saved to server
  • Login resets to default server address
  • 404 errors when getting settings
  • Sync fails with large note collections
Show 14 more
  • Navigation menu disappears after editing
  • Keyboard covers input area
  • Search field disappears after closing notes
  • Cursor jumps to top of note while typing
  • App disconnects during editing
  • Session timeout errors with non-dismissible dialogs
  • Conflict resolution interface unreadable
  • Cannot switch between markdown and preview modes
  • Notes don't upload from mobile to server
  • Inconsistent note naming behavior
  • App overwrites server files without checking versions
  • Login fails with self-hosted servers
  • App password authentication not supported
  • Slow text input with 100ms delay per character

Requested features

17 requests
  • Text formatting options (bold, underline, italics)
  • File and image attachment support
  • Note categorization and organization
  • Pin important notes to top
  • Ability to rename notes easily
Show 12 more
  • Offline mode with local caching
  • Multi-account/profile switching
  • Real-time collaborative editing
  • Undo/redo functionality
  • App-specific password support
  • End-to-end encryption support
  • Checkbox functionality in reading mode
  • Share to Notes from other apps
  • App lock with biometric authentication
  • Direct note opening to preview page
  • Remember app state on restart
  • Mac app availability

Zulip

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Nextcloud Notes

No in-app purchases

None

Zulip

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Nextcloud Notes free?
Nextcloud Notes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Zulip free?
Zulip is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Nextcloud Notes or Zulip?
Zulip is rated higher. Nextcloud Notes averages 2.2 out of 5 from 93 ratings, while Zulip averages 3.7 from 16 ratings.
Do Nextcloud Notes or Zulip have ads?
Neither Nextcloud Notes nor Zulip shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Nextcloud Notes or Zulip?
Nextcloud Notes ships an update every 2 months, and Zulip monthly. Most recently, Nextcloud Notes was updated on October 17, 2026 and Zulip on October 16, 2026.

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