Nextcloud Notes vs DS note
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Syncs with Nextcloud server
- Create and delete notes
- Organize notes in categories
- Plain text editing
- Markdown formatting
- Export notes
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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.
DS note
Create, organize, and share notes anywhere, even offline. This app syncs with your personal cloud storage, allowing you to manage to-do lists, project information, and memories. Organize with tags, notebooks, and shortcuts for easy access and sharing.
- Note creation and editing
- Offline access
- Tagging and notebook organization
- Note sharing
- Sync with Synology NAS
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**You must own a Synology NAS to run this app, and be running the Note Station 1.1 to get the complete set of features** Whether for creating your weekly to-do list, sharing information on projects with your teammates, or simply describing your best holiday memories, DS note’s editing features make it easy and pleasant to take note of anything you want, anywhere you need, even with no network. Use tags, notebooks and shortcuts to organise all your notes, and share them instantly with anyone you want. And that’s always safe as DS note keeps it all in sync with your note library on your Synology NAS server, your personal cloud. Find all detailed features about the app on our website: https://www.synology.com/dsm/software_spec/note_station
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: DS note at 2.8 against Nextcloud Notes's 2.2. DS note also leads on device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 17.0). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and update cadence 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
DS note holds the better App Store score, 2.8 against 2.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 93 and 109 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 27% of Nextcloud Notes's written reviews are positive against 31% of DS note's.
Nextcloud Notes ships an update every 2 months, DS note every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Nextcloud Notes | DS note |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.2 (93 ratings) | 2.8 (109 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 27.3% of reviews | 30.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 93 | 109 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 14.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 18 MB | 38 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Nextcloud GmbH | Synology Inc. |
Customer experience
Nextcloud Notes
DS note
User reviews
Nextcloud Notes
From 93 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- ✅ Successfully syncs with Nextcloud instances
- ⚡ Improving performance and reliability over time
- 📝 Simple, lightweight note-taking interface
- 🔒 Privacy-focused with self-hosted option
- 📱 Cross-platform availability (iOS, Android)
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent data loss and note deletion issues
- 🔌 Unreliable synchronization with server
- 🔐 Login and authentication failures
- ⚠️ Poor handling of connection interruptions
- 📉 App crashes and force-closes required
DS note
From 109 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🔒 Data stored on personal NAS for privacy
- 🔄 Reliable synchronization across devices
- 💰 Free alternative to Evernote
- 📱 Available on multiple platforms (iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, Web)
- ✅ Simple and intuitive interface
Room to improve
- 🐛 Notes disappear when app left open without saving
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and app instability
- 🐛 Copy-paste functionality unreliable
- 🐛 Keyboard arrow keys don't work on iPad
- 🐛 Apple Pencil causes app crashes
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 moreShow fewer
- 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 moreShow fewer
- 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
DS note
Reported bugs
26 issues- Notes content erased when leaving app open
- App crashes on startup
- App crashes when using Apple Pencil
- App crashes during text input with swipe-to-text
- App crashes when printing
Show 21 moreShow fewer
- Keyboard disappears during note editing
- Cannot paste text from clipboard
- Arrow keys non-functional in note body
- Sync stuck at certain percentage
- Login failures with QuickConnect
- HTTPS connection not working on iOS
- Formatting changes after sync between devices
- Shared notes don't sync properly
- Copy-paste causes font changes
- Phantom bullets in lists after paste
- Cursor control issues in text editing
- Images not displaying or loading slowly
- Voice input crashes app
- Checklist items not syncing in shared notes
- iPad version text input issues
- Incompatibility with iOS 14 and 15
- DynDNS connection broken after updates
- Sync conflicts between devices
- Search returns irrelevant results
- Notification functionality unreliable
- iPad Pro resolution not interpreted correctly
Requested features
26 requests- Dark mode for all platforms
- Apple Pencil support for iPad
- Arrow key support for Bluetooth keyboards
- Auto-save functionality
- Offline mode for note creation
Show 21 moreShow fewer
- Markdown support
- Code block formatting
- Table creation and editing
- PDF import and annotation
- Export to PDF and other formats
- Nested notebooks/folders (sub-notes)
- Drag-and-drop file attachments
- Web clipper browser extension
- Recurring tasks/reminders
- Task assignment to other users
- Calendar integration
- Improved search functionality
- Import from Evernote (.enex files)
- Widgets for home screen
- Better formatting options
- Image editing and markup
- Handwriting recognition
- Split-screen support on iPad
- Collaborative editing
- Password-protected note sharing
- TLS 1.3 support
In-app purchases
Nextcloud Notes
No in-app purchases
DS note
No in-app purchases
