Comparison

NoteBox vs Zavala

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

Head to head
About

NoteBox

This app offers a streamlined note-taking experience with quick input, powerful text editing, and seamless syncing across devices. Easily organize, search, and share your notes with extensive integration options.

Highlights
  • Quick note input from various sources
  • Disturbance-free text editing with advanced formatting
  • Fast iCloud syncing across iOS devices
  • Extensive sharing options to numerous apps
  • In-note text search and Google/Wikipedia integration
  • Support for external keyboards and VoiceOver
Features
Read full description

NoteBox is a superb productivity-boosting tool with compact design, fast input, smooth experience, ease to share, fast syncing, and excellent extensions and widgets with full support for VoiceOver. You will definitely love this note-taking app. Download now! NoteBox can help you: Quick Input - Type immediately after starting the app to jot down your inspirations -Quickly add new notes with handy drop-down feature or universal “+”button - Swiftly save notes from Notification Center or Share Sheet - Long press on “add” button to import text files from all cloud drive storage as notes - Easy input with an external keyboard and shortcut keys Text Editing - Focused and swift note-taking with disturbance-free interface - Swipe side-to-side to move screen cursor when typing - Pinch to zoom and adjust the font size - Convert selected texts into numbered or bulleted lists - Type “-,” “+,”“*,”or numbers and “.” with space key before each line for automatic list creation of the next line - iPhone’s horizontal typing mode available - Scroll down the textbox to display character count Saving, Syncing and Searching - Virtually unlimited storage capacity for text-based notes - Quick syncing with other iOS devices through iCloud - Remember keywords you have searched for notes before - In-note text search - Google or Wikipedia searching with selected note text Easy to Share - Effortless note delivery to dozens of apps or services* - Customizable shortcuts: one touch for note delivery or double-tap for sharing of listed notes - Select multiple notes to bulk process, e.g. changing folders, merging, and exporting to Evernote - Share partially selected texts - Customize the apps of your choice to use for URLs, dates, and addresses in the notes More -Single-handed use, e.g. side-to-side swiping in the tool bar to change the folder - Managing notes with Getting Things Done (GTD) system or to-do list - Automatic switch to night mode in dim environment to reduce eye strain --- Please support indie developers and decide what you want to pay. Pay What You Want Pricing for the first time! We have spent hundreds of hours developing NoteBox, which has become an indispensable tool for many users. We believe you will also find it useful. Instead of asking for the money, we prefer letting you download and use the full version for free (with the only restriction on note-saving capacity). You can decide what you want to pay with your own judgment. --- * Apps and services NoteBox supports: - Tightly integrated with Dropbox, Evernote - Note-taking apps: 1Writer, Bear, ByWord, Day One, Drafts, Simplenote, Ulysses, UpWord, Write ... - To-do list or calendar apps: reminders, Clear, Due, Fantastical, OmniFocus, The Hit List, Things, Todoist -Social media apps: Buffer, Facebook, Gmail, Twitter, Tumblr, LINE, Whatsapp, WordPress, SinaWeibo, TencentWeibo More app news and information: http://twitter.com/getnotebox If you like NoteBox, we appreciate your comments and ratings. We also welcome your feedback. Please write to: elaborapp@gmail.com, and follow us on Twitter @getnotebox --- An Elaborated App, Made with Love in Taipei by Elaborapp

About

Zavala

This app offers a modern approach to outlining, providing a full suite of features. It supports gestures, keyboard shortcuts, and multiple windows for efficient organization and content creation. Easily import and export in various formats, sync across devices, and customize your outlining experience.

Highlights
  • OPML Import & Export
  • Markdown Export
  • iCloud Syncing & Sharing
  • Nested Tags
  • Image Embedding
  • Keyboard Shortcuts
  • Drag and Drop
Features
Read full description

Zavala is a modern take on a traditional outliner. It is a full featured app. It takes full advantage of your device by leveraging gestures, keyboard shortcuts, and multiple windows. Other features: * OPML import & export * Markdown import & export * HTML import & export * iCloud syncing * iCloud sharing with other iCloud users * Encrypted outlines and encrypted iCloud sync * Nested Tags for organizing Outlines * Support for embedding images * Print support * Drag and drop * Text formatting * Links * Completed items * Notes * Customizable fonts and sizes * Backlinks * Shortcuts support * Web clipper share extension * Typewriter scrolling * Automatic row numbering including Decimal and Legal numbering

Screenshots

NoteBox4 screens
Zavala2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Zavala at none against NoteBox's 10. Zavala also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.6) and ratings volume (67 vs 10). NoteBox's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 26.0). On price, review sentiment, update cadence 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. NoteBox sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Zavala asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Zavala holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Zavala has 67 ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 90% of NoteBox's written reviews are positive against 88% of Zavala's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

NoteBox ships an update monthly, Zavala every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on June 10, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
NoteBox versus Zavala: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNoteBoxZavala
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (10 ratings)4.8 (67 ratings) — better
Positive reviews89.8% of reviews — better87.7% of reviews
Number of ratings1067 — better
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS12.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size25 MB18 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperElaborappVincode, Inc

Customer experience

NoteBox

All ratings10 ratings
Positive90.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews49 reviews
Positive89.8%
Neutral6.1%
Negative4.1%

Zavala

All ratings67 ratings
Positive97.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative3.0%
Written reviews65 reviews
Positive87.7%
Neutral3.1%
Negative9.2%

In-app purchases

10 purchases

NoteBox

One-time10
  • Tip$0.99
  • Unlock note capacity limit$1.99
  • Tip$1.99
Show 7 more
  • Unlock note capacity limit$2.99
  • Unlock note capacity limit$3.99
  • Unlock note capacity limit$4.99
  • Tip$4.99
  • Unlock note capacity limit$5.99
  • Unlock note capacity limit$6.99
  • Unlock note capacity limit$7.99
None

Zavala

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is NoteBox free?
NoteBox is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Zavala free?
Zavala is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, NoteBox or Zavala?
Zavala is rated higher. NoteBox averages 4.6 out of 5 from 10 ratings, while Zavala averages 4.8 from 67 ratings.
Do NoteBox or Zavala have ads?
Neither NoteBox nor Zavala shows ads.
Which is updated more often, NoteBox or Zavala?
NoteBox ships an update monthly, and Zavala every 2 weeks. Most recently, NoteBox was updated on June 10, 2026 and Zavala on September 25, 2026.

Other comparisons