DS note vs Notesnook
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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
Notesnook
This open-source app offers secure, encrypted note-taking and organization across all your devices. It features a robust editor, to-do lists, and a private journal with advanced security to protect your personal information.
- Military-grade encryption
- Cross-platform synchronization
- To-do lists and task management
- Private journal with media support
- Rich text and Markdown editor
- Notebook organization
- App lock with fingerprint support
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Your notes are yours. Notesnook encrypts every one of them on your device before it ever reaches the cloud — so no one can read them. Not advertisers, not us. UNLIMITED NOTES. EVERY DEVICE. FREE. Most note apps cap the free plan until it hurts. Others stop after a few dozen notes. Notesnook never limits how much you write or how many devices you sync. A REAL EDITOR Headings, tables, code blocks, maths, outlines, Markdown and full-quality images. Notes that hold up whether you are writing a shopping list or a thesis chapter. ORGANISED AT ANY SIZE Nested notebooks, tags, colours, pinned and favourite notes, and search that stays instant at 10,000 notes. Link notes to each other and build your own private wiki. PRIVACY YOU CAN CHECK YOURSELF • End-to-end encryption is always on — you cannot switch it off, so you cannot forget • Encrypted on your device, in transit and at rest, using XChaCha20-Poly1305 and Argon2 • Even your notebook and tag names are encrypted • 100% open source under AGPLv3 — read every line, or run your own sync server • Recommended by Privacy Guides IMPORT YOUR OLD NOTES Bring your notes, notebooks and tags with you. Import from your previous notes app, plus plain Markdown and HTML files. EVERYWHERE YOU WRITE iPhone, iPad, Mac and the web. Sync is instant, and encrypted the whole way. ALSO INSIDE • Web clipper — save any article, ad-free and offline • Reminders across all your devices • Note version history, so nothing is ever really lost • Publish a note to a shareable link • Dark mode and custom themes FREE FOREVER Unlimited notes, unlimited devices, 50 notebooks, 50 tags and full end-to-end encryption. No ads. No trial countdown. PAID PLANS Add task lists, callouts, recurring reminders, more storage, and — on Pro — app lock, an encrypted vault and full-quality images. From $19.99 a year. Questions or feedback: support@streetwriters.co Privacy policy: https://notesnook.com/privacy Terms: https://notesnook.com/terms
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Notesnook at 78% against DS note's 31%. Notesnook also leads on rating (4.7 vs 2.8) and update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months). DS note's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 20). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Notesnook sells 17 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. DS note asks for nothing beyond the download.
Notesnook holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 2.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notesnook has 653 ratings behind it against 109, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 31% of DS note's written reviews are positive against 78% of Notesnook's.
DS note ships an update every 3 months, Notesnook weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | DS note | Notesnook |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.8 (109 ratings) | 4.7 (653 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 30.7% of reviews | 78.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 109 | 653 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 38 MB | 89 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Synology Inc. | Streetwriters LLC |
Customer experience
DS note
Notesnook
User reviews
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
Notesnook
From 653 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fast and efficient
- 🔒 Secure and private
- 👍 Clean and intuitive UI
- 👍 Cross-platform compatibility
- 👍 Generous free tier
Room to improve
- 🐛 Sync and login issues
- 🐛 Buggy and crashes
- 💰 Expensive premium tier
- 🔒 Lack of free encryption features
Bugs and requests
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
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- 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
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- 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
Notesnook
Reported bugs
3 issues- Crashes on launch on older iOS devices
- Sync issues leading to data loss
- Unreliable login and verification process
Requested features
5 requests- Improved search functionality
- Reminders and calendar integration
- Handwriting and drawing support
- Multilingual support
- Improved table and spreadsheet features
In-app purchases
DS note
No in-app purchases
Notesnook
- Notesnook Pro$0.991 Month
- Notesnook Essential Plan7 Days trial$1.991 Month
- Notesnook Pro$2.491 Month
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- Notesnook Pro Plan7 Days trial$2.991 Month
- Notesnook Pro3 variants$4.491 Month
- Notesnook Pro1 Month trial$4.491 Month
- Notesnook Pro Plan7 Days trial$6.991 Month
- Notesnook Believer Plan7 Days trial$8.991 Month
- Notesnook Pro$9.991 Year
- Notesnook Essential Plan14 Days trial$19.991 Year
- Notesnook Pro$24.991 Year
- Notesnook Pro Plan14 Days trial$29.901 Year
- Notesnook Pro Yearly$49.991 Year
- Notesnook Pro2 variants$49.991 Year
- Notesnook Pro1 Year trial$49.991 Year
- Notesnook Pro Plan14 Days trial$69.991 Year
- Notesnook Believer Plan14 Days trial$89.991 Year









