Comparison

DS note vs Swift Paperless

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

Head to head

DS note

Free

📊 Productivity

★ 2.8109 ratingsView app →

Swift Paperless

Native document managament

Free

📊 Productivity

★ 4.975 ratingsView app →

About

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.

Highlights

Note creation and editing
Offline access
Tagging and notebook organization
Note sharing
Sync with Synology NAS

Features

Read full description

**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

About

Swift Paperless

This app allows users to manage documents directly from their iOS device. It seamlessly integrates with a self-hosted document management system, ensuring data privacy and control. Easily find, categorize, and add new documents on the go.

Highlights

Native iOS integration
Paperless-ngx compatibility
Document finding
Document categorization
Add documents from phone

Features

Read full description

Swift Paperless is a native iOS app that interacts with the popular Paperless-ngx document management software. Paperless-ngx is self-hosted, and therefore fully privacy preserving: you control your data! With Swift Paperless, it's easy to find, categorize and also add documents from your phone!

Screenshots

DS note4 screens

Swift Paperless4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Swift Paperless at 97% against DS note's 31%. Swift Paperless also leads on rating (4.9 vs 2.8) and update cadence (monthly vs every 3 months). DS note's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and device support (4 vs 2). On price, ratings volume, ads and monetization model 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. Swift Paperless sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. DS note asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Swift Paperless holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 2.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 109 and 75 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 31% of DS note's written reviews are positive against 97% of Swift Paperless's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

DS note ships an update every 3 months, Swift Paperless monthly. Both last shipped on October 25, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level

DS note versus Swift Paperless: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameter	DS note	Swift Paperless
Price	Free	Free
Rating	2.8 (109 ratings)	4.9 (75 ratings) — better
Positive reviews	30.5% of reviews	97.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings	109 — better	75
Update frequency	Every 3 months	Monthly — better
Ads	No	No
In-app purchases	No — better	Yes
Monetization	Free	Free
Devices	iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better	iPhone, iPad
Requires iOS	14.0 — better	17.0
Further details — not scored
Size	38 MB	30 MB
Age rating	4+	4+
Developer	Synology Inc.	Paul Gessinger

Customer experience

DS note

All ratings109 ratings

Positive39.4%

Neutral14.7%

Negative45.9%

Written reviews400 reviews

Positive30.5%

Neutral24.5%

Negative45.0%

Swift Paperless

All ratings72 ratings

Positive98.6%

Neutral0.0%

Negative1.4%

Written reviews67 reviews

Positive97.0%

Neutral1.5%

Negative1.5%

User reviews

DS note

From 109 App Store ratings

What 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

Swift Paperless

From 75 App Store ratings

What we love

🚀 Fast and efficient performance
👍 User-friendly interface
✨ Modern and clean design
✅ Seamless integration with Paperless-ngx
📱 Excellent mobile scanning feature

Room to improve

🐛 Metadata box not resizable on iPhone 13 Mini
🐛 Document upload screen sometimes exits unexpectedly
🐛 Extra step to access iOS share sheet
🐛 Can't scroll multi-page PDFs on iPad
🐛 Document scan function buried in menus

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

Show 21 more

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 more

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

Swift Paperless

Reported bugs

7 issues

Metadata box not resizable on iPhone 13 Mini
Document upload screen sometimes exits unexpectedly
Extra step to access iOS share sheet
Cannot scroll multi-page PDFs on iPad
Server removal from list upon logout

Show 2 more

Editing area only half screen after update
App crying about certificate issue with HTTPS

Requested features

12 requests

Ability to quickly open next document in current view (like 'save & next')
Option to hide preview side bar for full-screen document view
Smarter server management in multi-instance setup
Ability to search within a document
Support for Title view only without thumbnails

Show 7 more

Siri Shortcuts support for adding documents
Option to add from a network scanner
Support for SSO
Ability to copy file content from the app
Option to send documents from archive via share menu (e.g., email)
Grid view with thumbnails on iPad
Direct donation link in the app

In-app purchases

None

DS note

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

Swift Paperless

One-time4

Coffee money$3.99
Proper thank-you$8.99
Above and beyond$17.99

Show 1 more

Legendary generosity$44.99

Questions

Is DS note free?

DS note is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

Is Swift Paperless free?

Swift Paperless is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

Which has better reviews, DS note or Swift Paperless?

Swift Paperless is rated higher. DS note averages 2.8 out of 5 from 109 ratings, while Swift Paperless averages 4.9 from 75 ratings.

Do DS note or Swift Paperless have ads?

Neither DS note nor Swift Paperless shows ads.

Which is updated more often, DS note or Swift Paperless?

DS note ships an update every 3 months, and Swift Paperless monthly. Most recently, DS note was updated on October 25, 2026 and Swift Paperless on October 25, 2026.