Comparison

Not Emacs vs Metanote

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

Head to head
About

Not Emacs

A programmer's text editor that mimics common Emacs keybindings and supports iCloud document syncing across devices. It offers syntax highlighting for several languages and is optimized for external keyboards, with an extended virtual keyboard as a backup.

Highlights
  • Emacs keybinding support
  • iCloud document editing
  • Syntax highlighting (Lisp, Scheme, JS, CSS, XML)
  • External Bluetooth keyboard optimization
  • Extended virtual keyboard
Features
Read full description

Not Emacs is a text editor for programmers that supports many of the most common emacs keybindings. It allows editing iCloud documents that are automatically available from other devices. The app has been designed to be used with an external Bluetooth keyboard, but if you forgot it at home, it is still possible to get by with the extended virtual keyboard. This app is based on the ymacs editor (http://www.ymacs.org) and the Gambit Scheme programming system (http://gambitscheme.org). It has syntax highlighting for the following languages: Lisp, Scheme, JavaScript, CSS and XML.

About

Metanote

A privacy-focused offline editor that supports Org mode for writing, task management, and knowledge wikis. It offers real-time editing of rich content and seamless synchronization across devices.

Highlights
  • Privacy-first offline editor
  • Full Org mode support
  • Real-time rich content editing
  • Seamless synchronization
  • Integrated task management
  • Full-text search
Read full description

Metanote is a privacy-first offline editor that supports org mode. In Metanote, everything is text, everything is editable. Supports real-time editing and rendering of images, hyperlinks, tables, Latex mathematical formulas, source code blocks, attachments and other rich content with the text markup language 'org mode'. Literary creation, academic papers, literary programming, task management, knowledge wiki and other usage scenarios can be easily handled. *** Freedom & Private 100% work offline, no account required, no network required, no private document formats, no data collection, your data and privacy are completely under your control. *** Writing every where Whether on the go or in your bedroom, you can create, view and edit your documents anytime, anywhere, and with built-in synchronization, everything will be there when you return to your desk. *** A silky-smooth editing experience Pure native development, lightweight and smooth, rejecting any lag, even for large files! *** Thinking better Through the structured editing function, ideas come to life on screen. It is not only a beautiful outline, but also efficient thinking. *** Never miss a thing There is no more free task management system than this. Notes are to-dos, and to-dos are notes. Everything is plain-text and everything can be edited. Capture inspiration on the go with 'capture' and keep everything in sight with 'agenda view's. *** Org mode Metanote fully supports org mode 9.3.6 syntax, including features like Capture and Agenda View, allowing for a perfect and even enhanced org mode experience on smartphones. - An incredibly smooth editing experience. - Sync using WebDAV(Apache WebDAV Server, ownCloud, Yandex.disk, etc.), Dropbox, OneDrive, Git, iCloud. - Support for adding Obsidian and Logseq working directories, integrating and managing them in a unified manner - Supports full-text search. - Support images, tables and LaTeX. - Support hyperlinks and attachments. 1. Supports internal links and external links. 2. Click on the attachment link to preview and edit, the following types are supported: 1. iWork and Microsoft Office documents 2. Images 3. Live Photos 4. Text files 5. PDFs 6. Audio and video files - Supports multi-window editing. - Customizable startup page - Supports mini buffer. - Compatible with org mode version 9.3.6 - Todo notifications support - View agenda views by year, month, and day - Customizable workflows - Support for custom capture, custom agenda view, refile, log note, and other features. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Not Emacs4 screens
Metanote4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Not Emacs at none against Metanote's 3. Not Emacs also leads on iOS requirement (6.1 vs 14.0). Metanote's advantage is rating (4.3 vs 4.0) and review sentiment (73% vs 50%). On price, ratings volume, 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. Metanote sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Not Emacs asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Metanote holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 21 and 15 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of Not Emacs's written reviews are positive against 73% of Metanote's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Not Emacs versus Metanote: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNot EmacsMetanote
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (21 ratings)4.3 (15 ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews72.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings21 — better15
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS6.1 — better14.0
Further details — not scored
Size18 MB16 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMarc Feeley雪双 陈

Customer experience

Not Emacs

All ratings21 ratings
Positive76.2%
Neutral4.8%
Negative19.0%
Written reviews14 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral14.3%
Negative35.7%

Metanote

All ratings11 ratings
Positive81.8%
Neutral9.1%
Negative9.1%
Written reviews11 reviews
Positive72.7%
Neutral9.1%
Negative18.2%

In-app purchases

None

Not Emacs

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Metanote

Subscriptions2
  • Metanote Premium$1.991 Month
  • Metanote Premium$12.991 Year
One-time1
  • One-time purchase$19.99

Questions

Is Not Emacs free?
Not Emacs is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Metanote free?
Metanote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Not Emacs or Metanote?
Metanote is rated higher. Not Emacs averages 4.0 out of 5 from 21 ratings, while Metanote averages 4.3 from 15 ratings.
Do Not Emacs or Metanote have ads?
Neither Not Emacs nor Metanote shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Not Emacs or Metanote?
Not Emacs ships an update every 2 weeks, and Metanote every 2 weeks. Most recently, Not Emacs was updated on October 24, 2026 and Metanote on October 24, 2026.

Other comparisons