Comparison

Notebook vs DarkMatter Vault

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

Head to head
About

Notebook

Capture your thoughts, ideas, and tasks with a versatile digital notebook. Create rich notes with text, files, audio, and video. Organize content visually, collaborate in real-time, and access everything across your devices.

Highlights
  • Rich note creation with text, files, audio, and video
  • Checklist creation for task management
  • Bookmark collection and offline reading
  • Kanban-style note organization
  • Real-time collaboration and sharing
  • AI-powered journaling suggestions
  • Cross-device and cloud synchronization
Features
Read full description

Zoho Notebook is a free, ad-free note-taking app for students, teams and researchers: capture, find and reuse what you write down — typed notes, Apple Pencil handwriting, voice recordings with AI transcription, checklists, files and document scans in one note. Syncs across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and other devices. WHAT PEOPLE USE NOTEBOOK FOR 1. MEETING AND LECTURE NOTES Record with audio or video cards; Notebook AI turns it into searchable text with timestamps, so you jump straight to the decision instead of replaying it. Structured minutes with title, participants, decisions and action points sit in the note beside your highlights. Record screen and self at once; longer videos get chapters. 2. STUDY AND RESEARCH Record lectures and search the transcript weeks later. Scan textbooks and business cards, handwrite and sketch with Apple Pencil, use OCR to find text inside photos and handwritten notes, so nothing you captured becomes unfindable. A long note becomes an AI mind map before an exam. 3. DAILY TO-DOS AND JOURNALING Dedicated checklist cards keep tasks beside your notes, and recurring reminders keep them on schedule. Journaling prompts come from your own activity, easier to keep than a blank page. 4. FILES, SCANS, AND SAVED READING Add PDFs, Word docs and spreadsheets with file cards. Articles, videos, recipes and how-tos become Smart Cards, formatted automatically, readable offline and ad-free. Group it all into nested collections. QUESTIONS PEOPLE ASK Is it free? Yes, with 2GB of free storage and no ads. Notebook Pro adds more storage, longer notes, larger attachments, Email-In to save emails as notes, premium covers, and custom recurring reminders. Can I move my notes from Evernote, Google Keep, or OneNote? Yes, with dedicated migration tools; it arrives organized. Is my data private? Notes are encrypted in transit and at rest. We never sell your data and never show ads. Lock notes or notebooks with a password, Touch ID or Face ID; previews stay hidden until unlocked. Does it work offline? Yes. Create, edit and read offline, then pick up on another device once it syncs to the cloud. What can Notebook AI do? Transcribe audio and video, build mind maps, summarize and simplify, fix grammar, set tone (casual, professional, friendly, direct, or confident), translate into any language, draft notes, checklists, tables, code or a template from a prompt, and suggest tags. Notebook AI is a separate add-on. Does it use on-device AI and Siri? Yes. An on-device Knowledge Graph links ideas across notebooks and answers questions from your own notes. Siri creates and updates notes by voice with the app closed, and On-Screen Awareness summarizes what's on screen without switching apps. Can I share with non-users? Yes. @mention people to collaborate in real time, or publish a public note or video by link. MORE INSIDE - Search by title, content, tag, collaborator, or notebook; filter by any card type, contact, or link; search within one note; sort by date or relevance, with auto-suggestions and recent searches, offline and across languages - iPhone: text-search audio notes, share via iMessage, dictate with Siri, recent notes from the Notification Bar, SharePlay in calls - iPad: drag and drop, split view, slide over, multiple windows, Stage Manager - Apple Watch: record audio, scribble notes, check off lists, add photo notes, record in one tap from a watch face complication - VoiceOver and a dark interface - Roll back to any of a note's last 10 versions Subscriptions auto-renew unless cancelled and are charged to your Apple Account. Prices vary by location. Manage in your account settings. Privacy - https://www.zoho.com/privacy.html Terms - https://www.zoho.com/terms.html

About

DarkMatter Vault

Read full description

DarkMatter Vault is a private, local place for media, files, documents and links worth keeping, separate from the camera roll and organized for later. Some things deserve their own space. Personal videos, important documents, audio, archives, notes and saved links can live together in one dedicated vault on your device. PRIVATE BY DESIGN - App Lock with a PIN or passphrase before the vault opens - Optional biometric unlock with Face ID or Touch ID for convenience - Optional Vault Encryption for saved files and sensitive details on your device SAVE AND ORGANIZE - Import from Files and Photos, or save a link - Keep videos, audio, images, documents, archives and links together - Star, rename, add notes, filter by type and jump between months - See sizes, sources and a storage summary at a glance VIEW WHAT YOU SAVED - In-app previews for video, audio, images, PDF, text, Markdown, JSON, ZIP and Office or spreadsheet files - Native preview and share as a fallback for other formats LOCAL-FIRST WITH ENCRYPTED BACKUP - Saved items live in the app's local vault on your device - Create an encrypted backup and restore your whole vault on another device - You choose where the backup file goes - Only you know the backup password YOUR ARCHIVE, YOUR CONTROL - You decide what to save and import - DarkMatter Vault does not host, index, curate, recommend or provide content - You remain responsible for the content you choose to keep App Lock, Vault Encryption and Backup & Restore are local device features. Some links you choose to save may be processed to prepare previews or metadata for features you request. Note: a forgotten backup password cannot be recovered.

Screenshots

Notebook4 screens
DarkMatter Vault4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: DarkMatter Vault at none against Notebook's 8. Notebook's advantage is update cadence (every 6 days vs every 2 weeks) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Notebook sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $2.49 per month. DarkMatter Vault asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Notebook ships an update every 6 days, DarkMatter Vault every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Notebook versus DarkMatter Vault: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotebookDarkMatter Vault
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (24K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews64.4% of reviews—
Number of ratings24K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 6 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.0 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size220 MB73 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZoho CorporationPavel Bochkov-Rastopchin

Bugs and requests

Notebook

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Notes disappearing or getting corrupted
  • Freezing and crashing issues
  • Inconsistent behavior when editing notes
  • Syncing problems across devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved sorting and reordering options for notes
  • Enhanced search capabilities
  • Ability to export notes in various formats
  • More customization options for notebook covers
  • Integration with other productivity apps

DarkMatter Vault

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Notebook

Subscriptions7
  • Notebook Pro$2.491 Month
  • Notebook Pro Plus$3.991 Month
  • Notebook AI$4.991 Month
Show 4 more
  • Notebook Personal$14.991 Year
  • Notebook Pro2 variants$24.991 Year
  • Notebook Pro Plus$39.991 Year
  • Notebook AI$49.991 Year
None

DarkMatter Vault

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Notebook free?
Notebook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is DarkMatter Vault free?
DarkMatter Vault is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Notebook or DarkMatter Vault have ads?
Neither Notebook nor DarkMatter Vault shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Notebook or DarkMatter Vault?
Notebook ships an update every 6 days, and DarkMatter Vault every 2 weeks. Most recently, Notebook was updated on October 13, 2026 and DarkMatter Vault on October 4, 2026.

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