Noughtpad vs Apple Notes
Apple Notes is already on your Mac, iPhone and iPad, it's free, and it syncs through iCloud without you thinking about it. For quick lists and reminders, it's hard to beat. Noughtpad is for when your notes become a body of thinking you want to come back to.
The short version
- Keep Apple Notes for shopping lists, quick jottings, shared notes with family, and anything you need on your phone.
- Try Noughtpad for longer-lived thinking: notes you want as plain files, connected by meaning, and seen over months.
What Apple Notes does better
- Every Apple device, plus iCloud.com in a browser, all kept in step through iCloud.
- Already there. Nothing to install or learn.
- Sharing. Share a note or folder with other people.
- Handwriting, scanning and checklists on iPhone and iPad.
What Noughtpad does differently
- Files you own. Every note is a Markdown file in a folder. Apple Notes keeps notes in its own library; recent versions of macOS can export notes to Markdown or PDF, one export at a time.
- Windows and Linux too.
- Related notes and ideas over time. See notes that seem connected and threads you keep returning to, worked out on your computer.
- Search by meaning and chat with your notes, with a model on your computer or your own provider.
Side by side
| Noughtpad | Apple Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free with Apple devices (iCloud storage plans for more space) |
| Devices | Mac (Apple Silicon), Windows, Linux | Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iCloud.com |
| Sync | Google Drive sync (beta), or any folder sync | iCloud |
| Where notes live | Markdown files in your folder | Apple Notes' own library |
| Markdown | Written and stored as Markdown | Import and export Markdown (macOS 26 and later) |
| Related notes and ideas over time | Yes | No |
Moving notes from Apple Notes
On macOS 26 or later, open a note in Apple Notes and choose File → Export as → Markdown (on macOS 27, File → Export To). Put the files in your Noughtpad folder and Noughtpad reads them straight away.
Prices and features of Apple Notes as listed on apple.com, November 2026.
Try Noughtpad
It's free, it works without an account, and your notes stay plain Markdown files. If it isn't for you, the files open in any other Markdown app.
For Mac (Apple Silicon), Windows and Linux. No account needed.
More comparisons: all comparisons.