Notelet vs Apple Notes and Reminders
Apple Notes and Reminders are free, built in and excellent on an iPhone, iPad and Mac. Off Apple’s devices they’re a web page. Notelet is an installed app on Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android, with your notes and your reminders in one place.
Checked 20 October 2026.
Choose Notelet if…
- you use a Windows PC, an Android phone or Linux, alongside or instead of Apple devices
- you want your notes and your reminders in one app, everywhere
- you’d rather sync through storage of your own than iCloud
- you’re leaving an iPhone and the notes are the hard part
Choose Apple Notes if…
- every device you own is an Apple one
- you share notes or lists with other people
- you write by hand with Apple Pencil, scan documents, or use Siri, widgets and Apple Intelligence
- you want it on an iPad (Notelet has no iPad layout yet)
Feature by feature
| Feature | Notelet | Apple Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mac and iPhone | Apps (iPhone in beta on TestFlight) | Built in |
| iPad | No iPad layout yet | Built in |
| Windows | App, x64 and Arm64 | In a browser, at iCloud.com |
| Android | App (beta) | In a browser, at iCloud.com |
| Linux | .deb, .rpm and AppImage | In a browser, at iCloud.com |
| Folders, smart folders, #tags, pins | Yes | Yes |
| Checklists and tables | Yes | Yes |
| Locked notes | Touch ID, Face ID, Windows Hello, fingerprint | Touch ID, Face ID |
| Reminders: smart lists, repeats, subtasks, sections | In the same app | In the separate Reminders app |
| Share and edit a note with someone | Not yet | Yes |
| Scan documents | Not yet | Yes |
| Drawing | Sketches, drawn with a finger | Including Apple Pencil handwriting |
| Sync | Notelet Cloud, or your own S3, WebDAV or folder | iCloud |
| Free storage for sync | Your own storage: free for good. Cloud: 5 GB for life, first 1,000 accounts | 5 GB of iCloud, shared with photos and backups |
| Encryption | On your devices before sync; end-to-end with Advanced protection | On Apple’s servers with Apple’s keys; end-to-end with Advanced Data Protection |
| Price | Free | Free |
Apple Notes’ details from its own pages and the sources below, checked 20 October 2026. Notelet 0.10.12.
Can I use Apple Notes on Windows or Android?
Only in a web browser. Apple doesn’t make a Notes or Reminders app for Windows, Android or Linux, and iCloud for Windows doesn’t include Notes. You can sign in at icloud.com/notes, where Apple lets you view, edit, organise and share your notes. If you’re mostly on Apple devices and only now and then on a PC, that may be all you need.
What it isn’t is an app: it lives in a browser tab, and people who use it every day on a work PC or an Android phone often say so. Notelet is an installed app on each system, with that system’s own menus, shortcuts and notifications, and it keeps working offline.
What will feel familiar
Coming from Notes and Reminders, little needs learning: folders and subfolders, smart folders that gather notes by tag, date, checklist, attachment or lock, #tags typed anywhere, pinned notes, a gallery view, Quick Notes, checklists that can move ticked items to the bottom, tables, sums that work out as you type, an attachments browser, one password for locked notes, and Recently Deleted. Its reminders have lists and smart lists (Today, Scheduled, Flagged, All) with repeats, subtasks, sections, priorities, flags and templates.
The look is its own: Paper on a Mac and an iPhone, and each system’s own design on Windows, Linux and Android.
What Apple Notes does better
Apple Notes is already on every Apple device. It can share notes and folders for others to edit, scan documents, take Apple Pencil handwriting, transcribe audio, and works with Siri, widgets and Apple Intelligence. It runs on an iPad, and it has a web version for any computer. Notelet does none of those yet. If those matter more to you than Windows, Android or Linux apps, stay with Apple Notes.
Encryption
The two work in a similar way. Apple’s iCloud data security overview says that with standard protection, Notes and Reminders are encrypted on Apple’s servers with keys Apple holds, and with Advanced Data Protection they’re end-to-end encrypted with keys only on your devices. Notelet encrypts your notes on your devices (XChaCha20-Poly1305) before they sync. By default Notelet Cloud keeps a recovery key so you can always get back in; with Advanced protection it keeps none, and only your devices and your passphrase open your notes (end-to-end).
Moving from Apple Notes to Notelet
Notelet doesn’t sync with iCloud: you bring your notes across once.
- On a Mac, select the notes in Notes, then choose File › Export To › Markdown (in recent versions of macOS) and save them in a folder.
- In Notelet, choose File › Import to Notes… (on a phone, a notes list’s … menu › Import Notes) and pick that folder.
- Notelet shows what will come in before anything changes. Checklists, attachments and folders come with the notes; notes you already have are skipped.
Without a Mac, Notelet can also read the Notes in Apple’s data download from privacy.apple.com (less tested). There’s no importer for Apple Reminders yet. More on the import page.
Common questions
Is there an Apple Notes app for Windows or Android?
No. Apple offers Notes on iCloud.com in a web browser, but no app for Windows, Android or Linux. Notelet is an independent notes and reminders app with an app for each of those systems, and anyone coming from Apple Notes will find their way around at once.
Does Notelet sync with Apple Notes or iCloud?
No. Notelet keeps its own library and syncs through Notelet Cloud or storage of your own. You move your Apple Notes across once, by exporting them from Notes on a Mac and importing them into Notelet.
Is Notelet free like Apple Notes?
Yes. Every feature, on every system, is free. Syncing through storage you already have (your own S3 or WebDAV server, or a folder Dropbox, iCloud Drive or OneDrive keeps in step on a computer) is free for good. Notelet Cloud gives the first 1,000 accounts 5 GB free for life; bigger plans (50 GB for £10 a year, 200 GB for £25 a year) open soon.
Is Notelet made by Apple?
No. Notelet is an independent app. It isn’t affiliated with or endorsed by Apple.
Sources
- Apple: Use Notes on iCloud.com
- Apple: iCloud data security overview
- Zapier: The best note-taking apps (Apple Notes)
- Notelet: how the encryption works, pricing, downloads
Spot a mistake? Write to hello@noteletapp.com.