Apple Notes vs TickTick
Which is better in 2026? Five scores, side by side.
Apple Notes is the better app overall, scoring 9.0 to 8.4. Apple Notes wins on 4 of the 5 scores, TickTick on 1.
iPhone, iPad and Mac owners who want a fast, free place for everyday notes
Students and planners who want tasks, a calendar, habits and focus in one app
Score by score
The details
| Feature | Apple Notes | TickTick |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Productivity & Notes | Productivity & Notes |
| Category rank | #5 of 17 | #14 of 17 |
| Developer | Apple | Appest Limited |
| Pricing | Free | Free + paid plans |
| Usable for free | Yes | Yes |
| iPhone & iPad | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android | — | ✓ |
| Mac | ✓ | ✓ |
| Windows | — | ✓ |
| Linux | — | ✓ |
| Web | ✓ | ✓ |
Common questions
Is Apple Notes better than TickTick?
Apple Notes is the better app overall, scoring 9.0 to 8.4. Apple Notes wins on 4 of the 5 scores, TickTick on 1.
Which is cheaper, Apple Notes or TickTick?
Apple Notes: Free; syncs with 5 GB of free iCloud storage, and iCloud+ starts at $0.99 a month. TickTick: Free plan; Premium $49.99/year, or $4.99/month in the iPhone app. On value for money, Apple Notes scores higher.
Do Apple Notes and TickTick work on the same devices?
Only TickTick runs on Android, Windows, Linux.
Which is more private, Apple Notes or TickTick?
Apple Notes scores higher on privacy (9.0/10). App Store label: no tracking. Your note content and an ID are linked to you; usage data is not. Turn on Advanced Data Protection and your iCloud notes are end-to-end encrypted.
Strengths and weaknesses
Apple Notes
- Free and built into every iPhone, iPad and Mac
- Handwriting, scans, tables and transcripts in one app
- No tracking, according to the App Store label
- No Android or Windows app, only iCloud.com in a browser
- Free iCloud storage is just 5 GB
- Not end-to-end encrypted unless you turn on Advanced Data Protection
Apple Notes is free, already on your iPhone, iPad and Mac, and a lot better than most people think. You get checklists, tables, document scanning, handwriting, Math Notes and audio recordings with written transcripts. Share notes with family, lock private ones and export to Markdown. Everything syncs through iCloud. The catch is that it lives in Apple's world, with only a web version for Windows and Android.
Full Apple Notes review
TickTick
- Tons of features in a single app
- Free plan is useful, with habits and a focus timer
- Apps for every big platform, even Linux
- So many features make it feel busy
- Premium got a lot pricier in 2026
- Free plan stops at nine lists
TickTick packs more into one app than almost any other to-do app. Beyond lists, you can type tasks in plain words. You also get calendar views, a habit tracker, a Pomodoro focus timer and an Eisenhower matrix. It all runs on every major platform. A new AI assistant can break projects into tasks. The free plan is unusually useful. The trade-offs: it looks busier than Todoist, and Premium now costs $49.99 a year.
Full TickTick review
