We built ZipNotes because the tools we tried were slow, expensive, or blocked by our IT teams. Here's how it stacks up against the big ones, without spin.
| feature | ZipNotes | Notion | Evernote | Obsidian | Apple Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold start | 0.4s | 6–10s | 3–5s | 1.5s | 0.8s |
| Install / bundle size | 2.4 MB | ~210 MB | ~180 MB | ~90 MB | system |
| Cross-device sync | paid add-on | Apple only | |||
| Works offline | limited | limited | |||
| Markdown-first | |||||
| Plain-text export | partial | partial | |||
| Firewall-friendly | N/A | ||||
| Free plan usable daily | limited | limited | |||
| Cheapest paid tier | $4/mo | $10/mo | $15/mo | $4/mo * | iCloud+ |
| Time to first note | <5s | ~2 min | ~1 min | ~3 min | <5s |
* Obsidian Sync is a paid add-on. Local Obsidian is free.
Notion is a workspace. ZipNotes is a notepad. If you spend more time configuring pages than writing in them, the trade is worth making.
Evernote's pricing pushed a lot of writers away. ZipNotes keeps the notebook feel but drops the price tag and the launch time.
Obsidian is beloved for a reason — but sync is a paid add-on and setup is a hobby. ZipNotes is sync-first and setup-free.
Apple Notes is great if your whole life is on Apple. ZipNotes is for the rest of the internet — every browser, every device.
No install. No signup wall. Open a blank page in under half a second.
Start writing — free