Antinote vs Notchkin
We give Antinote a 2.8 GPA and Notchkin a 2.2, out of 4.0. Antinote grades higher on the free plan and features. They get the same grade on value for money, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Antinote
Mac scratchpad for temporary notes, quick math and checklists
Free trial · from $5 one-time
Notchkin
Local notes panel that drops down from the MacBook notch
From $4.99 one-time
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAAntinoteGood | 2.2GPANotchkinFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | A$5 once, with lifetime updates and no subscription. Paid plans in this category typically start at $5.99 a month, so the whole app costs less than one month of most of them. | A$4.99 once on the US Mac App Store, with no subscription and no account. Paid plans in this category typically start at $5.99 a month, so this costs less than one month of a typical one. Family Sharing covers up to six people. |
| Free plan and trial | CThere's no free version to stay on. You can download a free trial with no account, which is the right way to do it, but the site doesn't say how long it lasts. After that it's the $5. | FNothing is free. The Mac App Store listing shows a paid download with no free version and no trial. If you regret it, refunds go through Apple or Setapp. |
| Features | AIt's only a scratchpad, but it does that job fully. Sums worked out as you type, with currencies, distances and weights converted inline. Checklists, a pomodoro timer, text pulled from a dropped image, and export to Apple Notes, Obsidian or Bear. | BIt's a scratchpad and it does that job fully: rich text, checklists, hashtags in place of folders, search, pins, a shortcut to start a note from any app and another to paste the clipboard as one. The gaps are no sync, and daily backups that sit on the same Mac as the notes. |
| Ease of use | BWe have no store rating on record, so a B is as high as we go. One hotkey opens it and a two-finger swipe moves between notes, with nothing to organise. You do have to learn the first-line keywords. | BWe have no App Store rating on record for it, so a B is our ceiling. There's no account and nothing to set up. Hover over the notch and start typing. |
| Platforms and integrations | DMac only, and only macOS 14 or later. The vendor plans no Windows or Linux version, and the iOS app is still in development. On the Mac it does plug into Raycast, Alfred, Shortcuts and iCloud sync. | DMac only, on macOS 14 or later. The FAQ says notes can't be shared with an iPhone or iPad. The app makes no network requests at all, so the only way out is exporting or copying the notes folder yourself. |
| Best for | a throwaway scratchpad on the Mac | a scratchpad that drops out of your MacBook's notch |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Antinote and Notchkin. How we grade
Where they differ
- Antinote starts at $5 one-time purchase. Notchkin starts at $4.99 one-time.
- Antinote also covers Pomodoro timer, menu bar app and calculator.
In commonmacOSLocal-firstOne-time purchaseNotes
At a glance
| Antinote | Notchkin | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Paid |
| Starts at | $5 one-time purchase | $4.99 one-time |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | Free trial download with no account needed; the site does not state its length | None listed |
| macOS | ||
| Made by | Cmd-N Studios Inc. | Danny Stankowski |
| Price read from | antinote.io | apps.apple.com |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Antinote
- Mac users who want a throwaway pad beside their main notes app
- Quick sums, conversions and what-if calculations written in words
- Keyboard-driven users of Raycast or Alfred
Notchkin
- MacBook users who want a scratchpad without another window
- Short notes, checklists and clipboard snippets kept on one Mac
- People who want notes that never leave their machine
Worth knowing
Antinote
- It runs on macOS 14 or later only. The vendor plans no Windows or Linux version; an iOS app is in development with an October 2026 release date.
- Notes are plain text with no fonts, colors or styles, and the vendor says very long notes get laggy.
- There are no folders or tags: it is built for short-lived notes that get exported elsewhere when worth keeping.
- iCloud sync, added in version 2.0, is optional and off until switched on; notes otherwise stay in a local SQLite database.
Notchkin
- It runs on the Mac only and requires macOS 14 or later.
- There is no sync: the FAQ says notes cannot be shared with an iPhone or iPad, only backed up by copying the notes folder yourself.
- The Mac App Store listing shows a paid download with no free version or trial; refunds go through Apple or Setapp.
- The built-in backups live on the same Mac as the notes, so the vendor advises keeping a separate backup.
Key features
Antinote
- Swipe-through temporary notes
- A two-finger swipe moves between notes, and swiping past the newest one starts another. Notes can delete themselves, and there are no folders or tags to manage.
- Plain text with paste cleanup
- Notes are plain text with simple Markdown. Pasting strips formatting, bullets and indentation, pasted links are shortened, and a dropped image becomes text through macOS OCR.
- Inline math and conversions
- With math on the first line, calculations are worked out as you type beside your own wording. Named variables recalculate, and currencies, crypto, distances and weights convert inline.
- Checklists, timers and AutoPaste
- Other first-line keywords change what a note does: list makes a checklist, timer runs a stopwatch, countdown or pomodoro, and paste collects everything copied afterwards.
- Global hotkey and display modes
- Option-A brings the app up from inside any other app. It can live in the Dock, the menu bar or a dropdown, show over full-screen apps and be pinned on top.
- Export and automation
- A note can be sent to Apple Notes, Obsidian or Bear, or exported as txt, Markdown or PDF. URL schemes, Shortcuts, Raycast, Alfred and JavaScript extensions can drive the app.
Notchkin
- Panel in the notch
- Hovering over the notch slides a notes panel down. Macs without a notch get a notch-shaped panel at the top of the screen, and every connected monitor has its own.
- Quick Capture and paste as note
- A global shortcut starts a new note from any app, and a second shortcut turns whatever is on the clipboard into a note.
- Rich text and lists
- Notes support bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, highlights and links, along with checklists and bulleted and numbered lists.
- Hashtags, search and pins
- Hashtags and tag filters take the place of folders. Search runs across all notes or inside a single one, and important notes can be pinned to the top.
- Local storage with daily backups
- Notes are saved in a sandboxed folder on the Mac and the app makes no network requests. It snapshots the notes once a day and keeps the last 7 backups.
- Export
- A single note exports as .rtf or .md, and the whole library can be backed up as JSON or as a folder of Markdown files.
Plans
Antinote
Antinote$5
one-time purchase
A license for the Mac app with lifetime updates and no subscription. Requires macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later.
Notchkin
Notchkin$4.99
one-time purchase (US Mac App Store)
The full app, with no subscription or account. Family Sharing covers up to six people, and the terms say it is also sold once-off through Setapp.
Ways to pay less
Antinote
- Other savings
Free license for charity donors and volunteers
The FAQ says that describing a donation you made or volunteer work you did in the #charity-offer channel on the Antinote Discord earns a free lifetime license.
Notchkin
No public discounts listed.
