Antinote vs Tot

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

Tot

• Mac and iPhone users who want a scratchpad for short-lived text
• People who prefer a fixed handful of notes to a growing library
• Shortcuts users who need a place to stash and fetch text

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.

Tot

• The site lists apps for Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch only; there is no Windows, Android or web version.
• Notes are fixed at seven dots of up to 100,000 characters each, and the vendor says more cannot be added.
• Premium features are bought separately on the Mac and on iOS at $19.99 each, and the Apple Watch app costs another $1.99.
• Sync runs through iCloud only, and automatic backups are unencrypted JSON files; the vendor advises against storing secrets in Tot.

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.

Tot

Seven dots

All text lives in seven color-coded dots in one window. The vendor says the limit is deliberate and cannot be raised; each dot holds up to 100,000 characters.

iCloud sync and Apple Watch app

Dots sync between Mac, iPhone and iPad through iCloud. Tot Mini, a separate $1.99 Apple Watch app, joins the same sync and takes dictation and Scribble input.

Rich text, plain text and Markdown

A dot can hold rich or plain text, and rich text can be turned into Markdown for use on the web. Word and character counts update as you type.

Smart bullets and dividers

Smart bullets make checklists whose items toggle with a tap. Version 2 added up to eight custom bullet pairs and eight divider styles.

Menu bar and floating window

On the Mac, Tot opens from the menu bar, the Dock or both, can float above other windows, and can be shown with a keyboard shortcut.

Shortcuts, widgets and backups

Shortcuts actions on macOS and iOS store and retrieve the text of a dot, iOS has Home Screen widgets, and both platforms keep automatic local backups.

Antinote

• Antinote$5

  one-time purchase

  A license for the Mac app with lifetime updates and no subscription. Requires macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later.

Tot

• Free download$0

  Tot for Mac and Tot Pocket for iPhone and iPad are free on the App Store, with premium features locked until purchased.

• Tot for macOS$19.99

  one-time in-app purchase (US Mac App Store)

  Unlocks the premium features on the Mac, such as text dividers and custom smart bullets. Requires macOS 14.0 or later.

• Tot for iOS and iPadOS$19.99

  one-time in-app purchase (US App Store)

  Unlocks the premium features in Tot Pocket on iPhone and iPad. People who paid for Tot 1.0 on iOS get version 2 by restoring the purchase.

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.

Tot

No public discounts listed.