Bebop vs Drafts
We give Bebop a 3.0 GPA and Drafts a 3.6, out of 4.0. Drafts grades higher on features, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money and the free plan.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Bebop
Capture-first plain-text notes app for iPhone
Drafts
Quick-capture notes app for Apple devices with text actions
How we grade them
| 3.0GPABebopVery good | 3.6GPADraftsExcellent | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AThe Pro upgrade is $4.99 once on the US App Store, less than a single month of the $5.99 this category typically starts at. It adds colour themes, custom templating and power-user settings. You may never need it. | ADrafts Pro is $19.99 a year or $1.99 a month, where paid plans in this category typically start at $5.99 a month. One subscription covers all your Apple devices, and both options work with Family Sharing. |
| Free plan and trial | AUnlimited notes, sync to iCloud Drive or Dropbox, the share extension and widgets, all free with no ads, logins or tracking. Most people could stay here. The developer's 2024 write-up says free caps Flashback at three notes. | AUnlimited drafts, editing and iCloud sync are free, and so is running any action that ships with the app or comes from the Drafts Directory. Most people could stay here. Pro is for making your own actions, workspaces, themes and Mail Drop. |
| Features | BIt does one job, capture, and does it properly: a blank note on opening, files named and formatted your way, Flashback to add to recent notes, and Quick Append to tack text onto an existing file. But there's no note browser at all. | AIt does capture fully: an inbox, tags, flags, dictation, transcription of audio and video files, and text arriving by Siri, widgets or the share sheet. Actions pass it on to Dropbox, Todoist, Notion, Gmail and more. Underneath sit Shortcuts, URL schemes, AppleScript and JavaScript. |
| Ease of use | BWe have no App Store rating on record, so a B is as high as we go. Open, type, save, with the save button under your thumb. The one bit of setup is choosing the folder, and Dropbox needs its own app installed. | A4.8 from about 10,800 App Store ratings. Open it and type, since a new page is already waiting. The scripting side is as deep as you care to go, and you can ignore it. |
| Platforms and integrations | DiPhone only. The App Store lists no iPad, Mac or Android version. It gets round that by writing plain files to iCloud Drive or Dropbox, which desktop apps like Obsidian or NVAlt can open. | CiPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch only. A Web Capture page can add a draft from any browser, but it can't show or edit what you've got. Its actions do reach plenty of other services, from Dropbox to OneNote. |
| Best for | catching a thought on your iPhone as a text file | catching text fast and sending it somewhere else |
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: Bebop and Drafts. How we grade
Where they differ
- Bebop starts at $4.99 one-time Pro upgrade. Drafts starts at $1.99 per month, or $19.99 per year.
- Only Drafts lists a macOS app.
- Bebop can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- Drafts also covers transcription, dictation and workflow automation.
At a glance
| Bebop | Drafts | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $4.99 one-time Pro upgrade | $1.99 per month, or $19.99 per year |
| Free plan | Unlimited notes with iCloud Drive or Dropbox sync, Flashback, the share extension and widgets, with no ads, logins or tracking. | Free to use with unlimited creating, editing and syncing of drafts, and running actions installed with the app or from the Drafts Directory. |
| Free trial | None listed | 7-day free trial on the annual Drafts Pro subscription |
| macOS | ||
| iOS | ||
| Made by | Jack Cheng LLC | Agile Tortoise, Inc. |
| Price read from | apps.apple.com | docs.getdrafts.com |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Bebop
- Obsidian or NVAlt users who want a fast capture app on iPhone
- People who keep notes as plain-text files in iCloud Drive or Dropbox
- Jotting down ideas to sort out later on a Mac
Drafts
- Jotting text down quickly on iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple Watch
- People who route notes into other apps such as task managers
- Automation fans who script their own text workflows
Worth knowing
Bebop
- The App Store lists it for iPhone only; there is no iPad, Mac or Android version.
- It is a capture tool with no note browser: older notes are reached through Flashback or another app that opens the same folder.
- Dropbox sync requires the Dropbox iOS app to be installed.
- Color themes, custom templating and power-user settings need the $4.99 Pro upgrade; the developer's 2024 write-up also says the free version caps Flashback at three notes.
Drafts
- Apps exist only for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. The Web Capture page can create drafts in any browser but cannot review or edit them.
- Creating and editing actions, workspaces, themes, Mail Drop and the AI chat console all require the Drafts Pro subscription.
- Sync runs through iCloud and needs the same iCloud account, with iCloud Drive active, on every device.
- A subscription bought on iOS cannot be restored on the Mac App Store or the reverse; it carries over only through a shared iCloud account.
Key features
Bebop
- Capture-first editor
- The app opens on a blank note with the save button within thumb reach, so a thought can be typed and saved without passing through a note list.
- Plain-text files in your own folder
- Notes are saved as .txt or .md files in a chosen iCloud Drive or Dropbox folder, with custom headers, footers, filename formats and file extensions.
- Flashback
- One tap cycles back through recent notes so more can be added to them, and a long press on the button pins a note.
- Quick Append
- Starting a note with @ picks an existing file, and the text is appended to that file instead of being saved as a new note.
- Share extension, widgets and shortcut
- Links and text can be saved from other iOS apps through the share sheet, and widgets and a shortcut open Bebop ready for a new note.
- Markdown helpers
- A helper bar inserts Markdown symbols, lists continue automatically on the next line, and the editor applies light Markdown styling.
Drafts
- Capture first, file later
- The app opens to a new page with the keyboard ready. Entries go to an inbox and can be tagged, flagged or archived afterwards.
- Actions
- Actions copy, share or send text to other apps and services. Running installed actions is free; creating and editing them needs Drafts Pro.
- Dictation and transcription
- A custom dictation interface built on Apple's speech recognition, plus transcription of existing audio and video files into text.
- Workspaces
- Saved views of the drafts list that restore a preferred tag filter, query and sort order. Workspaces are a Drafts Pro feature.
- Capture from outside the app
- Text can arrive through Siri, widgets, the share extension, a personal Mail Drop email address (Pro) and a Web Capture page for any browser.
- Automation hooks
- Supports Shortcuts, URL schemes, AppleScript and JavaScript scripting in actions, and Pro adds an AI chat console that can query and edit drafts.
Plans
Bebop
Free$0
Unlimited notes saved as text files to an iCloud Drive or Dropbox folder, with no ads, logins or tracking.
Pro Upgrade$4.99
one-time in-app purchase (US App Store)
Adds color themes, custom templating and power-user settings, and supports further development of the app.
Drafts
Free$0
Unlimited drafts, editing and iCloud sync, plus the actions that ship with the app or come from the Drafts Directory.
Drafts Pro$19.99
per year; $1.99 billed monthly
Create and edit actions, themes and custom icons, workspaces, the AI chat console, Mail Drop and enhanced widgets on all Apple devices.
Drafts Pro Patron$29.99
billing period not shown on the App Store listing
A supporter tier with the same features as Drafts Pro, for people who want to pay more toward development.
Ways to pay less
Bebop
No public discounts listed.
Drafts
- Annual discount
Annual billing costs about 16% less
Drafts Pro is $19.99 a year or $1.99 a month, so twelve monthly payments come to $23.88 against $19.99 for the annual option.
- Other savings
Family Sharing on both subscriptions
The monthly and annual Drafts Pro subscriptions support Apple Family Sharing, so one subscription can unlock Pro features for the family group.
