ColorNote vs Fossify Notes
We give ColorNote and Fossify Notes the same GPA: 2.8 out of 4.0. ColorNote grades higher on features. Fossify Notes grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
ColorNote
Android notepad for color-coded notes and checklists
Free plan · from $1.99
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAColorNoteGood | 2.8GPAFossify NotesGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BWe can't tell you what premium costs or buys. Google Play shows in-app purchases from $1.99 to $15.99 per item, with no billing period and no list of what each one is. A B is where we put a tool whose paid side the listing can't describe. | AFree from Google Play or F-Droid, with no ads and no in-app purchases listed. Fossify runs on voluntary donations, so the only way to pay is to choose to. |
| Free plan and trial | AThe free install has the notepad: text notes, checklists, colour groups, reminders, widgets, note lock and backup. The only things Google Play names as premium are a writing assistant and a grammar checker, though it doesn't spell out what else paying adds. | AThe whole app is free. There's no paid tier, no account and nothing locked away. What you install is all of it. |
| Features | BNotes, checklists, colour groups, repeating reminders, status bar pins, a calendar view, a master password and online sync that encrypts with AES. Solid basics. But notes can't be opened in other programs, and a forgotten master password takes the locked notes with it. | CThin, and on purpose: plain text notes, checklists, a home-screen widget, locks for the app or single notes, export and automatic backups to a file. There's no sync between devices at all, and Fossify still labels the app Beta. |
| Ease of use | BTwo note types, colours and a widget. There's not much to learn. It isn't on iPhone, so there's no App Store rating on record to go by, and a B is as high as we go. | BNo account and nothing to set up. Open it, type, and edits save by themselves. It isn't on iPhone, so there's no App Store rating on record to go by, and a B is as high as we go. |
| Platforms and integrations | DAndroid only. The FAQ says there's no version for other phones or for PCs, and suggests the BlueStacks emulator if you want it on a computer. Sync keeps an Android phone and tablet in step, and that's as far as it goes. | DAndroid only. Fossify builds its apps for Android and offers no iOS, desktop or web version. With no cloud service either, a note only leaves the phone when you share it, export it or back up the device. |
| Best for | a plain Android notepad with sticky-note widgets | Android notes that never go online |
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: ColorNote and Fossify Notes. How we grade
Where they differ
- ColorNote starts at $1.99 - $15.99 per item (in-app purchases; billing basis not shown). Fossify Notes is free.
- Fossify Notes is open source, according to its own site.
- ColorNote also covers linked notes and calendar.
In commonFree planAndroidNotesTasks
At a glance
| ColorNote | Fossify Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | $1.99 - $15.99 per item (in-app purchases; billing basis not shown) | Free |
| Free plan | Free to install. The Google Play listing names only a writing assistant and grammar checker as premium features and does not say what else the paid version adds. | The whole app is free to install from Google Play or F-Droid, with no ads and no in-app purchases listed. Fossify is funded by voluntary donations. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Android | ||
| Made by | Social & Mobile, Inc. | Fossify |
| Price read from | play.google.com | play.google.com |
| Checked | Oct 6, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Who each one suits
ColorNote
- Android users who want a plain notepad with checklists
- Shopping lists and reminders kept on the home screen as widgets
- Keeping notes in step between an Android phone and tablet
Fossify Notes
- Android users who want a notes app that never goes online
- Quick notes, shopping lists and checklists on the home screen
- People replacing stock phone apps with open-source ones
Worth knowing
ColorNote
- Android only: the FAQ says there is no version for other mobile systems or for PCs and suggests the BlueStacks emulator on a computer.
- Google Play shows in-app purchases of $1.99 to $15.99 per item without saying what each item is or how it is billed.
- Notes cannot be opened in other programs, and the FAQ's only route to another operating system is sending notes by email.
- A forgotten master password cannot be recovered; clearing it loses the notes that were locked with it.
Fossify Notes
- Android only: Fossify builds its apps for Android and offers no iOS, desktop or web version.
- Fossify labels the app Beta, meaning it is published while active testing and development are still under way.
- There is no account or cloud service, so notes do not sync between devices; moving them means exporting or a device backup.
- Google Play and F-Droid publish releases on their own schedules, so the version on offer can differ between the two.
Key features
ColorNote
- Text notes and checklists
- Text notes hold free-form writing, and checklists cover to-do and shopping lists whose items are checked off with a tap.
- Color-coding
- Notes are sorted into color groups. Each group can be given a name and shows how many notes it holds.
- Reminders and status bar pins
- A note can have a time, all-day or repeating reminder, or be pinned to the Android status bar so it stays in view.
- Home screen widgets
- Sticky-note widgets put individual notes on the Android home screen.
- Calendar view
- Notes can be attached to dates on a calendar, and the app raises a reminder for a note on the date it was assigned to.
- Note lock and backup
- A master password locks individual notes. Notes back up to device storage or to the online sync service, which encrypts them with AES before upload.
Fossify Notes
- Text notes and checklists
- Write plain notes, shopping lists and checklists as separate, independent notes. Edits are saved automatically, and checked items can be moved to the bottom of a list.
- Home-screen widgets
- A customizable widget keeps a note or a to-do list visible on the Android home screen and opens it with a tap.
- App and note locking
- The app as a whole or individual notes can be protected, with fingerprint access used when biometric protection is selected.
- Import, export and automatic backups
- Notes can be imported from and exported to files, and optional automatic backups create backup files on the device without manual steps.
- No Internet permission
- The app does not request Android's Internet permission. Notes leave the device only when shared, exported or included in an Android device backup.
- Color and font customization
- Colors and display settings can be changed to taste, and version 1.7.0 added support for custom fonts.
Plans
ColorNote
ColorNote$0
Free install from Google Play, with text notes, checklists, color groups, reminders, widgets, note lock and backup among the listed features.
Premium (in-app purchases)$1.99 - $15.99
per item; the billing basis is not shown on Google Play
The listing's release notes place a writing assistant and grammar checker in the premium version. The individual items are not itemized.
Fossify Notes
Fossify Notes$0
The full app from Google Play or F-Droid, under the GNU GPL v3.0. Both stores use the same package name and signing key.
