Coppice vs Curio

Coppice

• Mapping out linked ideas for a project on a Mac
• Planning a tabletop roleplaying session, a use the vendor names
• People who think by spreading notes out and following connections

Curio

• Visual thinkers who plan projects on freeform pages
• Students, writers and researchers collecting notes and documents
• Mac users who want project files stored locally and usable offline

Coppice

• It runs on the Mac only and requires macOS 15 Sequoia or later.
• The vendor does not say which features need Coppice Pro. The former maker's site listed unlimited canvases, page folders and automatic linking as Pro in the earlier version.
• Coppice Pro is sold only as a subscription, at $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year; no one-time purchase is listed.
• The app changed hands with the 2026 version, and M Cubed Software's site has purchases of the earlier direct-download version disabled.

Curio

• Mac only: Curio 34 runs on macOS 15 Sequoia or later, and the site lists no iPhone, iPad, Windows or web version.
• Free mode restricts a project to 5 idea spaces; larger projects open read-only.
• License keys work only with the website download and subscriptions only with the Mac App Store download.
• A license key includes one year of major updates; later updates need a paid renewal, and academic and volume discounts do not apply to subscriptions.

Coppice

Canvases

A canvas is a space for laying thoughts out visually and seeing how they connect. It expands in every direction as more pages are added.

Pages

Each thought is a page of text or an image, at any size. A page can sit on several canvases, or fill the window when one thought needs the focus.

Links and branches

Pages link to other pages, and clicking a link opens the linked page on the canvas as a branch. A closed branch is remembered with its pages and their arrangement.

Auto-linking

Coppice can connect thoughts by automatically adding links between pages. Image links can use oval and polygon hotspots for more precise targets.

Drag and drop

Text and images can be dragged onto a canvas from the sidebar or from other apps.

Folders, colors and Open Quickly

Pages can be kept in folders and given any color to stand out on the canvas. Open Quickly finds a page by name.

Curio

Freeform idea spaces

Place text, Markdown, images, PDFs, documents, web links and media anywhere on a page, and divide larger projects into Organizer sections.

Integrated collections

Mind maps, lists, tables, index cards, albums, pinboards, stacks and Kanban boards sit on the same pages and can be nested inside compositions.

Task and project metadata

Items carry checkmarks, percent complete, tags, start and due dates, priorities, ratings and resources, all searchable with queries and filters.

Markdown, wikilinks and backlinks

Markdown text supports equations, tables, checklists and callouts, and wikilinks, backlinks and jump actions connect items across a project.

Local project files

Each project is one local file on your Mac that works offline, with automatic backups and export to PDF, Markdown, HTML, OPML and other formats.

AI services and Curio CLI

The Sleuth research window reaches chat services such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, and Professional adds a command line tool with an MCP server for AI agents.

Coppice

• Free$0

  The app as downloaded from the Mac App Store. The vendor does not publish which features or limits apply without Coppice Pro.

• Coppice Pro (Monthly)$1.99

  per month

  In-app subscription, billed monthly through the Mac App Store. The listing does not describe what it unlocks.

• Coppice Pro (Yearly)$19.99

  per year

  The same Coppice Pro subscription billed once a year.

Curio

• Free$0

  Standard features for small projects, restricted to 5 idea spaces per project. Larger projects open read-only.

• Standard subscription$5

  per month, billed yearly ($60); $6 billed monthly

  Mac App Store subscription. Everything in Free with an unlimited number of idea spaces.

• Professional subscription$6

  per month, billed yearly ($72); $8 billed monthly

  Mac App Store subscription. Adds Curio CLI and MCP, smart Kanban, table formulas, synced figures, Mermaid diagrams and presentation mode.

• Standard license key$99.99

  one-time, includes 1 year of updates

  Bought from Zengobi's website. The license does not expire, and renewals for another year of updates start at $59.99.

• Professional license key$119.99

  one-time, includes 1 year of updates

  The Professional edition as a one-time purchase. Renewals for another year of updates start at $79.99.

Coppice

• Annual discount

  About 16% off with yearly billing

  Coppice Pro costs $19.99 a year against $1.99 a month, which comes to $23.88 over 12 months, a saving of about 16%.

Curio

• Education

  Academic pricing on license keys

  Qualifying students, faculty and staff pay $79.99 for a Standard license key or $99.99 for Professional after academic verification. Subscriptions are excluded.

• Annual discount

  Two or three months free with yearly billing

  Billed yearly, Standard works out to $5 a month instead of $6 and Professional to $6 instead of $8, which Zengobi describes as 2 and 3 months free.

• Other savings

  20% volume discount for 20 or more licenses

  Quantity purchases of 20 or more license keys receive an automatic 20% volume discount at checkout.

• Other savings

  Discounted license renewals

  Renewing a license key for another year of updates costs $59.99 to $69.99 for Standard and $79.99 to $89.99 for Professional, depending on the version owned.