Coppice vs Tinderbox
We give Coppice a 2.6 GPA and Tinderbox a 2.4, out of 4.0. Coppice grades higher on value for money and the free plan. Tinderbox grades higher on features. They get the same grade on ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Coppice
Mac app for linking notes together on a spatial canvas
Tinderbox
Mac tool for mapping, analyzing and sharing notes
How we grade them
| 2.6GPACoppiceGood | 2.4GPATinderboxFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BCoppice Pro is $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year, which is cheap for this category. But the vendor doesn't say what it unlocks, so we can't tell you what you'd be paying for. Cheap but unclear gets a B from us, not an A. | C$289 once, which is about four years of a typical note subscription paid up front. And once isn't quite once: the licence includes a year of updates, and upgrading later is $98 for another year. The Household licence for up to five people is $325, a far better deal if you can share. |
| Free plan and trial | BThe Mac App Store download is free. What you can do with it before Pro comes up is a mystery, because neither the listing nor the site says which features or limits apply. This is the grade we give when a free plan's limits can't be stated. | CNo free plan. There's a free demo that does everything the full version does, but it can only make about thirty notes. Enough to poke around, not enough to move in. |
| Features | BA focused tool that does its one thing properly: canvases that grow in every direction, pages that sit on several canvases, links that open as branches, auto-linking and hotspots on images. A page holds rich text or an image, though, and nothing is listed for sync or sharing. | AMaps, outlines, timelines and charts of the same notes. Agents that scan the document continuously and collect what matches, like overdue tasks. Prototypes, so one change updates every note based on it. Export to HTML, XML, RSS and OPML, and documents that are XML files on your own Mac. |
| Ease of use | BDrag text and images onto a canvas, link them, and click through. Open Quickly finds a page by name. There's no App Store rating on record to go by, so a B is as high as we go. | BNo rating on record, so a B is as high as we go. The demo has every feature, so you can find out how you get on with maps and agents before spending anything. |
| Platforms and integrations | DMac only, and it needs macOS 15 Sequoia or later. There's no iPhone, iPad, Windows or web version, and the listing shows no integrations. | DMac only, on macOS 12 or later. There's no iPhone or iPad app. For those, Tinderbox shares notes with Apple Notes, Simplenote, Evernote and DEVONthink, and files sync through Dropbox or iCloud Drive. |
| Best for | following linked ideas across a canvas on a Mac | making sense of a big pile of notes on a Mac |
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: Coppice and Tinderbox. How we grade
Where they differ
- Coppice starts at $1.99 per month, or $19.99 per year. Tinderbox starts at $289 one-time license, with a year of free updates.
- Coppice has a free plan. Tinderbox does not, though it has a free trial.
- Tinderbox can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- Coppice also covers whiteboard.
At a glance
| Coppice | Tinderbox | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $1.99 per month, or $19.99 per year | $289 one-time license, with a year of free updates |
| Free plan | The Mac App Store download is free. Neither the listing nor the site says which features need Coppice Pro. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | Free demo with every feature, limited to about thirty notes |
| macOS | ||
| Made by | High Caffeine Content | Eastgate Systems, Inc. |
| Price read from | apps.apple.com | eastgate.com |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Oct 6, 2026 |
Who each one suits
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
Tinderbox
- Writers, researchers and analysts working through large sets of notes
- People who want several visual views of the same material
- Mac users who prefer files kept on their own computer
Worth knowing
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.
Tinderbox
- Mac only: it requires macOS 12 or later, and iPhone and iPad use relies on sharing notes with other apps.
- The license includes one year of free updates; upgrading later from any previous version is listed at $98 and adds another year.
- The free demo does everything the full version does but can only make about thirty notes.
Key features
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.
Tinderbox
- Maps, outlines, timelines and charts
- The same notes can be shown as a spatial map, an outline, a timeline or a chart, so structure emerges as notes are arranged, colored and linked.
- Agents
- Agents scan the document continuously and collect notes that meet your criteria, such as overdue tasks or a topic, and can feed project dashboards.
- Prototypes and the attribute browser
- A note inherits from its prototype unless you say otherwise, so one change updates every note based on it. The attribute browser breaks notes down by a chosen category.
- AI connections
- Built-in recognition finds addresses, names and organizations in notes, and a bridge to AI models can supply them with resources and prompts kept in a Hints folder.
- Open files and flexible export
- Documents are XML files stored on your Mac rather than on a server, and export produces HTML, XML, RSS, OPML and other formats.
- Works with other note apps
- Notes can be shared with Apple Notes, Simplenote, Evernote and DEVONthink for use on iPhone and iPad, and files sync through Dropbox or iCloud Drive.
Plans
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.
Tinderbox
Tinderbox$289
one-time license, with a year of free updates
Tinderbox 11.8 for Mac. The order page also showed a $217 SummerFest sale price, but the checkout listed no discount when checked.
Household$325
one-time license for up to five people
Family pack for up to five people living in the same household, for use on any of their computers.
Ten Pack$645
one-time ten-user license
Aimed at schools, libraries and work teams. 50- and 100-workstation licenses are listed at $1,595 and $2,695.
Ways to pay less
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%.
Tinderbox
- Other savings
Household and multi-user licenses
A Household license covers up to five people living together for $325, and a ten-user license costs $645, against $289 for a single license.
- Other savings
Update subscription with a cheaper first year
An update subscription renews the yearly updates automatically. Its first year is listed at $83, with later years at the regular upgrade price, currently $98.
