Craft vs Minimal
We give Craft a 3.4 GPA and Minimal a 2.6, out of 4.0. Craft grades higher on the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Craft
Notes and documents app with tasks, daily notes and whiteboards
Minimal
Meditation-inspired writing and notes app for Apple devices
How we grade them
| 3.4GPACraftVery good | 2.6GPAMinimalGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BPlus is $96 a year, or $10 month to month, which is a fair bit for one person's notes. Family is where it gets cheap. $180 a year covers up to 6 people, and Team is $600 for up to 10. | B$4.99 a month or $49.99 a year, which is about typical for a category where paid plans usually start at $5.99 a month. The Family Plan is the better deal if you'll share it: $79.99 a year for up to 6 people. |
| Free plan and trial | BFree for as long as you like, with 1 GB of storage. But it stops at 1,500 blocks, and every paragraph, heading and picture is a block. Students and teachers get the paid features free with a school email. | CNo free plan, and the terms don't list what works without a membership. You get a 2-week free trial, and the listing doesn't say whether it wants a card. After that it's the subscription, with no pay-once option. |
| Features | ADocs, tasks, daily notes, a calendar, whiteboards and Collections, which are little databases. Any doc can be published as a web page. There's an AI assistant, and an API on every plan. | BNote Lifetime archives notes left unedited, with reminders before they go. Several people can edit a note at once, a note becomes a public web page in three taps, and todo lists sync with Apple's Calendar. It's plain on purpose, though. Formatting is typed with special characters, and the listing shows no tags. |
| Ease of use | A4.8 from about 6,600 App Store ratings. Reviewers keep comparing it to Notion and saying there's far less to learn. You open a doc and start writing. | BWe have no App Store rating on record for it, so a B is our ceiling. There's very little on screen to learn. The quirks are things like typing a name between curly brackets to make a folder. |
| Platforms and integrations | BMac, iPhone, iPad, Windows, Android, web and a browser clipper, plus an API and MCP server. But calendar events, Reminders and Shortcuts are Apple-only, and there's no Linux app on the download list. | CiPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch, synced through iCloud, with Apple Calendar, Shortcuts and Siri hooked in. One family of devices, though. There's no Windows, Android or web app. |
| Best for | notes and docs that look good enough to share | a quiet page where old notes clear themselves out |
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: Craft and Minimal. How we grade
Where they differ
- Craft starts at $96 per year ($8 a month), or $10 billed monthly. Minimal starts at $4.99 per month, or $49.99 per year.
- Craft has a free plan. Minimal does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Craft lists a web app.
- Only Craft lists Windows and Android apps.
- Only Craft lists a browser extension.
- Craft also covers whiteboard and daily notes.
- Minimal also covers Markdown.
At a glance
| Craft | Minimal | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $96 per year ($8 a month), or $10 billed monthly | $4.99 per month, or $49.99 per year |
| Free plan | Starter plan: up to 1,500 content blocks across all documents, 1 GB of storage, 25 MB per file, 7-day version history and 15 AI credits. | None |
| Free trial | 15-day free trial of Team plans. | 2-week free trial |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Craft Docs Limited | Timeless LLC |
| Price read from | support.craft.do | minimal.app |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Craft
- People who want polished documents and personal notes in one app
- Individuals and families working mainly on Apple devices, with Windows, Android and web as well
- Small teams of up to 10 that prefer a fixed price over per-seat billing
Minimal
- Writers who want a quiet, sparse page on Apple devices
- People who would rather old notes expire than pile up
- Co-writing a note or publishing one as a web page
Worth knowing
Craft
- The free Starter plan stops at 1,500 content blocks, 1 GB of storage and 25 MB per file.
- Shared spaces come with the Family and Team bundles, which are capped at 6 and 10 accounts.
- Offline use covers documents opened earlier; creating documents, search and the AI assistant need a connection.
- Prices are set per country in local currency, so the amount shown on the pricing page varies by region.
Minimal
- It is available for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch only; there is no Windows, Android or web app.
- After the 2-week trial it is a subscription at $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year; no one-time purchase is offered.
- The terms say the best features are members-only but do not list what works without a subscription.
- Notes published as websites are public by default and can be searchable on the web.
Key features
Craft
- Block-based documents
- Documents combine styled text, headings, lists and tables in blocks, and can be shared or published to the web.
- Tasks, daily notes and calendar
- Tasks sit inside documents and daily notes, with a calendar view. On Mac, iPhone and iPad, system calendar events appear alongside them.
- Whiteboards and Collections
- Whiteboards provide a visual canvas, and Collections add structured tracking with rich data to a document.
- Craft Assistant
- AI help for writing and editing, metered in credits: 15 on the Starter plan and 50 per month on Plus.
- Offline editing
- Documents opened earlier can be read and edited without a connection and sync on reconnect. Mac and iOS sync in the background; elsewhere it must be enabled in settings.
- API, MCP and capture tools
- A REST API and MCP server are included in all plans. A browser extension clips web pages, and emails can be forwarded into a space.
Minimal
- Note Lifetime
- An optional setting archives notes left unedited for a chosen period. Reminders arrive before a note expires, pinning or editing keeps it alive, and expired notes can be restored.
- Collaborative notes
- A note can be shared as view-only or editable, by invitation or public link, and several people can edit at once. Collaborative notes sync with offline support.
- Publish as Website
- A note can be turned into a simple public web page in three taps, for example to publish an essay written in the app.
- Todo lists and Calendar
- Todo items have checkable boxes, and a list can sync with Apple's Calendar app, where each item becomes an event with its own start time, end time and alerts.
- Markdown-style formatting
- Headers, lists, bold, italics, block quotes and pull quotes are typed with special characters. A folder is created by typing its name between curly brackets.
- Sync, import and export
- Notes sync through iCloud across iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. They export as PDF, HTML and Markdown, and text and links come in through the system share sheet.
Plans
Craft
Starter$0
One account with up to 1,500 content blocks, 1 GB of storage, 25 MB per file, 7-day version history and 15 AI credits.
Plus$96
per year ($10 if billed monthly)
One account, unlimited documents, 30-day history, 50 AI credits a month. Help center: up to 5 spaces of 1 TB each, 5 GB per file; the pricing table says unlimited storage.
Family$180
per year ($18 if billed monthly)
Fixed-price bundle of 2 to 6 Plus accounts with up to 5 shared family spaces.
Team$600
per year ($60 if billed monthly)
Fixed price for up to 10 Plus accounts with up to 25 shared team spaces, member roles and centralized billing.
Minimal
Minimal Monthly$4.99
per month
Membership for one person, billed monthly through the App Store after the 2-week free trial.
Minimal Annual$49.99
per year
The same membership billed once a year after the 2-week free trial.
Minimal Family Plan$79.99
per year
Shares Minimal with up to 6 family members through Apple's Family Sharing, after a 2-week free trial.
Team plansCustom
For workplaces that want to share Minimal across a team; arranged by writing to the vendor.
Ways to pay less
Craft
- Annual discount
Save up to 20% with annual billing
Plus is $96 a year versus $10 a month, a 20% saving. Family ($180 a year or $18 a month) and Team ($600 a year or $60 a month) save about 17%.
- Education
Free Education plan for students and staff
Enrolled students, faculty and staff with a school-issued email get free access to premium features, including unlimited documents and 250 GB of storage, re-verified every 12 months.
- By country
Lower price shown to buyers in India
Craft says it sets prices in local currencies tailored to each market. On 9 October 2026 its pricing page showed Plus in India at ₹526.7 a month billed yearly, against $96 a year ($8 a month) in US dollars.
Minimal
- Annual discount
About 16.5% off with annual billing
Minimal costs $49.99 a year against $4.99 a month, which comes to $59.88 over 12 months, a saving of about 16.5%.
- Education
Up to 80% off for students and educators
The pricing section says students and educators can save up to 80% on an annual plan by getting in touch with the vendor.
- Nonprofit
Up to 80% off for non-profit employees
The same discount of up to 80% on an annual plan is offered to non-profit employees who contact the vendor.
