Curio vs Scrintal
We give Curio a 2.8 GPA and Scrintal a 2.6, out of 4.0. Curio grades higher on value for money and the free plan. Scrintal grades higher on platforms. They get the same grade on features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Curio
Freeform Mac notebook with mind maps, lists and Kanban
Scrintal
Visual note-taking on an infinite canvas of linked docs
How we grade them
| 2.8GPACurioGood | 2.6GPAScrintalGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BStandard is $5 a month billed yearly ($60), or $6 monthly, which is about what notes apps here usually cost. Or pay $99.99 once for a licence that never expires. That only includes 1 year of updates, mind, and renewing for another year starts at $59.99. | COne plan, Pro, at $9 a month, and it's billed annually, so $108 up front with no monthly option listed. Note apps typically start around $5.99. Everything is unlimited for that, and students get 30% off with a university email address. |
| Free plan and trial | BYou get a 2-week trial with every Professional feature and no purchase needed. After that it carries on in free mode, with Standard features but only 5 idea spaces per project. Bigger projects open read-only. Fine for small things, tight for real ones. | DNo free plan, and no trial you can just start. The 14-day trial only comes through an invite link from someone who already uses it. Refunds cover the first 7 days of a new subscription, once per user, and not after a trial. |
| Features | AMind maps, lists, tables, index cards, pinboards and Kanban boards on the same freeform pages, with tags, dates, priorities and queries to track it all. Markdown, wikilinks and backlinks too, and export to PDF, Markdown, HTML and OPML. That's a lot of notebook. | ABoards that hold notes, PDFs, videos and images side by side, blocks that turn into full docs, arrows on the board and two-way links between docs. Real-time collaboration and an AI Assistant are in there too. And your whole archive downloads as Markdown files, which we like. |
| Ease of use | BDownload it and the 2-week trial starts, with nothing to buy first. There's a lot in here to learn, though. No App Store rating is on record to go by, so a B is as high as we go. | BNo rating on record, so a B is our ceiling. There are templates for study and research to start a board from, and your existing Markdown files can be imported. |
| Platforms and integrations | DMac only. Curio 34 needs macOS 15 Sequoia or later, and the site lists no iPhone, iPad, Windows or web version. On the Mac it does hook into Apple Shortcuts, Calendar, Reminders and DEVONthink. | BWeb, plus desktop apps for macOS and Windows. The site lists no mobile app, and no integrations or API are on record. |
| Best for | planning a whole project on freeform Mac pages | laying research notes out on a canvas |
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: Curio and Scrintal. How we grade
Where they differ
- Curio starts at $5 per month, billed yearly ($60), or $99.99 one-time license. Scrintal starts at $9 per month, billed annually ($108 per year).
- Curio has a free plan. Scrintal does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Scrintal lists a web app.
- Only Scrintal lists a Windows app.
- Curio can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- Curio also covers Markdown, kanban boards and mind mapping.
- Scrintal also covers linked notes, whiteboard, templates and research.
At a glance
| Curio | Scrintal | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $5 per month, billed yearly ($60), or $99.99 one-time license | $9 per month, billed annually ($108 per year) |
| Free plan | Free mode after the 2-week trial: Standard features with projects limited to 5 idea spaces. Larger projects open read-only for viewing, exporting and printing. | None |
| Free trial | 2-week free trial with all Professional features, no purchase required | 14-day free trial through an existing user's invite link; no direct trial is offered |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Made by | Zengobi, Inc. | Scrintal Labs AB |
| Price read from | zengobi.com | scrintal.com |
| Checked | Oct 6, 2026 | Oct 6, 2026 |
Who each one suits
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
Scrintal
- Students and researchers mapping reading notes visually
- Writers who lay out a thesis or article on a canvas before drafting
- Small groups brainstorming on shared boards
Worth knowing
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.
Scrintal
- There is no free plan and no direct trial; a 14-day trial is available only through an existing user's invite link.
- The single plan is billed annually at $108; the pricing data lists no monthly option.
- Refunds are limited to the first 7 days of a new subscription, once per user, and are not given after a trial.
- Desktop apps are offered for macOS and Windows; the site lists no mobile app.
Key features
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.
Scrintal
- Infinite canvas boards
- Boards hold notes, PDFs, videos and images side by side, so reading, watching and note-taking happen on one surface. Templates cover study and research.
- Blocks that become docs
- A note starts as a block on the canvas and can be turned into a full rich-text document with a click. Docs live in one library and are reused across boards.
- Arrows and bi-directional links
- Ideas are connected visually with arrows on a board, or through bi-directional links between docs.
- AI Assistant
- The site lists a built-in AI Assistant for repetitive, time-consuming work. Gobu, a separate product from the same company, is an AI research assistant.
- Real-time collaboration
- Subscribers share docs and boards with other Scrintal users by email address and work on them together in real time.
- Markdown and PDF import and export
- Existing Markdown files can be imported, and the whole archive can be downloaded as Markdown files.
Plans
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.
Scrintal
Scrintal Pro$9
per month, billed annually ($108 per year)
Unlimited docs and boards, unlimited file uploads, real-time collaboration, priority support and community calls with the team.
Ways to pay less
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.
Scrintal
- Education
30% student discount
Scrintal's support docs offer students 30% off, applied automatically at checkout when subscribing with a university email address.
