Drafts vs Tot

Drafts

• Jotting text down quickly on iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple Watch
• People who route notes into other apps such as task managers
• Automation fans who script their own text workflows

Tot

• Mac and iPhone users who want a scratchpad for short-lived text
• People who prefer a fixed handful of notes to a growing library
• Shortcuts users who need a place to stash and fetch text

Drafts

• Apps exist only for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. The Web Capture page can create drafts in any browser but cannot review or edit them.
• Creating and editing actions, workspaces, themes, Mail Drop and the AI chat console all require the Drafts Pro subscription.
• Sync runs through iCloud and needs the same iCloud account, with iCloud Drive active, on every device.
• A subscription bought on iOS cannot be restored on the Mac App Store or the reverse; it carries over only through a shared iCloud account.

Tot

• The site lists apps for Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch only; there is no Windows, Android or web version.
• Notes are fixed at seven dots of up to 100,000 characters each, and the vendor says more cannot be added.
• Premium features are bought separately on the Mac and on iOS at $19.99 each, and the Apple Watch app costs another $1.99.
• Sync runs through iCloud only, and automatic backups are unencrypted JSON files; the vendor advises against storing secrets in Tot.

Drafts

Capture first, file later

The app opens to a new page with the keyboard ready. Entries go to an inbox and can be tagged, flagged or archived afterwards.

Actions

Actions copy, share or send text to other apps and services. Running installed actions is free; creating and editing them needs Drafts Pro.

Dictation and transcription

A custom dictation interface built on Apple's speech recognition, plus transcription of existing audio and video files into text.

Workspaces

Saved views of the drafts list that restore a preferred tag filter, query and sort order. Workspaces are a Drafts Pro feature.

Capture from outside the app

Text can arrive through Siri, widgets, the share extension, a personal Mail Drop email address (Pro) and a Web Capture page for any browser.

Automation hooks

Supports Shortcuts, URL schemes, AppleScript and JavaScript scripting in actions, and Pro adds an AI chat console that can query and edit drafts.

Tot

Seven dots

All text lives in seven color-coded dots in one window. The vendor says the limit is deliberate and cannot be raised; each dot holds up to 100,000 characters.

iCloud sync and Apple Watch app

Dots sync between Mac, iPhone and iPad through iCloud. Tot Mini, a separate $1.99 Apple Watch app, joins the same sync and takes dictation and Scribble input.

Rich text, plain text and Markdown

A dot can hold rich or plain text, and rich text can be turned into Markdown for use on the web. Word and character counts update as you type.

Smart bullets and dividers

Smart bullets make checklists whose items toggle with a tap. Version 2 added up to eight custom bullet pairs and eight divider styles.

Menu bar and floating window

On the Mac, Tot opens from the menu bar, the Dock or both, can float above other windows, and can be shown with a keyboard shortcut.

Shortcuts, widgets and backups

Shortcuts actions on macOS and iOS store and retrieve the text of a dot, iOS has Home Screen widgets, and both platforms keep automatic local backups.

Drafts

• Free$0

  Unlimited drafts, editing and iCloud sync, plus the actions that ship with the app or come from the Drafts Directory.

• Drafts Pro$19.99

  per year; $1.99 billed monthly

  Create and edit actions, themes and custom icons, workspaces, the AI chat console, Mail Drop and enhanced widgets on all Apple devices.

• Drafts Pro Patron$29.99

  billing period not shown on the App Store listing

  A supporter tier with the same features as Drafts Pro, for people who want to pay more toward development.

Tot

• Free download$0

  Tot for Mac and Tot Pocket for iPhone and iPad are free on the App Store, with premium features locked until purchased.

• Tot for macOS$19.99

  one-time in-app purchase (US Mac App Store)

  Unlocks the premium features on the Mac, such as text dividers and custom smart bullets. Requires macOS 14.0 or later.

• Tot for iOS and iPadOS$19.99

  one-time in-app purchase (US App Store)

  Unlocks the premium features in Tot Pocket on iPhone and iPad. People who paid for Tot 1.0 on iOS get version 2 by restoring the purchase.

Drafts

• Annual discount

  Annual billing costs about 16% less

  Drafts Pro is $19.99 a year or $1.99 a month, so twelve monthly payments come to $23.88 against $19.99 for the annual option.

• Other savings

  Family Sharing on both subscriptions

  The monthly and annual Drafts Pro subscriptions support Apple Family Sharing, so one subscription can unlock Pro features for the family group.

Tot

No public discounts listed.