Heynote vs Tot
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Tot
Seven-note text scratchpad for Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch
Free plan · from $19.99 one-time
Where they differ
- Heynote is free. Tot starts at $19.99 one-time in-app purchase, per platform.
- Only Heynote lists Windows and Linux apps.
- Only Tot lists an iOS app.
- Tot can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- Heynote also covers calculator.
- Tot also covers menu bar app.
In commonFree planmacOSNotesMarkdown
At a glance
| Heynote | Tot | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | $19.99 one-time in-app purchase, per platform |
| Free plan | Every build on the site is a direct download with no price, account or license key. There is no paid edition. | The Mac app and the iPhone and iPad app are free to download. Premium features, which the vendor says include text dividers and custom smart bullets, need the paid unlock. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Made by | Jonatan Heyman | The Iconfactory |
| Price read from | heynote.com | apps.apple.com |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Heynote
- Developers who need a holding place for JSON, logs and code snippets
- Quick calculations and unit conversions next to working notes
- People who want scratch notes kept as plain files on their own disk
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
Worth knowing
Heynote
- Desktop only: there is no mobile app, and the author says one is out of scope for now.
- No sync of its own. The docs suggest a file-syncing service such as Dropbox and warn that editing one buffer on two machines at once can cause conflicts.
- The Windows build is not code-signed, so Windows may show a warning when installing it.
- The code is under the MIT license with the Commons Clause, which does not allow selling the software.
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.
Key features
Heynote
- Buffers divided into blocks
- A buffer is a persistent stretch of text split into blocks. One keystroke adds a block, and select-all picks the current block first, then the whole buffer.
- A language for each block
- Each block has its own language, detected automatically or set by hand, with syntax highlighting for more than 30 languages and auto-formatting for JSON, JavaScript, HTML, CSS and Markdown.
- Math blocks
- A math block works as a calculator pad with variables, functions and unit and currency conversion. It is built on Math.js expressions.
- Multiple buffers
- Besides the default Scratch buffer you can create any number of buffers, open them in tabs, sort them into directories and search across them. Each one is a .txt file on disk.
- Inline images with markup
- Images pasted or dropped into a buffer appear inline, can be resized and annotated with a freehand drawing tool, and copied back to the clipboard.
- Keyboard control
- Default, Emacs-like or custom key bindings, a command palette, multi-cursor editing and an optional global hotkey that shows or hides the app.
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.
Plans
Heynote
Heynote$0
The full app as Mac Universal, Arm and Intel builds, a Windows installer, and an AppImage or Snap for Linux.
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.
