Notchkin vs Tot
We give Notchkin a 2.2 GPA and Tot a 2.8, out of 4.0. Notchkin grades higher on value for money. Tot grades higher on the free plan and 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.
Notchkin
Local notes panel that drops down from the MacBook notch
From $4.99 one-time
Tot
Seven-note text scratchpad for Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch
Free plan · from $19.99 one-time
How we grade them
| 2.2GPANotchkinFair | 2.8GPATotGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | A$4.99 once on the US Mac App Store, with no subscription and no account. Paid plans in this category typically start at $5.99 a month, so this costs less than one month of a typical one. Family Sharing covers up to six people. | BThe unlock is $19.99 once, which is cheap next to a subscription. But you pay it separately on the Mac and on iOS, the Apple Watch app is another $1.99, and the listing only names text dividers and custom smart bullets among the things it buys. |
| Free plan and trial | FNothing is free. The Mac App Store listing shows a paid download with no free version and no trial. If you regret it, refunds go through Apple or Setapp. | BTot for Mac and Tot Pocket for iPhone and iPad are free to download, with premium features locked. The listing can't say exactly where the free line is drawn, beyond text dividers and custom smart bullets sitting on the paid side. |
| Features | BIt's a scratchpad and it does that job fully: rich text, checklists, hashtags in place of folders, search, pins, a shortcut to start a note from any app and another to paste the clipboard as one. The gaps are no sync, and daily backups that sit on the same Mac as the notes. | BSeven colour-coded dots in one window, each holding up to 100,000 characters of rich or plain text that converts to Markdown. Smart bullets for checklists, iCloud sync, Shortcuts actions, widgets and automatic backups. It does the scratchpad job fully. But seven is the limit, and the vendor says it can't be raised. |
| Ease of use | BWe have no App Store rating on record for it, so a B is our ceiling. There's no account and nothing to set up. Hover over the notch and start typing. | BNo rating on record, so a B is as high as we go. There's nothing to organise, because there are only seven places to put anything. On the Mac it opens from the menu bar or with a keyboard shortcut. |
| Platforms and integrations | DMac only, on macOS 14 or later. The FAQ says notes can't be shared with an iPhone or iPad. The app makes no network requests at all, so the only way out is exporting or copying the notes folder yourself. | CMac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, synced through iCloud only, with Shortcuts actions on macOS and iOS. No Windows, Android or web version. The Mac unlock needs macOS 14.0 or later. |
| Best for | a scratchpad that drops out of your MacBook's notch | a seven-note scratchpad on Apple devices |
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: Notchkin and Tot. How we grade
Where they differ
- Notchkin starts at $4.99 one-time. Tot starts at $19.99 one-time in-app purchase, per platform.
- Tot has a free plan. Notchkin does not.
- Only Tot lists an iOS app.
- Tot also covers Markdown and menu bar app.
In commonmacOSOne-time purchaseNotes
At a glance
| Notchkin | Tot | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free plan |
| Starts at | $4.99 one-time | $19.99 one-time in-app purchase, per platform |
| Free plan | None | 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 | ||
| iOS | ||
| Made by | Danny Stankowski | The Iconfactory |
| Price read from | apps.apple.com | apps.apple.com |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Notchkin
- MacBook users who want a scratchpad without another window
- Short notes, checklists and clipboard snippets kept on one Mac
- People who want notes that never leave their machine
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
Notchkin
- It runs on the Mac only and requires macOS 14 or later.
- There is no sync: the FAQ says notes cannot be shared with an iPhone or iPad, only backed up by copying the notes folder yourself.
- The Mac App Store listing shows a paid download with no free version or trial; refunds go through Apple or Setapp.
- The built-in backups live on the same Mac as the notes, so the vendor advises keeping a separate backup.
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
Notchkin
- Panel in the notch
- Hovering over the notch slides a notes panel down. Macs without a notch get a notch-shaped panel at the top of the screen, and every connected monitor has its own.
- Quick Capture and paste as note
- A global shortcut starts a new note from any app, and a second shortcut turns whatever is on the clipboard into a note.
- Rich text and lists
- Notes support bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, highlights and links, along with checklists and bulleted and numbered lists.
- Hashtags, search and pins
- Hashtags and tag filters take the place of folders. Search runs across all notes or inside a single one, and important notes can be pinned to the top.
- Local storage with daily backups
- Notes are saved in a sandboxed folder on the Mac and the app makes no network requests. It snapshots the notes once a day and keeps the last 7 backups.
- Export
- A single note exports as .rtf or .md, and the whole library can be backed up as JSON or as a folder of Markdown files.
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
Notchkin
Notchkin$4.99
one-time purchase (US Mac App Store)
The full app, with no subscription or account. Family Sharing covers up to six people, and the terms say it is also sold once-off through Setapp.
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.
