Saber vs Squid

Saber

• Students and others who take notes by hand on a tablet
• Marking up PDFs and printouts in a dark room
• People who want an open-source handwriting app on every device

Squid

• Students and teachers writing by hand on Android tablets or Chromebooks
• Marking up, grading or signing PDFs with a pen
• People who want notes kept on the device with no account

Saber

• Syncing needs an account on a Nextcloud server: the official Saber one, another provider's, or your own.
• Extra storage is bought by sponsoring the developer on GitHub Sponsors, then emailing him to have the account upgraded by hand.
• The server owner cannot read notes but can see sign-up details, connecting devices and metadata such as the size of each note.
• On Linux the developer recommends the Flatpak, since the AppImage does not work on all systems.

Squid

• Squid is an Android app only. It also runs on Chromebooks that have the Play Store; no iPhone, iPad, desktop or web version is offered.
• PDF import, the highlighter, true eraser, shapes, typed text, premium backgrounds and cloud backup are all paid features.
• Google Play gives in-app prices only as a range of $1.00 to $14.99 per item, without saying which is monthly, yearly or one-time.
• Purchases are tied to the app store account used to buy them and apply only on the same platform and app store.

Saber

Highlighter that keeps its color

The highlighter does not darken where a stroke crosses itself, and it is drawn underneath the ink, so the writing below stays clear.

Dark mode that inverts notes

Dark mode darkens the notes as well as the interface, giving light ink on a dark page. Images and PDFs are inverted too, so printouts and textbooks match.

Nested folders

Notes are organized in folders that can be nested without limit, and the most recent notes are listed on the home screen.

Encrypted sync

Notes are encrypted with a randomly generated key before upload, so the server owner cannot read them. The key stays in secure storage on the device.

Choice of Nextcloud server

Sync runs on Nextcloud: the official Saber server hosted in the Netherlands, another Nextcloud provider, or a server you host yourself.

Apps on five platforms

Saber is on Google Play and F-Droid for Android, the App Store for iPhone, iPad and Mac, Flathub or an AppImage for Linux, and has a Windows installer.

Squid

Vector ink engine

Strokes stay sharp at any zoom level and can be selected, moved, resized, recolored and reweighted later. A stroke eraser removes whole letters or words at once.

Active pen support

On devices with an active pen, such as Samsung devices with S Pen, the pen writes and a finger erases, with pressure sensitivity and quick actions on the pen's side button.

Paper types and sizes

Pages are infinite by default or sized as letter, legal or A4. Blank, ruled and graph paper are free; math, engineering, music, sports and planning backgrounds need Squid Premium.

PDF markup

A premium feature that imports a PDF as a note to annotate, fill in or sign, then exports the result as a new PDF. It is also sold on its own as an in-app purchase.

Presentation mode

Casts a note to a TV or projector so a tablet works as a virtual whiteboard, or shows imported slides that can be written on during a talk.

Export and cloud backup

Notes export to PDF, PNG, JPEG or Squid Note format. Squid Premium adds backup at set intervals and bulk PDF export to Google Drive, Dropbox or Box.

Saber

• Free$0

  The full app, plus 5 GB of storage for every account on the official Saber Nextcloud server.

• StandardAny amount

  per month, as a GitHub Sponsors sponsorship

  10 GB of storage on the Saber server for a monthly sponsorship of any size. Free for students who email proof of status.

• Premium$5

  or more per month, as a GitHub Sponsors sponsorship

  50 GB of storage on the Saber server.

• Hoarder$7

  or more per month, as a GitHub Sponsors sponsorship

  100 GB of storage on the Saber server.

Squid

• Squid$0

  Base features with no account: vector ink, blank, ruled and graph paper, stroke eraser, image import, folders and export to PDF, PNG or JPEG.

• Squid Premium and in-app purchases$1.00 - $14.99

  per item on Google Play (US); billing basis not shown

  Covers the monthly or yearly Squid Premium subscription and the one-time PDF Import and Tool Pack purchases. The listing does not price each item.

• Education bulk licenseCustom

  Discounted bulk Squid Premium licenses for Google Workspace for Education accounts, quoted on request and assigned in the Google Admin console.

Saber

• Education

  Standard storage plan free for students

  The pricing page gives students the 10 GB Standard plan free. They email the developer their Nextcloud username and proof of student status, such as a UNiDAYS ID.

Squid

• Education

  Discounted bulk licensing for schools

  Squid's help center offers discounted bulk licensing of Squid Premium for Google Workspace for Education accounts, by quote, with a trial available on request.

• Annual discount

  Discounted yearly subscription

  Squid Premium is sold monthly or yearly, and the help center describes the yearly option as the discounted price. It does not state the amounts.

• Other savings

  6 months of Squid Premium on eligible Chromebooks

  Eligible Chromebooks get 6 months of Squid Premium free through the Chromebook Perks page, redeemed against the monthly subscription option on Google Play.