# Orgro review (2026): is it worth $4.99? > Org Mode file viewer and editor for iPhone, iPad and Android Checked Nov 13, 2026 ยท graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA. Orgro opens Org Mode files from the Emacs ecosystem on a phone or tablet. It renders tables, LaTeX and syntax highlighting, and lets you toggle TODO states and checkboxes or edit the raw text. It does not sync: you open a file, read or change it, and close it. The code is open source. - **Category:** Note-Taking Apps - **Made by:** Aaron Madlon-Kay - **Website:** https://orgro.org - **Runs on:** iOS, Android - **Who should skip it:** Skip it if you don't already use Org Mode files. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 13, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 13, 2026, Orgro is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $4.99 one-time, after a 7-day free trial. - **Pricing model:** Free trial - **Free plan:** None. - **Free trial:** 7-day free trial of all features, then a one-time purchase unlocks the app. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Full unlock | $4.99 one-time, after a 7-day free trial | One-time, permanent unlock of all features, per the App Store listing. The price is the one shown on the Orgro site. | Read from https://orgro.org on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Orgro before buying. ## Key features - **TODO and checkbox toggling:** Change TODO keywords on headlines and tick list checkboxes, with progress cookies updating. - **Plain-text editing:** Edit the raw Org markup in the app; saving recreates the file from an in-memory copy, which can change non-semantic whitespace. - **Agenda notifications:** Notifications for Org Agenda items, plus capture of text and links through the share sheet or org-capture:// links. - **Emacs-style viewing:** Narrowing, visibility cycling, reader mode, LaTeX rendering, tables and syntax highlighting for Org files. - **Org Crypt and Org Cite:** The App Store listing lists symmetric Org Crypt section decryption and encryption, and Org Cite bibliography support. ## Good for - Emacs Org Mode users who want to read and lightly edit files on a phone - People whose Org files already live in iCloud Drive, Dropbox or Google Drive ## Worth knowing - Orgro has no sync of its own; files are opened from a storage provider and closed again. - Structured editing is limited to toggling checkboxes and TODO keywords; everything else is raw-text editing. - The FAQ advises keeping backups, because saving may alter parts of a file you did not edit. - Links between Org files need a storage location that grants directory permissions, which many third-party apps do not. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.2 out of 4**, graded Nov 13, 2026. Orgro opens Org Mode files from Emacs on an iPhone, iPad or Android phone, and lets you toggle TODOs and edit text. It has no sync of its own and the maker tells you to keep backups. - **Value for money: A.** $4.99 once after a 7-day trial, under a year of the category's middle subscription and below its $12.99 one-time middle. - **Free plan and trial: C.** A 7-day free trial of all features, then the one-time unlock. The pages don't say whether a card is needed, and there is no free plan. - **Features: D.** One narrow function: view and lightly edit Org files, toggle TODOs and checkboxes. It has no sync, and it only makes sense next to Emacs or other Org tools. - **Ease of use: C.** No store rating on record. You point it at files in cloud storage, and need to know Org Mode. - **Platforms and integrations: C.** iPhone, iPad and Android only, opening files from iCloud Drive, Dropbox and Google Drive. No computer or web version. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Orgro's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among note-taking apps - Orgro's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 18 of the 169 other note-taking apps we grade, and level with 14. - It stands best on value for money (A, above 72 of 169) and worst on features (D, above 0). The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/note-taking ## Keep it, or make your own? **Your call.** A notes app at its plainest is text in folders with a search box. You could make the core of Orgro for yourself: notes and tasks. What you would give up is listed below. Whether that is worth the price is your call. At $4.99, paid once, it costs less than the weekend it would take to replace, which is the argument for keeping it. Orgro is open source, so there is a third way: take its code and run it yourself. - You could make: Notes and tasks: an app builder makes these well. - You could not: A real app for iOS and Android. Something home-made would be a web page. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with Emacs Org Mode, iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive **Tags:** Notes, Tasks, Open source, Works offline ## Alternatives - [Orgzly Revived](https://toolgpa.com/tools/orgzly-revived): Org mode outliner for notes and to-do lists on Android. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/orgro-vs-orgzly-revived) - [beorg](https://toolgpa.com/tools/beorg): Plain-text task manager for iPhone and iPad using Org mode files. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/beorg-vs-orgro) - [Orgzly](https://toolgpa.com/tools/orgzly): Free Android outliner for notes and to-do lists in Org files. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/orgro-vs-orgzly) - [Markor](https://toolgpa.com/tools/markor): Offline Android text editor for Markdown notes and todo.txt. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/markor-vs-orgro) - [Logseq](https://toolgpa.com/tools/logseq): Open-source outliner for linked notes stored as local files. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/logseq-vs-orgro) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026: - https://orgro.org - https://orgro.org/faq/ - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/orgro/id1512580074 Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/orgro Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).