Craft
Standard Notes
| Feature | Craft | Standard Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $5/mo | Free / from $7.5/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.6 / 5 | 4.3 / 5 |
| Best For | apple-users, writers, teams, knowledge-workers | privacy-focused-users, journalists, professionals, researchers |
| Founded | 2019 | 2016 |
| Block Editor | ✓ | ✗ |
| Nested Pages | ✓ | ✗ |
| Ai Assistant | ✓ | ✗ |
| Collaboration | ✓ | ✗ |
| Sharing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Templates | ✓ | ✗ |
| Encryption | ✗ | ✓ |
| Themes | ✗ | ✓ |
| Editors | ✗ | ✓ |
| Tags | ✗ | ✓ |
| File Attachments | ✗ | ✓ |
| Two Factor Auth | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Craft Pros
- Stunning native Apple design
- Fast and responsive
- Good sharing and collaboration
- AI assistant included
✗ Craft Cons
- Best on Apple devices
- Limited web version
- Less powerful databases than Notion
✓ Standard Notes Pros
- End-to-end encrypted
- 100-year company promise
- Cross-platform
- Open-source
✗ Standard Notes Cons
- Basic free version
- Fewer features than Notion
- Limited formatting
The Verdict
Craft is built for apple users and writers, with a focus on block-editor and nested-pages. Standard Notes targets privacy focused users and journalists and leads with encryption and themes.
Pricing is close: Craft starts at $5/mo versus $7.5/mo for Standard Notes — not a deciding factor on its own.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Bottom line: Craft has a slight overall edge — but if end-to-end encrypted matters most to you, Standard Notes may still be the right call.