Catchlight, honestly compared.
If you just read most marketing pages, you’d be easily fooled into thinking that all encrypted apps are made equal, and in some ways they are. Some don’t have encryption at all, some use strong algorithms to ensure your privacy while data travels or where it lives. That leaves us with major differences in how secure you really are. Catchlight’s approach is different, we encrypt everything, all the time, to ensure your thoughts stay your own, always.
Catchlight is a zero-knowledge app. That means, we don’t ask for an email, password or any form of identifying information. We don’t even collect crash data, if you don’t want us to, we collect nothing. What we do is create a key from 12 random words, that are generated by the app, and they only ever exist on your device. They are never sent anywhere or recorded anywhere by us, and they are the only way to decrypt your notes. We don’t offer a server to sync through, we do it via a service you already use. We don’t pass your notes, tasks and reminders to the operating system either, not without you flicking a switch. We never hand anyone your data, because we never have your data in the first place.
At a glance. All 14, side by side.
| App | Account needed | End-to-end encrypted | Note, task and reminder in one |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catchlight | None. Ever. | Yes, on device, always | Yes, one Take |
| Apple Notes | Apple ID | Opt-in only | No, 2 apps |
| Apple Reminders | Apple ID | Opt-in only | No, 2 apps |
| Evernote | Required | No | Partly |
| Notion | Required | No | Partly |
| Google Keep | Google account | No | Partly |
| Obsidian | Only for Sync | No | Plugins needed |
| OneNote | Microsoft account | No | No reminders |
| Microsoft To Do | Microsoft account | No | Tasks only |
| Bear | iCloud (Apple ID) | Per-note lock | Notes only |
| Standard Notes | Only for sync | Yes | No |
| Things | Things Cloud | No | Tasks first |
| TickTick | Required | No | Tasks first |
| Notesnook | Required (email) | Yes | Notes-focused |
| Todoist | Required | No | Tasks first |
The comparisons, one by one.
On each of our comparison pages you’ll find our real opinion, where Catchlight is better and where alternatives shine. We’re not putting ourselves down, we just know we won’t be right for everyone. We will be right for the privacy-conscious person who wants notes, tasks and reminders in one app that’s a joy to use.