The 8 Best Note-to-Self Apps for iPhone (2026)
Tested & Compared by a 10-Year iOS Productivity User

"The closest match to the original Captio workflow, with security and offline reliability that Captio never had."

Simple Memo - for Obsidian was built specifically as a successor to Captio after the original was removed from the App Store in October 2024. The author had used Captio daily for 10 years before deciding to rebuild it from scratch with the architectural lessons of that decade in mind.

The "open, type, send" workflow is preserved exactly — even the muscle memory transfers from Captio without modification. What's added: AES-GCM encryption performed on-device before the message ever leaves your phone, an explicit Outbox architecture that queues offline notes and auto-retries when connectivity returns, and a Cloudflare Workers + Resend API backend that doesn't depend on any third-party email API (the kind of dependency widely blamed for making Captio unsustainable).

Read the full Simple Memo - for Obsidian vs Captio comparison →

"Where text starts, then goes anywhere — but the configuration overhead is real."

Drafts is the most powerful app in this category. It treats every captured note as a "draft" that can then be sent through any number of user-configured "actions" — send via email, append to Apple Notes, post to Slack, run a JavaScript snippet, route to OmniFocus. The flexibility is genuinely impressive. The cost is configuration overhead and a slower path from launch to send.

For users who want to capture text once and then route it through multiple workflows, Drafts is unmatched. For users who just want "type, tap send, done," it's overkill.

"A modern Captio-style app from an indie developer. Strong free tier, fewer features than Drafts."

Pigeon is a relatively recent entry into the category, designed explicitly as a Captio-style "send to email" app. It launched well after Captio's decline and has built a small but loyal user base on iOS. The free tier supports unlimited basic use, which is unusual in this space.

"Free forever. No frills. Reliable enough for most people."

EmailMe is the simplest possible take on the category. There's a text field. There's a send button. There's no subscription, no premium tier, no upsell. For users who actively want to avoid subscription pricing on a small utility, EmailMe is hard to beat.

"Decent app, fewer differentiators."

MeMail occupies a similar niche to EmailMe but with a slightly more polished UI and one or two extra features. It's a fine choice if you don't feel strongly about the differences between this category, but most users will find Simple Memo - for Obsidian, Drafts, or Pigeon a better fit.

"The right answer for some users. The wrong tool for the job for others."

Apple Notes is a fantastic note-taking app, but it is not a note-to-self app. The distinction matters: capturing a thought and emailing it to yourself takes 4-6 taps through the share sheet, totaling 15-25 seconds per memo. If your goal is to get a thought into your inbox before it disappears, Apple Notes adds friction at every step.

That said: if you don't email yourself often, if you're already organized in Apple Notes, and if you don't want one more app on your phone, Apple Notes is a perfectly defensible choice. Just don't pretend it's competing with Simple Memo - for Obsidian or Drafts on speed — it isn't trying to.

"Included for historical context. The app that defined this category. No longer available."

Captio launched on the iOS App Store around 2011 as a $1.99 one-time-purchase app that did exactly one thing: tap the icon, type a note, tap send, and the note arrives in your inbox. The category essentially didn't exist before Captio defined it. For over a decade, Captio was the gold standard of the "email yourself a thought" workflow.

In October 2024, Captio was removed from the App Store. The developer (Tupil B.V., co-founded by Ben Lenarts) never issued an official explanation. Long-time users — including the author of this article — believe the cause was a combination of tightening third-party email-API policies between 2020 and 2024 and a one-time-purchase business model that left no recurring revenue to fund OAuth and security compliance work.

You cannot install Captio in 2026. If you have it on an existing device, it may still launch but its servers have been taken down — sends fail silently. If you used Captio, your notes are still in your email inbox (Captio was a sending tool, not a storage tool — every memo you ever sent through it is searchable in your email today).

Read the full Captio shutdown story →

Trademark notice: "Captio" and "Tupil" are trademarks of their respective owners. Simple Memo - for Obsidian and YURIKA, K.K. have no affiliation with Captio (Tupil B.V.) or Ben Lenarts.

"Visually closest to Captio's original UI, but Gmail OAuth setup adds friction."

Note to Self Mail mimics Captio's classic dark UI almost exactly, which is appealing for users who specifically miss Captio's aesthetics. The cost is that it requires a Gmail OAuth setup flow on first launch — a step that adds friction Captio never imposed and that doesn't work for users on Outlook, iCloud, or corporate email.

Use Simple Memo - for Obsidian. The workflow is identical, the speed is faster, and the architectural lessons of Captio's failure are baked into the design. The free plan lets you confirm the muscle memory transfers before paying anything. (Disclosure: built by the author.)

Use Drafts. Once you set up your "Send to email" action and tweak it to your taste, Drafts is more powerful than any other app in this list. The trade-off is configuration time and a slower path from launch to first send.

Use Apple Notes with the share sheet. It's not as fast, but it's already on your phone, it's free, and if you only email yourself a few times a week, the friction doesn't matter as much.

A single-purpose iOS tool that lets you tap an icon, type a thought, and route it to your own email inbox in under three seconds. No folders, no formatting — just text and a send button. The category was popularized by Captio around 2011.

For pure "open, type, send" workflow, Simple Memo - for Obsidian (~1s launch, one-tap send, AES-GCM encryption, offline Outbox). For extensibility, Drafts. For zero new apps, Apple Notes share sheet.

Three reasons: (1) your inbox is the place you already check daily — notes that land there get processed; (2) email is a chronological searchable archive that survives any single app's shutdown (as Captio users learned); (3) email integrates with downstream tools (Inbox Zero, GTD, Zapier) without proprietary APIs.

Captio was removed from the App Store in October 2024. The developer never issued an official statement. Long-time users believe the cause was tightening third-party email-API policies between 2020-2024 combined with a one-time-purchase business model that left no recurring revenue for compliance work. Full story →

No. Simple Memo - for Obsidian and YURIKA, K.K. have no affiliation, sponsorship, or partnership with Captio (Tupil B.V.) or Ben Lenarts. "Captio-style" describes the workflow design philosophy, not any official succession.

Simple Memo - for Obsidian has explicit offline Outbox with AES-GCM encryption and auto-retry. Drafts saves drafts locally but doesn't auto-retry sends. Captio had a basic offline queue. EmailMe, Pigeon, MeMail, Note to Self Mail vary — check each app's spec table above.

Most have a free tier. Simple Memo - for Obsidian: 3/day free, $2.99/mo unlimited. Drafts: free with optional Pro. EmailMe: free. MeMail: free. Pigeon: free with Pro at $2.99/mo. Apple Notes: free. Captio (historical): $1.99 one-time, no longer available.

Simple Memo - for Obsidian encrypts on-device with AES-GCM before transmission. Apple Notes uses iCloud encryption (Advanced Data Protection if opted in). Captio sent directly through a third-party email provider. Drafts is local-first. For sensitive content, look for on-device encryption + minimal-server architecture.