Comparison
Flyout vs Drafts
Drafts is where text starts — that is its own tagline, and it is accurate. It is a capture box wired to an enormous automation system: write something, then fire it at Obsidian, Things, Reminders, an email, a script. It is explicitly “a plain text editor”. Flyout is not a pipeline; it is a place the note stays. If you want the note to leave, use Drafts. If you want it to sit beside your work with a screenshot in it, keep reading.
For macOS 14 Sonoma and later. iPhone and iPad app included. No account, no subscription.
| Feature | Drafts | Flyout |
|---|---|---|
| The editor | Plain text, with syntax highlighting — not rich text | A full editor: headings, task lists, code, colour, images |
| Tasks inside notes | Checkboxes, three-state lists and custom syntaxes | Checkboxes plus six built-in statuses; add your own |
| Themes and note colours | Built-in and custom themes with Pro | Named themes; 38 note colours and custom colours |
| Images in a note | None — media is transcribed into text | Paste, drag in, resize |
| Reminders | Sent out to Apple Reminders through an action — not attached to the note | On the note itself, or on one selected line, with repeats |
| Organisation | Tags, flags and workspaces (workspaces need Pro) | Folders and tabs |
| Opening it | A capture window on ⇧⌘2, or the menu bar | Screen edge or hotkey — and it slides away on its own |
| Locked notes | End-to-end encrypted sync through Apple Advanced Data Protection — not a per-note lock | A password lock on a single note, with the plain text deleted from disk |
| Price | Free tier; Drafts Pro is $19.99 per year — there is no one-time option | $24 once, on five devices across Mac + iPhone + iPad — no subscription |
When Drafts is the better fit
Drafts offers JavaScript actions, Shortcuts, AppleScript, an action directory and a developer-published MCP server for Mac. Its free iCloud sync covers Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. Choose it when captured text needs to move into another app or an automation. Flyout keeps code, images, tasks and reminders in a screen-edge panel. It also offers optional local access for Codex and Claude through paired connections with permissions you choose; it does not run an AI model inside the editor.
Flyout’s price, Mac/iPhone/iPad support and local agent access were checked on 5 October 2026. Other comparison details were reviewed against official documentation in July and August 2026, with task, appearance and Antinote updates on 6 September 2026. Linked sources explain those rows. Tell us if a detail is outdated.
Is Flyout right for you?
Keep instructions, code, images and tasks beside your work in a screen-edge panel. Try Flyout for seven days without an account. Notes are stored locally; iCloud sync and connections to external agents are optional.