A rail of notes beside your work, or one floating note inside Apple Notes?
Koala keeps a small set of notes in a rail at the edge of your Mac screen, which you can pull out next to what you are doing and dock back at the edge. Apple Quick Note is a single floating note you summon inside the Notes app, which then lives in the app's Quick Notes folder. This page compares the two on facts from each maker's own site.
The short version
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| Comparison point | Koala | Quick Note |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99, one-time | Free, included with macOS Notes |
| Subscription | No | No |
| macOS required | macOS 26 or later | Included with macOS Notes |
| Where notes live | In a rail at the screen edge; detachable floating notes | In the Quick Notes folder in the Notes app |
| Always visible | Yes, the rail stays beside your work | While open, yes: it stays visible on the screen while it is open |
| Multiple notes at once | Yes, several notes in the rail, each detachable | One window at a time; by default it resumes the last Quick Note |
| Open it with | A global keyboard shortcut you can record | Fn (Globe) + Q, or the bottom-right hot corner |
| Safari link reminders | No | Yes: returning to a linked page shows a thumbnail reminder in the corner |
| Folders | No | Not inside the Quick Note window; the Notes app behind it organises notes into folders |
| Search | No | Not inside the Quick Note window; search lives in the Notes app |
| Markdown | No | Not described on Apple's Quick Note page |
| Checklists | Yes | Not described on Apple's Quick Note page |
| Pin or fold notes | No | Not described on Apple's Quick Note page |
| Lock a note | Not offered as a feature on the Koala site | No: Apple states that you can't lock a Quick Note |
| Sync default | Optional iCloud sync, off by default | Via the Notes app (see Apple support) |
| Account required | No Koala account; an Apple Account only if you turn on iCloud sync | An Apple Account for iCloud Notes sync (see Apple support) |
| Offline after setup | Yes, after one online activation | Not stated on Apple's Quick Note page |
| iPhone and iPad app | No, Mac only | This comparison covers Quick Note on Mac; the Notes app itself is on iPhone and iPad |
| Trial or demo | Live demo in your browser, separate from the native app | Free, no trial needed: it is included with Notes |
| Backup export | Yes, a backup archive from the app menu | Notes are in the Notes app; no separate Quick Note export is described on Apple's Quick Note page |
Koala keeps a rail of notes at the edge of your screen. Hover to open a note, click to edit it. When a note needs room, pull it out of the rail, resize it beside your work, and drag it back to the edge when you are done.
Koala's rail and detached notes are designed to travel with you: the note panels are built to join all Spaces and to float alongside full-screen windows, so a note can stay next to your work wherever it is.
Quick Note is one floating window you summon and dismiss. Apple says it stays visible on the screen while it is open, so you can select and add information from other apps. Press Fn (Globe) + Q, or move the pointer to the bottom-right hot corner. By default it resumes your last Quick Note; Notes > Settings can switch it to always creating a new one.
Notes stay in the rail, in the order you put them, with movable dividers that split the rail into local sections. There are no folders, no search and no Markdown editor in Koala. When you want a copy out, export a backup archive from the app menu and import it later.
A Quick Note lands in the Quick Notes folder in the Notes app, where the full Notes app sits behind it: folders, and everything else Notes offers for longer notes. In Safari, a link added to a Quick Note brings back a thumbnail reminder in the corner when you return to that page, and highlighted text stays highlighted on later visits.
Local-first. Koala works without an account, and note content stays on your Mac; it is not sent to Koala servers. Koala works offline after a single online activation, and you can export or import a backup archive from the menu.
Quick Note is part of Apple Notes, so its storage and sync follow the Notes app. Apple says you can use iCloud with Notes on iPhone, iPad and Mac, signed in to the same Apple Account with Notes sync turned on. This page does not claim Quick Note sync behaviour beyond that: Apple's Quick Note page itself does not state it.
On sync: Koala's iCloud sync is off by default — Koala says so outright, and you turn it on from the menu only if you want the same notes on another Mac. For Quick Note, sync goes via the Notes app; see Apple's iCloud Notes setup page.
One payment for macOS 26 or later, with unlimited notes, local-first storage, offline use after activation and optional iCloud sync included.
Free, because it is included with macOS Notes. Do not pay $9.99 if one floating note inside Notes is enough for you: Quick Note wins on price, and on Safari link reminders, outright.
No. Koala is a separate quick-capture app: it does not put notes into Apple Notes, so Notes stays where longer notes live. A Quick Note, by contrast, is a note in the Notes app itself, in its Quick Notes folder.
Apple's Quick Note page does not state whether a Quick Note works offline. Koala works offline after one online activation.
The Koala site offers a live demo in your browser, which is separate from the native Mac app. It does not describe a free trial of the native app.
No. Koala is Mac only, and its optional iCloud sync is for another Mac using the same Apple Account.
Export a backup archive from the app menu before you stop, and import it later if you return. The Koala site does not name the archive's file format.
This page is published by Koala, one of the two apps compared here. The Quick Note facts come from Apple's own support pages — Create a Quick Note on Mac and Set up iCloud for Notes — and prices and features were checked in October 2026. Also compared: Koala vs SideNotes.
Download Koala for macOS 26, or feel the rail first in the live demo. The live demo runs in your browser and is separate from the native Mac app.
