Software Alternatives & Startups

Decodo VS PrivacyNotes

Compare Decodo VS PrivacyNotes and see what are their differences

Decodo

Decodo is perhaps the most user-friendly way to access local data anywhere. It has global coverage with 195 locations, offers more than 55M residential proxies worldwide and a great deal of scraping solutions.

Rating
4.5 · 2 reviews
Pricing
$12.5 (1 GB)
PrivacyNotes

Zero-knowledge encrypted notes, tasks, journals, files, and passwords in one app. Your keys never leave your device. One-time price, no subscription. Hosted in Switzerland.

Rating
5.0 · 2 reviews
Pricing
Open source Freemium Free trial $48 / One-off (Early adopter price)
Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

Which is more popular?

Based on our record, Decodo seems to be more popular. It has been mentioned 6 times since March 2021.

social mentions
6 vs 0
user rating
4.5 vs 5.0
Proxy popularity
100% vs 0%
alternatives listed
240+ vs 28

Base details

Website, pricing, platforms and company facts side by side.

Decodo
PrivacyNotes
Website decodo.com privacynotes.app
Pricing
$12.5 (1 GB) Official pricing
Open source Freemium Free trial $48 / One-off (Early adopter price) Official pricing
Platforms
MacOS Web Firefox Google Chrome Edge Safari +3
Company 2018 Startup from Switzerland · 1 - 9 employees · 2026
Listed in

About Decodo and PrivacyNotes

In their own words, as submitted to SaaSHub.

Decodo
PrivacyNotes

Decodo has been a promising proxy provider since its first days in 2018. They offer a wide selection of proxies (residential, shared and private datacenter proxies) and three full-stack scraping APIs with 100% success rates and a no-code scraper. It has an easy-to-use dashboard, public API, and...

Read more about Decodo

PrivacyNotes is a zero-knowledge encrypted workspace that brings your notes, tasks, journals, files, and passwords into one app, so you stop juggling four separate subscriptions. Everything is encrypted on your device with XChaCha20-Poly1305 before it ever syncs. Your keys are derived from a...

Read more about PrivacyNotes

Features and specs

What each product offers, as listed by its team.

Decodo 6 features
PrivacyNotes 5 features
  • Large Proxy Pool
    Smartproxy offers a vast pool of residential and data center proxies, which expands the choice and decreases the chance of IP bans.
  • User-friendly Dashboard
    The service provides an intuitive and easy-to-use dashboard, making it simple for users to manage their proxies and monitor usage.
  • High Anonymity
    Smartproxy ensures high levels of anonymity and privacy, useful for activities requiring discreetness like web scraping.
  • Global Coverage
    With proxies available in numerous locations worldwide, users can access geographically restricted content or conduct broad market research.
  • 24/7 Customer Support
    Their customer support is available around the clock, offering reliable and prompt assistance to users via live chat and email.
  • Flexible Pricing Plans
    Smartproxy provides a range of pricing plans catering to different needs and budgets, including pay-as-you-go options.

Possible disadvantages

  • Higher Cost for Premium Plans
    While they do offer flexible pricing, the more advanced plans can be expensive, making them less accessible for smaller businesses or individual users.
  • Usage Limitations
    There are bandwidth limitations depending on the plan you choose, which can be restrictive for tasks requiring large data transfers.
  • Shared Proxies
    Some of the proxies are shared, which can potentially slow down connection speeds or lead to IP bans if other users abuse the service.
  • No Free Trials
    Smartproxy does not offer a free trial, which could deter potential customers who are unwilling to commit without trying the service first.
  • Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    Utilizing some of the more sophisticated functionalities might require a learning curve, especially for users not familiar with proxy services.
  • Privacy-focused
    PrivacyNotes is designed with privacy as a core principle, aiming to keep your notes secure and away from third-party access, which appeals to users concerned about data confidentiality.
  • Encryption
    The service typically emphasizes encryption to protect note content, meaning your data is scrambled and less vulnerable to unauthorized reading if intercepted or stored.
  • Ephemeral notes
    Many privacy note services offer self-destructing or temporary notes that automatically delete after being read or after a set time, reducing the digital footprint left behind.
  • Simple and lightweight
    Such tools often provide a clean, minimal interface focused on quick note creation and sharing without unnecessary features, making it easy to use.
  • No account required
    Privacy-oriented note apps frequently allow you to create and share notes without registration, lowering the barrier to entry and reducing personal data collection.

Analysis

An editorial look at what each product does well and who it suits.

Decodo
PrivacyNotes

Overall verdict

  • Smartproxy is generally well-regarded in the proxy service industry. It is recommended for those who need reliable and efficient proxy solutions with a balance of cost and performance. However, like any service, it’s important for users to assess their specific needs and test the platform to ensure it meets their requirements.

Why this product is good

  • Smartproxy is considered a good proxy service provider due to its extensive network of residential IP addresses, competitive pricing, and high success rates for web scraping and bypassing geo-restrictions. The service offers user-friendly management tools and responsive customer support, making it suitable for both beginners and advanced users. Additionally, Smartproxy places a strong emphasis on security and privacy, which are crucial factors for many users.

Recommended for

  • Web scraping professionals
  • SEO specialists
  • Businesses looking to bypass geo-restrictions
  • Users concerned with online privacy and security
  • Data miners needing reliable residential proxies

Overall verdict

  • I don't have verified, specific information about PrivacyNotes (privacynotes.app) to make a reliable assessment of its quality, security practices, or features. I cannot confirm details about its encryption methods, privacy policy, company background, or user reviews.

Why this product is good

  • Unable to verify claims about encryption or zero-knowledge architecture without independent confirmation
  • No access to current user reviews, ratings, or reputation data for this specific service
  • Cannot confirm company legitimacy, ownership, or track record
  • Unable to verify uptime, reliability, or actual security audit results
  • No information available on pricing structure or terms of service specifics

Recommended for

  • Before using, research independently via security audit reports if available
  • Check for third-party security reviews or penetration testing results
  • Verify the company's privacy policy and data handling practices directly on their site
  • Look for user reviews on independent platforms rather than relying on marketing claims
  • Consider established, well-audited alternatives if handling highly sensitive information

Videos

Walkthroughs and reviews on video.

Decodo 9 videos + Add
PrivacyNotes 0 videos + Add

Residential rotating proxies. Why choose Smartproxy?

More videos

  • - Smartproxy review & How to smartproxy
  • - Proxies for Scraping
  • - How to Start Using Smartproxy
  • - Smartproxy Review 2023: Best Price To Value Proxies
  • - IPFighter| Review Smartproxy
  • - DECODO Review 2025 (Ex-Smartproxy) | Still the BEST Proxy?
  • - Decodo Review 2025 (former Smartproxy) | FULL Review of new features!

No PrivacyNotes videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Category popularity

How often each product is chosen within a category, 0–100% relative to the other.

Score bands 0–20 21–40 41–50 51–60 61–100
Decodo
PrivacyNotes
100% 100%
0% 0%
0% 0%
100% 100%
100% 100%
0% 0%
0% 0%
100% 100%

Questions & Answers

As answered by people managing Decodo and PrivacyNotes.

Who are some of the biggest customers of your product?

PrivacyNotes's answer:

Honestly? We have no idea, and that is the entire point. Signup is anonymous (a recovery phrase or Google, no email or personal details), the app ships zero analytics and zero trackers, and zero-knowledge encryption means we cannot see who you are or what you store. We could not name a single customer if we tried. A privacy product that tracked its users closely enough to brag about them would be missing the plot.

What makes your product unique?

PrivacyNotes's answer:

PrivacyNotes is the only zero-knowledge encrypted workspace that keeps notes, tasks, journals, files, and a password vault behind one set of on-device keys. Most privacy apps do one of those well and rent it to you monthly. We do all five, encrypt everything with XChaCha20-Poly1305 before it leaves your device, and charge once instead of forever. The encryption core is open core, published so the claims can be verified rather than trusted.

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

PrivacyNotes's answer:

Three reasons:

  • One app, not four subscriptions. Standard Notes, Day One, and Lunatask each rent you a slice (notes, journaling, tasks). PrivacyNotes covers all of them plus files and a vault, for a fair one-time fee.
  • Real zero-knowledge. Your keys come from a recovery phrase that never touches our servers, so we cannot read your notes, your filenames, or your metadata. Some encrypted apps leave note or task metadata in the clear; we do not.
  • Verifiable, not just trusted. The crypto and schema are open core and published for review, and there is no ad, tracker, or analytics anywhere in the app.

How would you describe the primary audience of your product?

PrivacyNotes's answer:

Privacy-conscious individuals and independent professionals who handle information they would not want a vendor reading: lawyers, journalists, healthcare and mental-health practitioners, developers, security specialists, researchers, and founders. It also fits anyone who simply wants one private home for their notes, tasks, journaling, and wellness tracking instead of spreading them across surveillance-funded apps.

Which are the primary technologies used for building your product?

PrivacyNotes's answer:

React, TypeScript, Vite and Tailwind CSS.

What's the story behind your product?

PrivacyNotes's answer:

PrivacyNotes started from a simple frustration: staying organized meant scattering your life across half a dozen apps, most of which could read everything you typed and billed you monthly for the privilege. We wanted one place for notes, tasks, journals, files, and passwords, encrypted so thoroughly that the people running the servers could not read a word of it, and paid for once rather than forever. So we built the encryption first, made the keys live only on your device, and published the crypto as open core so the promise could be checked, not just believed. Everything else grew from one rule: your data is yours, and no one else's to mine.

User comments

Share your experience with using Decodo and PrivacyNotes. For example, how are they different and which one is better?

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Reviews and articles

External articles and on-site reviews we used to compare the two products.

Decodo 4.5 · 2 reviews
PrivacyNotes 5.0 · 2 reviews
  • Proxy Service Awards 2024
    proxyway.com · May 2024

    After all these years, we still can’t find a provider that combines mid-market rates, premium-grade performance, and newbie-friendly user experience as well as Smartproxy. You can get proxies that work effectively as...

  • Very good quality
    SaaSHub review
    · Mar 2024

    Residential proxy is quite good. High success rate with their proxies even though it is quite expensive

  • My Review of Smartproxy Service
    SaaSHub review
    · Dec 2023

    Smartproxy, in my experience, is a solid choice for heavy-duty web scraping tasks. Been using it for bulk data mining. Their proxy pool's massive – good for avoiding blocks and captchas. Speed's decent, uptime mostly...

View more

  • Everything I Needed in One App
    SaaSHub review
    · Aug 2026

    This app checks every box for me. Clean interface, no learning curve, local-first encryption, and secure sync across all of my devices. The biggest surprise is how many apps it replaced. Instead of juggling separate...

  • Feature rich
    SaaSHub review
    · Jul 2026

    The best thing about this: No subscription model, it's a one-time fee for a lifetime license. But you can start for free with the generous freemium model. I only needed to upgrade to pro because I wanted to use the...

Social recommendations and mentions

Recommendations tracked on public social media and blogs since March 2021.

Decodo 6 mentions
PrivacyNotes 0 mentions

View more

Tracking PrivacyNotes since Jun 2026.

Alternatives to Decodo and PrivacyNotes

When comparing Decodo and PrivacyNotes, you can also consider the following products.