Thinkblot vs Merlin Bird ID
Pick Merlin if you want to know which bird you're hearing or seeing. Sound ID and Photo ID identify birds, work offline, and link to your eBird life list. It's free. For identifying birds, Merlin is the tool, and it goes far deeper than Thinkblot.
Pick Thinkblot to keep the field notebook around it. Its Scrapbook gives you a dotted page for each day: tape in a photo and it keeps where and when it was taken, record a sound beside your sketch of what made it, and have places and weather stamped on the day.
Last checked: 27 October 2026 · Compared with Thinkblot's Scrapbook notebook
Thinkblot and Merlin Bird ID, row by row.
| Thinkblot | Merlin | |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | iPhone (including iPhone Duo), iPad with Apple Pencil, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro (the iPad app). iOS and iPadOS 27.1 or later. | iPhone, Android, Mac with Apple silicon, and Apple Vision Pro. |
| Handwriting recognition | Read on your device. Fixing a misread word changes the text, never your ink. | — |
| What happens to a line you write | It stays ink. When Thinkblot can help, a small blot appears at the end of the line. Tap it, and the line becomes a reminder, a drafted message, a payment or time on your calendar. | — |
| Tasks and reminders | A box in front of a line makes it a task. Tick the box on paper and it's done in Reminders too. Unticked tasks carry forward. | — |
| Maths | Write a sum and an equals sign, and the answer is written for you. Write “total” under a column and it adds itself. | — |
| Privacy, account and where data lives | No account and no Thinkblot server. Notebooks live on your devices and in your own iCloud. Private Cloud Compute is optional and asks first. | Its App Store label lists a user ID as linked, and location used for personalisation. |
| Sync | Your own iCloud, through Apple's private CloudKit database, on the same Apple Account. | Your life list, linked to eBird. |
| Export | PDF or Markdown. | — |
| Pricing model | Not out yet. Join the waitlist. | Free. |
| Sound | Record a sound and keep it on the page beside your note and drawing. | Records sound for Sound ID, which identifies the bird. |
| Photos | Photos taped in with where and when they were taken, and named so you can search for what's in them. | Photo ID identifies birds from a photo. |
| Offline | Writing, voice notes and reading your handwriting work with no connection. | Sound ID and Photo ID work offline. |
On a phone, scroll the table sideways.
Where each one is better.
- Identifying birds by sound and by photo.
- Working offline in the field.
- A life list linked to eBird.
- Free.
- A dotted page for each day, with places and weather stamped on it.
- Sketches, notes, photos and sounds together on one page.
- Voice notes written down on the device, each thought on its own line.
- No account. Notebooks stay on your devices and your own iCloud.
Thinkblot vs Merlin, asked.
- Is Thinkblot a Merlin alternative?
- No. Merlin identifies birds by sound and photo. Thinkblot's Scrapbook is where you keep the day around them: sketches, notes, photos and recordings. They work well together.
- Can I record bird song in Thinkblot?
- Yes. In a Scrapbook, record a sound and keep it on the page beside your note and drawing. Tap to listen.
- Is Merlin Bird ID free?
- Yes. Merlin is free.
- Does Thinkblot work offline?
- Yes. Writing, reading your handwriting, voice-note transcription, maths and the blots all work on the device with no connection. Sync catches up when you're back online.
How do
you think?
Thinkblot is coming soon to iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Vision Pro. One email the day it's out. That's all.
Join the waitlistClaims about Merlin Bird ID come only from its own pages, as they read on 27 October 2026. Prices are in US dollars and may change.
Thinkblot facts come from the Thinkblot support page. Last checked: 27 October 2026.