Same idea. Different custody.
Privnote popularized the burn-after-reading note and deserves the credit. The comparison worth making is about custody: whose infrastructure could, even in principle, read the note while it exists — and what the recipient can check for themselves.
Privnote for creating in any browser; BurnPony for keys that never touch the server. Privnote works entirely on the web with nothing to install on either end. BurnPony requires the iOS app to create notes — and in exchange, seals them on your device with AES-256-GCM and puts the key in the link's #fragment, which browsers never transmit, so the relay stores ciphertext it cannot open. Both burn on reading; they differ on who you have to trust in the meantime.
At a glance.
| BurnPony | Privnote | |
|---|---|---|
| Burn after reading | Yes — deleted with the last view, atomically | Yes — destroyed after being read |
| Where encryption happens | On your iPhone, before upload | Handled by the service in the browser |
| Key delivery | In the URL #fragment — never sent to any server | Link generated by the service |
| Recipient needs | Any modern browser | Any modern browser |
| Create a note from | The iOS app | Any browser, no install |
| View allowance | 1–100 views, your choice | Single read |
| Passphrase second factor | Yes — PBKDF2, 600,000 iterations | Password option available |
| Read receipts | Opt-in, disclosed to the recipient before reveal | Optional notification |
| Early burn + live status | Yes — Sent tab with management token | No sender dashboard |
| Existence privacy | Burned, expired, never-existed: identical responses | Destroyed-note page shown |
| Auditable recipient code | One self-contained page — View Source is the audit | Standard web app |
| Price | Free | Free |
Honest tradeoffs.
Where Privnote wins
- Zero install to create. A Privnote can be written from any browser on any device in ten seconds. BurnPony's composer is an iOS app — if you're on a borrowed Windows machine, Privnote wins outright.
- The original. Privnote has carried this idea for many years and the pattern is familiar to recipients everywhere; nobody puzzles over what the link is.
- Simplicity. One text box and a button. BurnPony's views, expiry, receipts, and passphrase options are power that Privnote deliberately doesn't ask you to think about.
Where BurnPony wins
- The server never holds your key. BurnPony encrypts on your device and delivers the key in the URL fragment, which browsers never send. The relay stores ciphertext it structurally cannot read — a property you can watch in the network inspector, not a promise to take on faith.
- The recipient can audit what runs. The viewer is a single self-contained page with a strict Content-Security-Policy and no external requests. View Source shows every line that touches the key.
- The sender stays in control. Live view counts, receipt times, and an early-burn button — with a per-note management token instead of any account.
- Nothing confirms a note existed. After any exit — read, expired, burned — the link answers exactly like one that never worked.
The verdict.
- Choose Privnote if you need to create a note right now from a device that isn't yours, or the recipient's familiarity with the pattern matters more than custody of the key.
- Choose BurnPony if the note is sensitive enough that "the service could technically read it" is a problem — you want client-side sealing, a key the server never sees, and control after sending.
- Use both if your secrets have tiers. Plenty do.
Try BurnPony
Free. No accounts, no tracking. In development — one email on launch day if you want it.