When comparing Cloak vs nvALT, the Slant community recommends Cloak for most people. In the question“What are the best power user tools for macOS?” Cloak is ranked 27th while nvALT is ranked 34th. The most important reason people chose Cloak is:
SSL pinning protects against some forms of man-in-the-middle attacks that even SSL encrypted traffic is vulnerable to. Not long ago, iOS did not allow for pinning but that may have changed more recently.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Does SSL Pinning on OS X
SSL pinning protects against some forms of man-in-the-middle attacks that even SSL encrypted traffic is vulnerable to. Not long ago, iOS did not allow for pinning but that may have changed more recently.
Pro Responsive developer
The developer of Cloak is extremely responsive to feedback and quick to answer questions or support requests.
Pro Senses Trusted WiFi networks
Cloak can be set to not use the VPN on whitelisted WiFI SSIDs (like home/work).
Pro Unlimited devices (as long as they're OSX/iOS)
Unlimited devices and data per account, so you can connect up the whole family or office on one account if you so choose.
Pro Powerful search syntax
nvALT has a simple text box at the top (similar to that of a web browser) and when you start typing inside it, nvALT immediately displays a drop-down box of all the notes that contain the text you are searching for. The more you type, the more the search is narrowed down.
Pro Lightweight
Pro Free
Pro MultiMarkdown 3 support
Has built-in support for MultiMarkdown 3.
Pro Powerful note-taking features
nvALT is not only used for simple text editing but also as a powerful tool for taking notes, TODOs, phone numbers and every other piece of information that can be stored in a plain-text file.
This is because nvALT is not designed only as a tool to write text, but also as a powerful search and organize tool for plain-text files.
Pro Right to Left support
Cons
Con Hasn't published server/data center locations
Con OSX & iOS Only, without even manual configuration instructions for Linux/Windows
Con Not very powerful as far as text editing goes
nvALT's strength is its search feature. It has some basic text-editing features such as cut, paste, find-and-replace and so on. But it doesn't have any advanced text manipulation features available in other editors.