# CollaNote: Notes & PDF Markup — user reviews > 2,826 indexed App Store user reviews of CollaNote by Zauberberg Lab Company Limited, rated 4.70/5 from 13,484 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/collanote-notes-and-pdf-markup/id1540956268/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/collanote-notes-and-pdf-markup/id1540956268.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 11,598 · 4★ 796 · 3★ 283 · 2★ 210 · 1★ 597 ## What do users think of CollaNote? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 🚀 Very good writing app - 🚀 Great app and easy to navigate - 🚀 Excellent note taking app - 👍 Amazing free note taking app - 👍 Fantastic for teaching - 👍 Awesome note taking app - 👍 Impressive and free - 👍 Excellent app for students - 👍 Impressive notemaker - 👍 Exactly what I was looking for - 👍 Impressive & free - 👍 Excellent app! - 👍 Amazing app for taking notes - 👍 Just as good as GoodNotes and Notability combined - 👍 Truly incredible! Do yourself a favor and get this app! - 👍 An incredible note taking app, definitely a competitor **Cons** - 🐛 Glitching, crashing, and issues with writing tools - 🐛 Inconsistent performance and bugs - 🐛 Issues with PDF annotations and exports - 🐛 Problems with organization and navigation - 🐛 Frequent crashes and data loss - 🐛 Pen and eraser issues after updates - 🐛 Laggy performance and freezing - 🐛 Deleted notes and files - 🐛 Overheating and high battery drain - 🔒 Concerns about account creation and login issues **Commonly reported bugs** - Pen and eraser issues after updates - Freezing and crashing when deleting or moving notes - Inconsistent behavior of favorite pen settings - Incompatibility with older devices - Login screen freezes - Random deletion of notes and files **Most requested features** - Add landscape mode support - Improve text editing and formatting - Enhance organization with nested folders - Implement better backup and sync options - Add more pen/pencil customization - Improve collaboration and sharing features - Introduce a zoom window and auto-advance function - Add more paper style options - Implement undo/redo functionality - Allow resizing and manipulating of selected content - Provide a dark mode option - Add advanced analytics and dashboard ## Newest reviews (17 of 2,826) ### 4/5 — This is the BEST note-taking app, ever! *2026-08-26, version 4.3.1* I have been using this for over half a year for one of my classes and I just wanted to say that I recently purchased the premium version (even though I didn’t need it) BUT, I wanted to show my support to the CollaNote Team so that this app can stay afloat for years and for other users like myself! Also, could you add some paper template for writing out characters such as for Chinese characters or Japanese characters, please? It’s like grid paper but even more griddy? I don’t really know hoe toy explain it, sorry. Thank you, Collanote! =D ### 4/5 — Great app, One suggestion *2026-08-25, version 4.3.1* I suggest adding different sized pages, more specifically a very large or infinite one. Sometimes it can be hard drawing complex diagrams, writing long equations, etc given a small page width or length. Giving us flexibility when it comes to page size will help organize thoughts and notes better. ### 4/5 — kind of hard to use *2026-08-23, version 4.3.0* I've been eating an app that is good at keeping things organized so when I started using CollaNote, I was like hooray something that will help me stay organized. It's cute and not like confusing but then when I went over to the planner sections, it did not make much sense on how you can get one without having a sub subscription and when I try to make one for mine for the new school year, I have to like get the subscription so I think there should be an easier way like just one 365 day calendar that's for free and if there is, I would very much like to know how thank you very much ### 4/5 — Insert PDF Pages into Existing Notes *2026-08-23, version 4.3.0* I would love to see an update that makes it possible to insert a PDF, or specific pages from a PDF, directly into an existing note/document that I created in the app. Currently, I understand that I can import a PDF and add notes or additional pages to it. However, I would also like the opposite option ,while creating a regular note, I should be able to insert a PDF or selected PDF pages into that note and continue writing or adding annotations around it. For example, if I am taking notes for a class and want to include a few pages from a textbook, worksheet, or presentation, I could insert those PDF pages directly into my existing notes and then write additional notes before, after, or alongside them. This would make it much easier to keep everything related to one topic in a single document instead of having to create separate files or start with the PDF. **Suggested functionality:** * Insert an entire PDF into an existing note. * Select specific pages from a PDF to insert. * Add handwritten or typed notes above, below, or alongside the inserted PDF pages. * Continue adding new note pages after the PDF content. * Keep the PDF pages and notes together as one document. I think this would make the app much more flexible and especially useful for students who combine lecture notes, worksheets, textbook pages, and PDFs in one place. ### 4/5 — Pretty good but one thing I would like to say *2026-08-20, version 4.3.0* Alr so this is a really nice note taking app. Good visuals, haven’t seen any bugs, but the one problem- literally all the planners are premium. I want good note taking but I’m broke guys… i cannot pay allat for note taking Ykwim? But overall really nice ### 5/5 — New Feature Suggested. *2026-08-20, version 4.3.0* The App IS AMAZING 💎🤩. Could you add it to android as well? ### 4/5 — Great Free App *2026-08-20, version 4.3.0* I am enjoying the features on this app and the interface. I like the pen options especially. I would like to see the option to view and mark on pdfs as a 2 page spread like you are looking at a book or journal. Thanks. ### 5/5 — Feature suggestion *2026-08-19, version 4.3.0* Med student been using cola note for 3 years, absolutely great. Honestly the only thing that I would love to be added is placing in the tabs above an icon for vocal note!, I would touch the icon and then wherever I place my finger an icon would be created just as a starred note, I would speak and when I move my finger it would saved in the same location . Dunno how difficult it is but really hoping it becomes intergrated. ### 4/5 — Review 2.0 *2026-08-17, version 4.1.2* I think it would be so cool to include a light/ dark mode toggle switch for the Home Screen and each note page, also, I think you should make more of the features for people who don’t do the subscription. I do like this app though. ### 5/5 — Best note taking app (genuinely) *2026-08-17, version 4.1.2* This app is so amazing with all its features for its price being free, but I paid for premium anyway. I never write reviews so this just shows how passionate i am about this app as it’s so useful. That being said, If you guys can create a feature where you can view two pages at a time that makes it look like a book, with a flipping page animation please 🙏. I like to import some novels and it would be cool to simulate having an actual book :) One last feature is to add a sticky note function that will allow a dedicated area for extra notes and simulate a real note-taking experience pleaaaseee ### 3/5 — Currently missing one thing *2026-08-16, version 4.1.2* Only thing I miss , and which has had me download a different app, is having the ability to scroll pages horizontally like a book. ### 5/5 — Really enjoying this app *2026-08-14, version 4.1.2* Coming from another VERY well known note taking app, what a appreciate most about this app is the approach towards individualism. Feels so personal. Been using this for book study and personal notes not so much for academic though I think it would be a joy. Features that's sold me into premium were the variety of creative pens. I absolutely adore the fact that I can pick the color/theme of the user interface including the wallpaper to my notes. Love the ability to navigate hyperlinked pdf and write without switching modes, very intuitive. Love the favorites pen and highlighter selection and that it's specific to the notebook. Features I would love to see: **The ability to have different wallpapers (possibly even color themes) for specific notebooks. Please 🙏 *The ability to use uploaded pictures/self-made notebook covers and page templates that can be saved into the selection for future use for a customizable library. *The ability to organize the pen & highlighter palette. *More pen adjustments like stabilization. *Increased number of favorite pens/highlighters *Tape *this one is a little silly but since there already are some fun ones…. Glitter pens & highlighters. Lol ✨ gotta ask, you never know ✨💖 Truly hope to see these in a future update! Thank you 🌺🙏 ### 4/5 — Request Feature *2026-08-14, version 4.1.2* Hi CollaNote team CollaNote is my favorite note-taking app, and I use it throughout pharmacy school. I’d love to see two features added: 1. A search bar to quickly find keywords across all notes and previous materials. 2. Support for more file formats (Word, PowerPoint, etc.) with automatic conversion to PDF. Right now, I have to use another app (Notability) to convert some of my professors’ files before importing them into CollaNote. 3. AI translation, especially with better accuracy for medical and scientific terminology. These features would make managing and studying large amounts of course material much easier! Thank you so much for reading my review! ### 3/5 — It Overwrites Itself *2026-08-14, version 4.1.2* CollaNote is incredible, and I won’t lie—I loved it. I left Notability and purchased CollaNote because of the customization options for the app and folders, as well as not having to worry about a yearly subscription or waiting for my notebooks to load. Now, here’s why I rated it 3 stars. I frequently switch between my iPads, sometimes multiple times in the same day. This causes issues because a notebook isn’t always fully backed up. When I switch to another iPad, it can overwrite the work I previously had. If there’s any way this could be fixed, I would truly appreciate it. In the meantime, I’m off to a different app. ### 5/5 — Suggestion! *2026-08-13, version 4.1.2* I love CollaNote and how easy it is to use while having a cheap and no reoccurring fees for the premium feature. Literally one of the only apps (possibly the first app) I’ve purchased the premium for. One thing I would LOVE to see is a button to group things together (like a link to a photo) without having to pick it up all together with the selection tool. I just want something that doesn’t require me to have two separate layers and instead is just a single button. ### 5/5 — great app *2026-08-06, version 4.1.2* l’m also a uni student and this is a great app for me to do annotations on Math pdf & worksheets. ### 3/5 — Trava muito *2026-08-05, version 4.1.2* Na parte de captura áudio enquanto escreve não funciona, não sincroniza com a caligrafia, NÃO FUNCIONA! Muito estressante, e também trava bastante, tem bug no teclado tambem. Eu sou premium agora e não mudou nada! ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Complain *2026-08-20, version 4.3.0* Hello Please help me I found that I created a file full of pictures and I really worked hard on it for more than a year and now it doesn't open As for the rest of the files, they open very normally Please help me how to open my file and see my work It opens the last page and when you scroll, it closes the file What is the solution? ### 1/5 — scammed *2026-08-17, version 4.1.2* i paid for the premium for this app, but it didn’t give it to me, even when I tried again and restored purchases. i checked, and the app took my money without giving me what i paid for ### 1/5 — Filled with bugs *2026-08-12, version 4.1.2* Filled with bugs, the main being it sometimes doesn’t register your apple pen properly, so it cuts out parts of your letters, this is not a problem with my pen since every time this happens, it works perfectly on apple notes ### 1/5 — Won’t recommend *2026-07-29, version 4.1.2* It gets crushed all the time, can’t function multitask properly, waste of time and money ### 1/5 — Data not saved *2026-07-11, version 4.1.2* I backed up everything to Icloud when changing my Ipad, and NONE OF MY NOTES were saved, I lost all of my university motes and there is no way to get them back by signing in or anything. I tripled checked that it was backed up and now I have nothing. Unacceptable. ### 1/5 — used to be a great app - disappointing downfall *2026-07-07, version 4.1.2* i’ve been using this app for 4 years. it used to be a great app but now it has severe limitations and repeated ads that pop up in the middle of taking notes. you can only have a max of 10 pages now. it used to be completely unlimited. having a limit for digital paper is insane. it’s also been lagging increasingly over time as well. genuinely so sad cause this used to be my favorite note taking app. i’m glad i graduated before this app went completely downhill - would not recommend for future use ### 1/5 — buggy! Don’t recommend d for school *2026-06-07, version 4.1.2* EVERYTIME you spend time writing out detailed notes.. once you exit your page.. when you re- enter your work the whole page is jumbled and destroyed. Would. To recommend for school work or journaling.. bc all your hard work will be ruined. ### 1/5 — premium for EVERYTHING *2026-06-02, version 4.1.2* ive been using this app for 5 years now and ive been keeping all my notes from secondary school in this app but they are just taking away every function from the free version, to the point where you even need to pay just to add more pages to your notes which is just ridiculous as a notes app. I will be switching to another app in university cuz im not paying £13 just to add pages to my notes. ### 1/5 — new update *2026-05-30, version 4.1.2* used the application year, and then added the update that I can't add more than 10 pages per blakno. It's terrible, because I can't physically buy a subscription (not for money, but because of the payment system), I would like to be able to pay by binding the card. I would love to buy a subscription, but in my country you can't pay through the app store. ### 1/5 — Ruined app *2026-05-25, version 4.1.2* Well they finally ruined a good thing. don’t even bother downloading this app it has a “TEN PAGE “ pay wall which makes it useless. Disappointed !!!!! ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Favorite Notetaking App *2026-08-25, version 4.3.1* I’ve been using CollaNote for a few years now, and I love it! One feature I would love to see added is the ability to change the function for squeezing the apple pencil. I like being able to change the function for double tapping my pencil (either switching tools or showing the tool menu), and I would love the same choices for squeezing it. ### 5/5 — Option to sort folders and notebooks by users *2026-08-25, version 4.3.1* Hello!The app is good, but please add the option to sort folders and notebooks not only by creation date, modification date, and name, but also in an arbitrary order that the user can choose themselves. Sometimes it’s more convenient to structure all the necessary folders and entries yourself, but the app doesn’t allow you to do that. ### 5/5 — Request *2026-08-24, version 4.3.1* I love the app for school, I would like to request being able to sort the folders in the order we would like them to be ### 5/5 — Suggestion *2026-08-24, version 4.3.0* Overall the app is great having tons of features. Yet one very common and useful feature is absent in Collanote. We can’t rotate a shape after drawing. For example, I drew a rectangle. Even if I try to draw it at a certain angle, the shape automatically becomes horizontal. ### 5/5 — Genuinely a gift from god *2026-08-24, version 4.3.0* This is the best note taking app ever I’ve made notes books for all subjects I’ve got flash cards to add to them and a planner to keep track all in one place and for free ! ### 5/5 — A Small Feature That Would Make a Big Difference *2026-08-22, version 4.3.0* As a paid CollaNote subscriber, I’ve been using the app extensively, and it has genuinely become an important part of my daily workflow. I teach both middle and high school, and CollaNote has helped me organize lessons and present information to my students more clearly. I also use it as a graduate student to manage my courses, notes, and study materials. One feature I would greatly appreciate is manual file/folder ordering. Currently, files can only be sorted by name, creation date, or modification date. With a large number of courses and files, being able to simply drag and arrange them in my preferred order would make organization much faster and more intuitive. I hope the team considers adding this option alongside the existing sorting methods. It would make a meaningful difference for users who manage a large number of files. ### 5/5 — Best iPad note taking app *2026-08-21, version 4.3.0* I absolutely love this app, I’ve tried all the well known notetaking apps and rarely do they have everything that I am looking for for a reasonable price and then I found CollaNote which has absolutely everything I could need, as a student and just digital notetaker in general, it allows you to make actual notebooks and digital planners that syncs with your iCloud for a bargain lifetime subscription. It really is a great deal. The only thing I’d ask for is a wider selection of pens, especially the calligraphy pens. They advertise 25 pens but realistically there’s only 6 that I can use to write with and I love my fountain pen options. A flat tip option would be great. Also I like the writing sound feature but volume and sound options would be great because it can be quite distracting. Would also be great to incorporate Apple’s beautification/unification feature, but they do offer pen stability features that work just as well. ### 5/5 — This is really good *2026-08-21, version 4.3.0* This is such a good app and I would highly recommend it. There’s no ads, no limit for how many note books you can add and no restrictions if you’re not paying for subscriptions over all an amazing app ### 5/5 — It’s amazing *2026-08-21, version 4.3.0* I don’t even mind because it’s a one time purchase that isn’t even too expensive since I hate subscriptions. It’s also really cute and has soo many functions :) I just think it’d be nice to be able to change the order of documents manually or sort them by colour… :’) ### 5/5 — Suggestion Feasture *2026-08-20, version 4.3.0* I updated the app to Lifetime Premium, and I really enjoy using it so far. But I would like to have the authentic writing feeling with apple pencil, meaning the capture of realistic pressure when writing. I think it will be a great feature to for practicing writing and calligraphy. I hope we can have it in the near future. Thank you! --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-29.*