Map Note vs Element Note
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Map Note
Organize your thoughts on an infinitely expanding canvas. This app is designed for non-linear thinking, allowing you to freely expand ideas radially for brainstorming and mind mapping.
- Infinitely expanding canvas
- Radial idea expansion
- Mind mapping
- Brainstorming
- Idea sketching
- Non-linear note-taking
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Using map notes, you can spread your ideas anywhere on an infinitely spread canvas. I think the brain's work when considering ideas is a random and radial working image rather than linear. Traditional notes that need to be written sequentially from left to right are not very suitable for this process. If you use this infinite size notebook application, you can freely expand ideas from the center of the page, so you can make ideas more natural. Ideal for creating rough mind maps, brainstorming and idea sketches. * Please check out MapNote 2 that can add images, add folders, and sync with iCloud.
Element Note
This app offers a distraction-free digital notebook experience with advanced handwriting, PDF annotation, and sketching capabilities. It features unique brushes, a powerful rendering engine, and smart organization tools. Sync your notes across devices and collaborate with others seamlessly.
- Unique handwriting brushes
- Smooth drawing engine
- PDF annotation
- Text, shape, and image attachments
- On-device OCR search
- Smart dark mode
- iCloud sync and collaboration
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Element Note is the next-gen note taking, PDF annotation, and light sketching app. We stripped down the unnecessaries and carefully polished the elemental functions for a digital notebook. With a modern look and powerful features, Element Note strives to provide an elegant writing space free of distractions. Features: Unique brushes - Pencil (HB Pencil, Mechanical Pencil) - Pen (Pen, Line Pen, Fountain Pen) - Brush (Art Brush, Round Brush) - Marker (Marker, Round Marker) Best-in-class note rendering engine - Smooth and fluid drawing powered by Metal technology - Support gradient ink for more expressive notes Powerful attachments - Text - Shape - Sticker - Image Universal Search - Search through your PDF & Handwritting using on device OCR Smart Darkmode - Smartly adapts all of your notes to the system darkmode without changing the paper or stroke colors. iCloud Sync & Collaboration - Sync via your personal iCloud (No data is passed to our server) - Collaborate through iCloud collaboration for up to 100 users. Desktop class organization - Intuitive multi-select drag and drop gesture to organize your notes or pages Element Note is free to try for up to 3 notes. Unlock the full app with an in app purchase to create unlimited notes. Terms and Conditions https://elementnote.app/terms Privacy Policy https://elementnote.app/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Element Note at Free against Map Note's $2.99. Element Note also leads on ratings volume (2.6K vs 69) and review sentiment (69% vs 56%). Map Note's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 5) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 17.0). On rating, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Element Note is free to download; Map Note costs $2.99 up front. Element Note sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $3.49 per year. Map Note asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Map Note against 4.6 for Element Note. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Element Note has 2.6K ratings behind it against 69, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 56% of Map Note's written reviews are positive against 69% of Element Note's.
Map Note ships an update every 4 weeks, Element Note fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Map Note | Element Note |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.5 (69 ratings) | 4.6 (2.6K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 56.1% of reviews | 68.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 69 | 2.6K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 weeks | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 7 MB | 129 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Naoya Enokida | Soysauce Lab |
Customer experience
Map Note
Element Note
Bugs and requests
Map Note
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Element Note
Reported bugs
4 issues- Notes and files randomly disappearing
- Inconsistent behavior when using the floating keyboard
- Handwriting recognition not working as expected
- Exported PDFs losing formatting and background colors
Requested features
6 requests- Ruler tool
- Ability to resize/rotate selections
- Improved text editing and formatting
- Presentation mode for connecting to displays
- Ability to import/export multiple files at once
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- Seasonal or custom sticker packs
In-app purchases
Map Note
No in-app purchases
Element Note
- Element Note Yearly$3.491 Year
- Element Note Yearly$4.991 Year
- Lifetime Launch Special$4.99
- Lifetime$9.99
- Lifetime$14.99









