Comparison

Map Note vs Noteshelf

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Infinitely expanding canvas
  • Radial idea expansion
  • Mind mapping
  • Brainstorming
  • Idea sketching
  • Non-linear note-taking
Features
Read full description

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.

About

Noteshelf

Create handwritten notes, annotate PDFs, and record audio with this app. It offers extensive customization for notebooks, a variety of writing tools, and AI-powered features for summarization and translation. Organize your thoughts and documents seamlessly.

Highlights
  • Handwritten note creation
  • PDF annotation and markup
  • Audio recording with notes
  • AI-powered summarization and translation
  • Customizable notebooks and templates
  • Handwriting to text conversion
  • Document scanning and import
Features
Read full description

Write. Plan. Study. Work. Create. Noteshelf 3 brings natural handwriting, powerful AI, PDF annotation, audio recording and planning together in one beautiful app for iPad, iPhone and Mac. Free to start. FOR STUDENTS • Take lecture and class notes with lifelike pens, pencils and highlighters • Annotate textbooks, worksheets, slides and PDFs • Record audio while you write, so you never miss a word • Use Noteshelf AI to summarize and explain what you've learned FOR PROFESSIONALS • Capture meeting notes and record important discussions • Mark up contracts, reports and presentations • Present your notes on an external display with a laser pointer • Export and share notes as PDFs or images in one tap FOR PLANNERS & JOURNALERS • 200+ templates for digital planners, journals, diaries and trackers • Plan your days, track goals and keep a personal journal • Decorate pages with stickers, photos and custom covers WRITE NATURALLY • A smooth, natural handwriting experience built for Apple Pencil • Write, type, draw and sketch on the same page • Turn handwriting into text and search your notes in 65 languages • Choose lined, dotted or grid paper in any color WORK WITH PDFs & DOCUMENTS • Import and annotate PDFs, Word documents, PowerPoint files and images • Highlight, mark up, write and draw directly on your documents • Scan paper documents with the built-in scanner NOTESHELF AI • Summarize handwritten pages in seconds • Explain difficult terms and concepts • Translate text into other languages • Generate notes on any topic RECORD & REMEMBER • Record lectures, meetings and ideas alongside your handwritten notes STAY ORGANIZED & SECURE • Folders, subfolders, tags, bookmarks and a table of contents • Link notebooks together to connect ideas • Lock notes with a password, Face ID or Touch ID • Sync across iPad, iPhone and Mac with iCloud • Automatic backup to Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox or WebDAV YOUR NOTES, YOUR WAY • Custom notebook covers and a toolbar you can rearrange • Presentation mode, dark mode and flexible page layouts FREE TO START Create up to 3 notebooks with core pens and paper for free. Upgrade to Noteshelf Premium for unlimited notebooks, all templates, handwriting recognition, auto-backup and 100 monthly AI credits. Write beautifully. Work smarter. Stay organized. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula

Screenshots

Map Note3 screens
Noteshelf4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Noteshelf at Free against Map Note's $2.99. Noteshelf also leads on ratings volume (7.1K vs 69) and update cadence (weekly vs every 4 weeks). Map Note's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 17) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 18.0). On rating, review sentiment, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Noteshelf is free to download; Map Note costs $2.99 up front. Noteshelf sells 17 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days. Map Note asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Map Note against 4.6 for Noteshelf. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Noteshelf has 7.1K ratings behind it against 69, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 56% and 57% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Map Note ships an update every 4 weeks, Noteshelf weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Map Note versus Noteshelf: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMap NoteNoteshelf
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.5 (69 ratings)4.6 (7.1K ratings) — better
Positive reviews56.1% of reviews56.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings697.1K — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS8.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB558 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNaoya EnokidaFluid Touch Pte. Ltd.

Customer experience

Map Note

All ratings69 ratings
Positive84.1%
Neutral7.2%
Negative8.7%
Written reviews82 reviews
Positive56.1%
Neutral15.9%
Negative28.0%

Noteshelf

All ratings7,039 ratings
Positive88.8%
Neutral3.2%
Negative8.0%
Written reviews1,047 reviews
Positive56.9%
Neutral10.5%
Negative32.6%

Bugs and requests

Map Note

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Noteshelf

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Notebooks failing to open or sync correctly
  • Handwriting recognition not working as expected
  • Imported PDFs losing formatting or functionality
  • Unexpected loss of data or notes
  • Compatibility issues with older devices or operating systems

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add ability to create folders within notebooks
  • Improve page organization and navigation
  • Implement a more intuitive color picker and pen customization
  • Introduce a history/undo feature for linked pages
  • Add support for custom stickers and templates
Show 1 more
  • Optimize performance and reduce loading times

In-app purchases

None

Map Note

No in-app purchases

17 purchases

Noteshelf

Subscriptions15
  • Noteshelf 3 Weekly Premium$4.997 Days
  • Noteshelf 3 Weekly Premium3 Days trial$4.997 Days
  • Noteshelf 3 Weekly Premium$7.997 Days
Show 12 more
  • Noteshelf3 Weekly Premium3 Days trial$7.997 Days
  • Noteshelf3 Monthly Premium$9.991 Month
  • Noteshelf3 Monthly Premium$19.991 Month
  • Noteshelf 3 Yearly Premium3 Days trial$19.991 Year
  • Noteshelf3 Yearly Premium3 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Noteshelf3 Yearly Premium$39.991 Year
  • Noteshelf 3 Yearly Premium3 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • Noteshelf Premium Yearly$49.991 Year
  • Noteshelf3 Yearly Premium3 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • Noteshelf 3 Yearly Premium1 Month trial$69.991 Year
  • Noteshelf3 Yearly Premium$79.991 Year
  • Premium3 Days trial$99.991 Year
One-time2
  • Premium for Noteshelf 2 users$9.99
  • Noteshelf 3 Premium - Lifetime$14.99

Questions

Is Map Note free?
Map Note costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Noteshelf free?
Noteshelf is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Map Note or Noteshelf?
Noteshelf is rated higher. Map Note averages 4.5 out of 5 from 69 ratings, while Noteshelf averages 4.6 from 7.1K ratings.
Do Map Note or Noteshelf have ads?
Neither Map Note nor Noteshelf shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Map Note or Noteshelf?
Map Note ships an update every 4 weeks, and Noteshelf weekly. Most recently, Map Note was updated on October 20, 2026 and Noteshelf on October 21, 2026.

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