Comparison

QuickNotes X vs Element Note

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

Head to head
About

QuickNotes X

This app offers a fluid and precise note-taking experience with a custom vector ink engine, voice recording synced to writing, and ML-powered shape recognition. Organize notes with notebooks and folders, protect them with passwords and biometrics, and sync seamlessly across devices via iCloud. Mark up PDFs and presentations, and customize your notes with various tools and templates.

Highlights
  • Vector ink engine for fluid writing
  • Voice recording synced to notes
  • ML-powered shape recognition
  • Notebook and folder organization
  • Password and biometric protection
  • PDF and presentation annotation
  • iCloud sync across devices
Features
Read full description

ESCAPE THE LIMITS OF PHYSICAL PAPER • Experience a fluid, precise and natural note taking experience powered by the unparalleled performance of QuickNotes X custom vector ink engine; • Choose your drawing style with numerous included tools, such as fountain and ballpoint pen; • Freely customize your stroke color as well as line thickness and pressure sensitivity; • Record and play back lectures with Voice Recording: your writing will be synced to the audio! • Draw perfect shapes and straight lines thanks to automatic, ML-powered shape recognition; • Move, resize, rotate and zoom your handwriting to take notes like a pro; • Never run out of paper: swipe to the next page and a new page will be created if needed! • Take perfect notes with your Apple Pencil, Logitech Crayon or other capacitive styluses. ORGANIZE & PROTECT YOUR THOUGHTS • Never lose your notes again thanks to the powerful organization provided by QuickNotes X; • Create Notebooks to organize your notes; • Add unlimited Folders & Subfolders to group your Notebooks; • Lock individual Notebooks and Folders with a Password to protect your thoughts from prying eyes; • Unlock protected notebooks using Face ID, Touch ID or by entering your Password; • Rearrange your Notebooks and Folders however you like to make sure they are always in the correct order. SEAMLESSLY SYNC TO ALL YOUR DEVICES • Seamlessly back up & sync your notebooks and folders to all your devices thanks to iCloud; • Write once, edit anywhere: when iCloud Sync is active all your content is automatically available on all your devices; • Use the native Mac app to view your notes on the bigger screen and edit them right on your computer. MARK UP & WRITE ON PDFs, SLIDES AND MORE • Import and edit PDFs, PowerPoint presentations more; • Annotate documents on your device with all the tools available, including fountain & ballpoint pen, highlighter and shape recognition; • Open notes and documents side-by-side on your iPad for maximum flexibility; • Quickly export your notes as images, PDF or QuickNotes X Documents for easy sharing ENDLESS CUSTOMIZATION FOR YOUR CREATIVITY • Create an unlimited number of presets for stroke color and line thickness to always have the right one ready at your fingertips; • Choose between Dual or Single Bar Mode to take notes with the maximum level of flexibility and customizability; • Choose to erase entire strokes on only some parts thanks to the new Precision and Whole Stroke Erasers; • Use the Lasso tool to cut, copy, paste or delete groups of strokes or entire pages; • Customize the look of your Notebooks and Folders by choosing from more than 80 options; • Make each notebook cover yours: the Notebook cover is now fully editable so you can draw on it! • Choose the right paper template for your Notebooks, such as Blank Paper, Cornell Paper, Chemistry Paper, Engineering Grid Paper, Music Paper and more! TYPE AND WRITE ANYWHERE • Add Text Boxes anywhere in a page to start typing, with plenty of customization options for color, font style and size, available right at your fingertips in the new Tool Bar; • Move, rotate and scale text boxes to never run out of space; • Combine handwritten notes with typed content and annotate or highlight key words in your Text Boxes; AND THERE IS EVEN MORE! • Swipe left or right to quickly move to the previous or next page in the notebook; • Quickly jump to any page in the Notebook by using the Notes List menu in the Note Editor; • Customize any new page you create thanks to the new "New Page" menu in the Editor; • Create a QuickNotebook to always have a fresh new page when you open the app; • Changing the paper template for a single page or the entire Notebook is only one tap away; QuickNotes X: Note-Taking, Made Easy. Website: https://www.quicknotesx.com Twitter: @QuickNotesX Instagram: @quicknotesx ----------- Privacy Policy: https://www.quicknotesx.com/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula

About

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.

Highlights
  • Unique handwriting brushes
  • Smooth drawing engine
  • PDF annotation
  • Text, shape, and image attachments
  • On-device OCR search
  • Smart dark mode
  • iCloud sync and collaboration
Features
Read full description

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

QuickNotes X4 screens
Element Note4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Element Note at 68% against QuickNotes X's 38%. Element Note also leads on rating (4.6 vs 4.3) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 5 weeks). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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

Both are free to download. QuickNotes X sells 11 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 3 months and Element Note sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $3.49 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Element Note holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3.8K and 2.6K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 38% of QuickNotes X's written reviews are positive against 68% of Element Note's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

QuickNotes X ships an update every 5 weeks, Element Note fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
QuickNotes X versus Element Note: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterQuickNotes XElement Note
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (3.8K ratings)4.6 (2.6K ratings) — better
Positive reviews38.0% of reviews68.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3.8K — better2.6K
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size354 MB129 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlessandro SassiSoysauce Lab

Customer experience

QuickNotes X

All ratings3,753 ratings
Positive82.4%
Neutral6.1%
Negative11.5%
Written reviews158 reviews
Positive38.0%
Neutral13.9%
Negative48.1%

Element Note

All ratings2,591 ratings
Positive90.5%
Neutral4.1%
Negative5.4%
Written reviews335 reviews
Positive68.1%
Neutral11.6%
Negative20.3%

User reviews

QuickNotes X

From 3.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💻 Intuitive and easy to use
  • 📚 Helpful for organizing notes
  • 🎨 Variety of paper templates and pens
  • 🔊 Voice recording feature
  • ⚡️ Smooth writing experience with Apple Pencil

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Limited functionality without paying for pro version
  • 🐛 Glitches, crashes, and data loss issues
  • 💭 Handwriting can appear blurry or distorted
  • 🖋️ Lack of palm rejection when writing
  • 📁 Inability to reorder or move pages

Element Note

From 2.6K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Smooth handwriting experience
  • 💡 Customizable pens and colors
  • 👍 Clean and intuitive interface
  • 🎨 Gradient and gradient brush tools
  • 📚 Great for journaling and note-taking

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
  • 🔍 Search function not working
  • 🖼️ Issues with image handling and export
  • 🔀 Difficulty switching between pen and eraser
  • 🔑 Lack of password/locking feature for notes

Bugs and requests

QuickNotes X

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Notes randomly disappearing or becoming corrupted
  • Pen input not registering correctly or lagging
  • Unexpected page flipping or navigation issues
  • Syncing problems between devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add text typing option for those with poor handwriting
  • Implement cloud sync and cross-device access
  • Include more customization options like templates and colors
  • Improve shape recognition and drawing tools
  • Allow rearranging and organizing of pages/notebooks

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
Show 1 more
  • Seasonal or custom sticker packs

In-app purchases

11 purchases

QuickNotes X

Subscriptions1
  • Cloud & ML Pack$0.993 Months
One-time10
  • Covers Pack$0.99
  • Templates Pack$0.99
  • QuickNotes X AI: 50000 Tokens$0.99
Show 7 more
  • QuickNotes X AI: 100000 Tokens$1.99
  • Notebooks & Folders Pack$2.99
  • Tools Pack$2.99
  • QuickNotes X AI: 300000 Tokens$3.99
  • QuickNotes X Pro$4.99
  • Pro Pack$5.99
  • QuickNotes X AI: 500000 Tokens$5.99
5 purchases

Element Note

Subscriptions2
  • Element Note Yearly$3.491 Year
  • Element Note Yearly$4.991 Year
One-time3
  • Lifetime Launch Special$4.99
  • Lifetime$9.99
  • Lifetime$14.99

Questions

Is QuickNotes X free?
QuickNotes X is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Element Note free?
Element Note is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, QuickNotes X or Element Note?
Element Note is rated higher. QuickNotes X averages 4.3 out of 5 from 3.8K ratings, while Element Note averages 4.6 from 2.6K ratings.
Do QuickNotes X or Element Note have ads?
Neither QuickNotes X nor Element Note shows ads.
Which is updated more often, QuickNotes X or Element Note?
QuickNotes X ships an update every 5 weeks, and Element Note fortnightly. Most recently, QuickNotes X was updated on October 1, 2026 and Element Note on September 30, 2026.

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