Comparison

QuickNotes X vs Wren

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

Wren

Transform your handwritten notes into study materials. This app uses AI to generate summaries, practice questions, flashcards, and mind maps from your lecture notes. It also includes a calendar for tracking deadlines and scheduling study sessions.

Highlights
  • AI-generated summaries
  • Practice questions from notes
  • Flashcard creation
  • Mind map generation
  • Specialized sticky types (code, graphs, flowcharts)
  • Integrated calendar with deadline tracking
  • Search by meaning, not just keywords
Features
Read full description

Wren is the AI agent built for student life: notes that study with you, a calendar that understands your semester, a tutor that knows what you wrote, and agents that turn your own notes into study material. AI AGENTS - Your notes, turned into study material Pick a goal and an agent reads your notes, then builds what you need as real, editable notes: - Study guides drawn from your own lectures - Flashcard sets for exam week - Learning paths that sequence what to review first - Summaries and outlines across multiple notes - Mindmaps, timelines and flowcharts when a picture beats a paragraph A live progress view shows exactly which notes it read, so you can check the result. AI TUTOR - Answers grounded in your own notes Ask a question and get an answer built from what you actually wrote, with sources you can open. The tutor knows your upcoming events and pinned notes, so "what should I study tonight?" gets a real answer. It can create calendar events straight from the chat. STUDY BUDDY - A second brain while you study Open any note and start a conversation about it. Study Buddy reads the page you are on, so you can ask "explain this derivation" or "quiz me on this section" without copying anything anywhere. Answers stream in beside your note while you keep writing. RESOURCE HUB - Every document you were given Upload lecture slides, PDFs, readings and handouts. Search, filter and tag them by class, then analyze them with AI. Wren finds dates and topics inside your documents and offers to add them to your calendar, so a syllabus becomes a schedule. EXAM MODE - Practice before it counts Generate a practice exam from any note, take it, and review your results mistake by mistake. Find the gaps while there is still time to close them. AI STUDENT CALENDAR - Your academic command center See your whole semester at a glance. Track exams with countdowns, plan study sessions, manage assignment deadlines, and jump straight to the notes for any day. CLASS SPACES - One place per class Give every class its own space. Notes, documents, practice exams and events stay grouped by subject, so switching from Organic Chemistry to World History takes one tap, and everything for a class lives where you expect it. HANDWRITING THAT DOES MORE Write naturally with Apple Pencil or your finger. Your handwriting stays exactly as you wrote it, and AI adds intelligence beside it: - Instant summaries - Definitions and explanations - Practice questions for exam prep - Mindmaps connecting concepts across classes - Code snippets with syntax highlighting - Graphs, timelines, diagrams and flowcharts - Checklists that track study progress Pause your pen and Wren offers a relevant suggestion. Review every AI draft on the canvas and Keep or Discard it before anything becomes permanent ink. DOCUMENT MODE A structured editor with rich formatting, native pagination, and Document Stickies anchored beside your text. Built for essays, lecture notes, and anything where structure matters. BUILT FOR IPAD Apple Pencil pressure sensitivity. Palm rejection that actually works. An infinite canvas for big diagrams. Standard paper sizes or custom dimensions. Home screen widgets. Works offline and syncs when you are back. A WEEK WITH WREN Monday: take lecture notes with your Pencil, and a sticky suggests a definition while you pause. Wednesday: upload the professor's slides, and the syllabus dates land on your calendar. Friday: an agent turns the week's notes into a study guide. Sunday night: generate a practice exam, find the two topics you would fumble, and fix them before it counts. Perfect for high school, college, grad school, and anyone who never stopped learning. Wren is free to download. Write one note, hand it to an agent, and see what comes back. Terms of Use: https://www.getnotenest.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://www.getnotenest.com/privacy

Screenshots

QuickNotes X4 screens
Wren4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Wren at 100% against QuickNotes X's 38%. Wren also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.3) and update cadence (weekly vs every 5 weeks). QuickNotes X's advantage is ratings volume (3.8K vs 22). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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 Wren sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Wren holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: QuickNotes X has 3.8K ratings behind it against 22, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 38% of QuickNotes X's written reviews are positive against 100% of Wren's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

QuickNotes X ships an update every 5 weeks, Wren weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
QuickNotes X versus Wren: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterQuickNotes XWren
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (3.8K ratings)5.0 (22 ratings) — better
Positive reviews38.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3.8K — better22
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better16.6
Further details — not scored
Size354 MB104 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlessandro SassiNOTENEST LLC

Customer experience

QuickNotes X

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

Wren

All ratings22 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews12 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

Wren

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

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

Wren

Subscriptions5
  • NoteNest Lite7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • NoteNest Founder7 Days trial$6.991 Month
  • NoteNest Pro7 Days trial$9.991 Month
Show 2 more
  • NoteNest Elite7 Days trial$14.991 Month
  • NoteNest Pro Annual7 Days trial$71.991 Year

Questions

Is QuickNotes X free?
QuickNotes X is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Wren free?
Wren is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, QuickNotes X or Wren?
Wren is rated higher. QuickNotes X averages 4.3 out of 5 from 3.8K ratings, while Wren averages 5.0 from 22 ratings.
Do QuickNotes X or Wren have ads?
Neither QuickNotes X nor Wren shows ads.
Which is updated more often, QuickNotes X or Wren?
QuickNotes X ships an update every 5 weeks, and Wren weekly. Most recently, QuickNotes X was updated on October 14, 2026 and Wren on October 10, 2026.

Other comparisons