Comparison

Paintwork vs Notes Writer

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

Head to head
About

Paintwork

Create handwritten notes, diaries, and drawings with a vast array of tools. Features include customizable brushes, vector graphics, a rich color palette, and image import. Export your creations as PDFs or images.

Highlights
  • Customizable brushes and erasers
  • Extensive vector graphics tools
  • Rich color palette
  • Image and material import
  • Handwriting assistance
  • PDF and image export
  • Customizable backgrounds and canvas
Features
Read full description

Paintwork is a simple and powerful software for handwritten notebooks, diaries, and hand drawn images. It includes functions such as: brush list (hundreds of brush effects, customizable brush thickness, color, transparency, dynamic strength weights, etc.), eraser list (each brush effect can be used as an eraser), Vector graphics tools (including lasso, vector eraser, vector pen, annotation pen, highlighter, wavy pen, double line pen, text box, illustration, dashed line, horizontal and vertical dashed line, curve, closed shape, text pen, rectangle, ellipse, straight line, arrow, triangle, pentagram, polygon, etc.), and also include many related attribute settings, Color list (with a rich color palette and customizable manual configuration of commonly used colors), copy and cut the content of specified areas on the page, import images or materials, as well as a simple calculator, handwriting assistance, and photo scanning of document files. Unlimited writing, ruler, recognition of text, printing of text, filling, and the ability to export PDF files or images. Supports custom background functionality, custom canvas paper, and more. It can be used to write for classroom or book learning notes, handwritten notes for work meetings, hand drawn mind maps, hand drawn account creation, hand made account book making, writing diaries, recording life thoughts, calligraphy practice, handwritten brush and pencil characters, hand drawn artistic characters, and so on. Supports Apple pencil. Can export images or PDFs. If you have any comments or feedback, please feel free to contact us. Contact email: pw_team@163.com If you like our application, please give us a good review. Thank you.

About

Notes Writer

This app is a comprehensive note-taking and PDF editing solution for mobile devices. It allows users to write, format, and organize notes, annotate PDFs, fill forms, and scan documents. The app offers advanced editing tools, powerful search, and seamless sharing and export options.

Highlights
  • Write and format notes
  • Annotate PDFs and fill forms
  • Organize with unlimited notebooks
  • Powerful full-text search
  • Document scanning
  • Sync with cloud services
  • Export to multiple formats
Features
Read full description

Every note. Every format. Unlimited Digital Notebooks. Like paper, but better. Take lecture notes, prepare for exams and develop your research. Bring the same tools to manuscripts, interviews, lesson plans, meetings and creative projects. Notes Writer keeps your work together on iPad, iPhone and compatible Apple silicon Macs. Designed for students and anyone who wants to learn, create and stay organized—including teachers, writers, journalists, doctors, architects, illustrators, mathematicians, researchers and business professionals. WRITE & CAPTURE • Handwriting, sketching & painting Take handwritten notes with Apple Pencil, type a document or explore a concept through drawing. Use dedicated sketching, watercolor and oil painting tools for illustrations and creative work. • PDF annotation Review lecture slides, medical literature and professional reports. Highlight PDFs, add comments, images and shapes, fill forms and sign documents. Keep your annotations beside the source material. • Recording & transcription Record lectures, business meetings and interviews, transcribe the audio and search the transcript for the detail you need. Add recordings to PDF notes and whiteboards, then listen back at your own pace. STUDY & RESEARCH • Courses, manuscripts & research projects Choose an optional project tree to arrange topics, sources and drafts in a Study Project. Use the Binder for structure, the Corkboard to plan sections and compilation to assemble a document or ebook. • Whiteboards, diagrams & outlines Create whiteboards with notes, images, recordings and tables. Build flowcharts and diagrams to explain a process, compare findings or plan a lesson or project. Use Outline Notes when your ideas need a hierarchy. • Flashcards & review Create flashcards with text, handwriting and images, or generate them from notes and PDFs with optional AI tools. Review with spaced repetition, answer by typing or speaking, and track your progress. MATH & SCIENCE • Calculations, Python & charts Math Notebooks combine written reasoning, symbolic calculations and Python cells. Plot results, explore a model and present your data in editable Chart documents. • LaTeX & technical PDFs Write technical papers in LaTeX and compile them to PDF with a preview of the result. For plans and technical drawings, set a scale and measure distances, perimeters and areas directly on the PDF. ORGANIZE & SHARE • Notebooks, folders & templates Create and customize folders, subfolders and notebooks. Choose names, covers and paper templates that suit each course or project. Scan handouts, search your collection and manage documents with sorting, moving and grouping tools. • Documents side by side Open documents in tabs and work with your reading and draft side by side. Create a study planner, lesson plan, research journal or manuscript within the same library. • Formats for your work Work across PDF, Microsoft Word (DOCX), EPUB, RTF, Markdown, plain text (TXT), HTML, LaTeX and OPML outlines. Edit formatted documents, read ebooks and export supported documents as PDF, DOCX, RTF, HTML or EPUB. Export options vary by document type. • Sync, backup & privacy Sync with iCloud and work with Dropbox and Google Drive files through the Files app, with changes synced by your provider. Set up automatic document backups, use autosave and recovery, and protect the app and folders with a passcode. OPTIONAL AI ASSISTANT Ask questions about your notes and documents, simplify an explanation, summarize a reading or refine your writing. Use translation, grammar and tone tools when they help. Review every suggestion and decide what belongs in your work. Start a notebook. Study, create and work your way. Privacy Policy http://www.noteswriter.com/Kairoos_Privacy_Policy.html Terms of Use https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Paintwork4 screens
Notes Writer4 screens

Verdict

The call

Paintwork and Notes Writer both sit at 4.6 stars, but that hides the real split: 65% of Paintwork's written reviews are positive against 45% of Notes Writer's. Paintwork also leads on iOS requirement (15.6 vs 26.0). Notes Writer's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs weekly). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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. Paintwork sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and Notes Writer sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Paintwork against 4.5 for Notes Writer. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 17K and 7.3K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 65% of Paintwork's written reviews are positive against 45% of Notes Writer's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Paintwork ships an update weekly, Notes Writer every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Paintwork versus Notes Writer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPaintworkNotes Writer
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (17K ratings) — better4.5 (7.3K ratings)
Positive reviews65.4% of reviews — better45.2% of reviews
Number of ratings17K — better7.3K
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.6 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size200 MB660 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer伟典 苏Kairoos Solutions SL

Customer experience

Paintwork

All ratings17,166 ratings
Positive88.1%
Neutral5.4%
Negative6.5%
Written reviews237 reviews
Positive65.4%
Neutral13.9%
Negative20.7%

Notes Writer

All ratings7,332 ratings
Positive86.8%
Neutral5.1%
Negative8.1%
Written reviews959 reviews
Positive45.2%
Neutral15.1%
Negative39.7%

User reviews

Paintwork

From 17K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎨 Vast selection of brushes and tools
  • 💻 Works well on various devices
  • 🎨 Allows for creative expression
  • 💰 Free to use with no paywall

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Certain features locked behind paywall
  • 🐛 Bugs and glitches causing crashes or data loss
  • 🎨 Limited color palette and blending options
  • 🔍 Lack of intuitive UI and tutorials

Notes Writer

From 7.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Smooth writing experience
  • 💡 Versatile note-taking features
  • 🔒 Good privacy
  • 👍 Useful for various purposes (notes, PDF annotations, etc.)

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and freezes
  • 🔒 Limiting free version with paywalls
  • 🐛 Bugs with erasing, page management, and file corruption
  • 🐛 Laggy performance and slow loading times

Bugs and requests

Paintwork

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App freezing or crashing when using certain features
  • Artwork getting deleted or not saving properly
  • Inability to import or work with external images

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add more color options and blending tools
  • Improve stability and reduce crashes
  • Provide more tutorials and onboarding for new users
  • Allow users to save and access their artwork easily

Notes Writer

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Notes randomly disappearing or getting corrupted
  • Inability to recover deleted documents
  • Unexpected behavior when adding/deleting pages
  • Syncing issues and broken links between documents

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add more brushes and pen customization options
  • Improve the clipping/selection tool
  • Implement OCR and handwriting search
  • Provide a Mac version

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Paintwork

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly subscription premium$0.991 Month
  • Annual subscription premium$3.991 Year
One-time1
  • Unlock local version$9.99
8 purchases

Notes Writer

Subscriptions3
  • Weekly$1.997 Days
  • Notes Writer Unlock All and AI3 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Notes Writer Unlock All and AI3 Days trial$14.991 Year
One-time5
  • Full Version Unlock Pro$3.99
  • Full Version Unlock Pro$4.99
  • Full Version Unlock Pro2 variants$5.99
Show 2 more
  • Full Version Unlock Pro$6.99
  • Lifetime Pro Full Unlock$14.99

Questions

Is Paintwork free?
Paintwork is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Notes Writer free?
Notes Writer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Paintwork or Notes Writer?
Paintwork is rated higher. Paintwork averages 4.6 out of 5 from 17K ratings, while Notes Writer averages 4.5 from 7.3K ratings.
Do Paintwork or Notes Writer have ads?
Neither Paintwork nor Notes Writer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Paintwork or Notes Writer?
Paintwork ships an update weekly, and Notes Writer every 4 days. Most recently, Paintwork was updated on October 28, 2026 and Notes Writer on October 29, 2026.

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