Comparison

Notepad vs ClassNotes

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

Head to head
About

Notepad

This app provides a simple and interactive notepad for jotting down ideas, creating lists, and organizing thoughts. It supports text, handwriting, drawing, and image attachments, making it a flexible tool for quick notes and task management on mobile devices.

Highlights
  • Create notes and lists
  • Handwriting and drawing support
  • Add images and photos
  • Organize and edit notes
  • Task management
  • Flexible canvas
Features
Read full description

Use our practical and simple interactive notepad app to write down your ideas, create shopping lists or to-do lists and organize them. Make it simple and easy to make and manage notes on the go with your smartphone or tablet. It is designed for those who just want a quick app to write down spontaneous ideas. Anywhere and anytime create notes, to-do lists, shopping list, edit or save a note! Our app works as a flexible canvas which lets you type, handwrite, draw or take notes. You can also scribble, sketch a draft or do the grocery list! Use our note-taking tools to create memos, messages, sticky notes, shopping lists, check lists and to-do lists. And you don’t need to stick to mere text – you can also add images and photos to your notes. Enjoy this task manager app that helps you to get all your lists done. Edit and organize your quick notes in this simple notepad app.

About

ClassNotes

Read full description

ClassNotes is a handwriting-first notebook for iPad, built so what you write is exactly what stays on the page. WRITE, DON'T FIGHT YOUR APP Your Apple Pencil ink is recorded exactly as you draw it — no smoothing, no reshaping, nothing "cleaned up" behind your back. Turn on live beautification only if you want your handwriting typeset as you go. SMART TOOLS, ON YOUR TERMS • Hold a shape steady and watch it snap into a clean line, circle, rectangle, or triangle — still adjustable until you lift the pencil • A real two-finger ruler for straight edges • Paint bucket fill that flows under your ink, not over it • Scribble to erase • Sticky tape, text boxes, and photo/file drops • Full undo/redo history, per page NOVA, YOUR AI STUDY PARTNER Circle anything — a diagram, an equation, a paragraph — and ask NOVA about it. It sees exactly what you circled, not just the text, so it can actually explain a graph or work through the diagram you drew. MADE FOR NOTEBOOKS 28 cover designs, 14 paper templates, custom paper and line colors, multiple page sizes and orientations, and a dedicated whiteboard page for freeform sketching. FIND ANYTHING Search across typed text and your own handwriting — even pages you never touched with a keyboard. STAYS IN SYNC Sign in with a free ClassNotes account (optional) and your notebooks, pages, and attachments sync automatically, or keep everything on your device without one. READ ANYWHERE The iPhone companion app is a fast, read-only viewer for your whole library — perfect for a quick look between classes. NOVA PLUS AND NOVA PRO (OPTIONAL) NOVA is free. NOVA Plus ($3.99 a month or $34.99 a year) gives you 30 answers a day from Anthropic's Claude, and NOVA Pro ($5.99 a month or $54.99 a year) gives you 50. After the day's Claude answers, NOVA carries on with the free model. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the period, and you can manage or cancel them in your App Store account settings. Free to use. No paywall on the notebook: every tool is free. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://tony11-dot.github.io/classmate-legal/privacy.html

Screenshots

Notepad4 screens
ClassNotes3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: ClassNotes at none against Notepad's shown. ClassNotes also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 12 months). Notepad's advantage is iOS requirement (14.0 vs 26.0). On price, in-app purchases 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

Both are free to download. Notepad sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and ClassNotes sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Notepad ships an update every 12 months, ClassNotes every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Notepad versus ClassNotes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotepadClassNotes
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.3 (3 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 12 monthsEvery 4 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS14.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size22 MB19 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMaria Amparo RicosTony Aboud

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Notepad

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$3.49
4 purchases

ClassNotes

Subscriptions4
  • NOVA Plus$3.991 Month
  • NOVA Pro$5.991 Month
  • NOVA Plus$34.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • NOVA Pro$54.991 Year

Questions

Is Notepad free?
Notepad is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ClassNotes free?
ClassNotes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Notepad or ClassNotes have ads?
Notepad shows ads; ClassNotes does not.
Which is updated more often, Notepad or ClassNotes?
Notepad ships an update every 12 months, and ClassNotes every 4 days. Most recently, Notepad was updated on November 2, 2026 and ClassNotes on October 29, 2026.

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