Comparison

Fast Notes vs Notepad

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

Head to head
About

Fast Notes

This app offers a modern approach to note-taking and list-making using intuitive gesture controls. It aims to replace traditional pen and paper methods with a digital solution available on Apple devices.

Highlights
  • Gesture-based controls
  • Note-taking
  • To-do lists
  • Digital replacement for pen and paper
  • Available on iPhone and iPad
Features
Read full description

Fast Notes is the fastest way to write notes and to-do lists. Create a note in seconds and manage everything with simple, natural gestures: pull down to add a new note, swipe right to mark it as done, swipe left to delete it, and pinch two notes apart to insert one in between. WHAT'S NEW • Home Screen widget: see your notes at a glance and check them off without even opening the app • Search: find any note in an instant • Reminders: get a notification for a note at the time you choose • Quick action: start a new note right from the app icon AND MORE • 7 color themes to choose from • Icon badge showing how many things are left to do • Sounds and haptic feedback • Works offline: your notes stay on your device • Great on both iPhone and iPad Put down pen and paper — try Fast Notes now, it's free!

About

Notepad

Securely store and organize your thoughts with advanced features like PIN/biometric locking and an anti-theft system. Convert images to text, sync across devices, and customize your notes with rich formatting and tags. Share, backup, and easily retrieve your important information.

Highlights
  • PIN/Biometric note locking
  • Anti-theft system with photo capture
  • OCR for image to text conversion
  • Cloud sync across devices
  • Rich text formatting and styling
  • Tagging and color-coding for organization
  • Text, photo, and drawing note types
Features
Read full description

Keep important notes safely with Anti Theft System! • Lock Notes with PIN / Biometric authentication (Fingerprint / Face detection) • Anti Theft System (Capture face photo silently who entered wrong PIN) • OCR Notes - Capture image and convert readable characters into notes! (Helpful to save ID card / Bill details) • Signup account and sync notes across the devices with same email (Backup / Restore notes to cloud) • Style your note (e.g Bold / Italic / Underline / Heading / Bullets / Alignments / Undo / Redo etc) • Note Backup / Restore via Email and Document Files and Notepad cloud account • Manage unlimited Notes • Make Text / Photo / Drawing / Sketch Notes • Tag Notes for quick search • Color notes accordingly • Share notes with friends via various apps • Trash - Recover notes from here • Bookmark - Make Note Important to fetch easily • Backup PIN - Backup PIN via email for recovery • Quick Search via title / body / tags • Save note from other app support - Select text and share it via this notepad app to store note quickly without opening this app • Available in English, Spanish, French, Russian, Japanese, German, Chinese, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Greek, Arabic languages. Privacy Policy: https://parthmpandya.github.io/Privacy-Policy-Documents/iOS_Notepad_Privacy_Policy.html Terms Of Use: https://parthmpandya.github.io/Privacy-Policy-Documents/iOS_Notepad_Terms_and_Conditions.html This app will capture image from front camera without displaying prior view(Theft Report feature). If anyone have any query regarding this app or have any suggestion to improve app performance. Let me know on my email id: droidoworld@gmail.com

Screenshots

Fast Notes4 screens
Notepad4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Fast Notes at none against Notepad's 5. Fast Notes also leads on review sentiment (67% vs 33%) and rating (4.7 vs 4.3). Notepad's advantage is ratings volume (64 vs 16). On price, update cadence, 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

Both are free to download. Notepad sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per month. Fast Notes asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Fast Notes holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 16 and 64 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Fast Notes's written reviews are positive against 33% of Notepad's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Fast Notes ships an update every 6 months, Notepad every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Fast Notes versus Notepad: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFast NotesNotepad
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (16 ratings) — better4.3 (64 ratings)
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews — better33.3% of reviews
Number of ratings1664 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationAd-supported — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.016.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB64 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEmanuele FlorisParth Pandya

Customer experience

Fast Notes

All ratings16 ratings
Positive93.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative6.3%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

Notepad

All ratings64 ratings
Positive81.3%
Neutral3.1%
Negative15.6%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral11.1%
Negative55.6%

In-app purchases

None

Fast Notes

No in-app purchases

5 purchases

Notepad

Subscriptions2
  • 1 Month License For Notes App$1.491 Month
  • 1 Year License For Notes App$11.991 Year
One-time3
  • Ad Free Notes$1.99
  • 1 Month License$1.99
  • 1 Year License$9.99

Questions

Is Fast Notes free?
Fast Notes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Notepad free?
Notepad is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Fast Notes or Notepad?
Fast Notes is rated higher. Fast Notes averages 4.7 out of 5 from 16 ratings, while Notepad averages 4.3 from 64 ratings.
Do Fast Notes or Notepad have ads?
Both Fast Notes and Notepad show ads.
Which is updated more often, Fast Notes or Notepad?
Fast Notes ships an update every 6 months, and Notepad every 3 months. Most recently, Fast Notes was updated on October 21, 2026 and Notepad on October 24, 2026.

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