Comparison

iAnnotate 4 vs X

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

Head to head
About

iAnnotate 4

This app allows users to read, annotate, and share various document types including PDFs, Office files, images, and web pages. It offers a wide range of annotation tools, cloud storage integration, and advanced features for efficient document management and markup.

Highlights
  • Annotate PDFs, Office files, images, and web pages
  • Extensive annotation tools (pen, highlighter, typewriter, stamps)
  • Cloud storage integration (Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive)
  • Web page markup and PDF conversion
  • Multi-document tabbed interface
  • Side-by-side document viewing
  • Flatten annotations for secure sharing
Read full description

iAnnotate by Folia is the best way to read, annotate, and share PDFs, Microsoft Office files, images and web pages! Over 1 million people turn to iAnnotate to take notes, sign agreements, highlight documents, insert stamps and more. New in v4: iPhone support, iPad Pro and multitasking support, automatic Apple Pencil detection, shape annotations, improved web markup, enhanced support for OneDrive (and OneDrive for Business), iCloud Drive, and iCloud backup. iAnnotate’s award-winning interface and customizable set of features make it the go-to app for taking notes on lecture slides, annotating important business documents, revising screenplays, grading papers, and much more. Read on to learn about the great capabilities of iAnnotate: IPHONE: Now you can use iAnnotate on your phone, with all of the great features you’ve come to expect on your iPad. IPAD PRO: iAnnotate works great with the iPad Pro. Automatically annotate when you use the Apple Pencil and easily pan, zoom, scroll with your fingers — no tool switching required. Get more work done with iOS multitasking and smart keyboard shortcuts. ANNOTATE: Choose from the pen, highlighter, typewriter, stamp, straight-line, note, underline, strikeout, photo, voice recording, arrow, rectangle, circle, and date stamp tools. CUSTOMIZE: Drag and drop tools to your custom toolbars. Swipe between toolbars, or open the Toolbox to access all your tools. ACCESS: Connect with Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive (including OneDrive for Business) or open PDFs directly from email and other apps. SEARCH: Search documents in your local library and throughout your cloud storage. SHARE: iAnnotate saves your markups directly to the PDF, so they can be viewed and edited in external PDF readers. FLATTEN: Compress your annotations onto the document to prevent modification. This is useful for preserving signatures or for preventing recipients from deleting or changing your annotations. WEB MARKUP: Open a web capture tab and find the site you want to mark up. iAnnotate will convert it to a PDF for annotation. NAVIGATE: Explore your documents by thumbnails, bookmarks, annotations, or search results. UNLIMITED TABS: Open multiple documents in tabs, and easily navigate between them, on both tablet and phone. TWO DOCUMENTS: Work on two documents side-by-side, for even greater productivity. MANAGE: Arrange documents by folders and sort contents by date added, date last opened, or alphabetical order. CREATE: Create brand new PDFs with blank, lined, or graph-paper pages. MODIFY: Add, delete, rotate, and rearrange pages in your documents. SUMMARIZE: Forward a summary of your annotations as an email or a new PDF. SECURE: Full support for the iOS Data Protection and Keychain functions. Interested in using iAnnotate in your business or school? Visit us at www.folia.com to find out about our enterprise options.

About

X

This AI-powered note-taking app helps students organize and access study materials across devices. It converts handwriting, speech, and images to text, and allows for lecture recording. Notes are kept private and secure within the Apple ecosystem.

Highlights
  • Handwriting to Text conversion
  • Speech to Text for lectures
  • Image to Text (OCR)
  • Voice notes for lectures
  • iPad & Mac sync via iCloud
  • Private and secure note-taking
Read full description

X-Notes: The Ultimate Study Companion for iPad & Mac Take your studies to the next level with X-Notes—your AI-powered note-taking app designed for students! Whether you're in class, reviewing lectures, or preparing for exams, X-Notes helps you organize and access your notes effortlessly across iPad and MacBook. Why Students Love X-Notes? Handwriting to Text – Convert handwritten notes into digital text instantly.
 Speech to Text (NEW!) – Turn lectures and voice notes into text automatically.
 Image to Text (OCR) – Extract text from books, handouts, and whiteboards.
 Voice Notes for Lectures – Record classes and review them later.
 Seamless iPad & Mac Sync – Access all notes anytime with iCloud.
 Private & Secure – No accounts, no tracking—just your notes in your Apple ecosystem. Perfect for: Students taking class notes.
 Researchers and learners organizing study materials.
 Anyone who wants AI-powered note-taking with handwriting, voice, and image conversion. Download X-Notes today and simplify your student life!

Screenshots

iAnnotate 44 screens
X4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: X at 100% against iAnnotate 4's 52%. X also leads on price (Free vs $9.99) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). iAnnotate 4's advantage is ratings volume (8.9K vs 2) and chart position (#105 vs unranked). On update cadence, ads, 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

X is free to download; iAnnotate 4 costs $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

X holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: iAnnotate 4 has 8.9K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 52% of iAnnotate 4's written reviews are positive against 100% of X's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iAnnotate 4 ships an update every 2 months, X monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and July 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
iAnnotate 4 versus X: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriAnnotate 4X
Price$9.99Free — better
Rating4.7 (8.9K ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews52.3% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings8.9K — better2
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
Best chart rank#105 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS15.615.6
Further details — not scored
Size96 MB84 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBranchfire, Inc.VanAnh Nguyen

Customer experience

iAnnotate 4

All ratings8,914 ratings
Positive95.9%
Neutral2.5%
Negative1.7%
Written reviews367 reviews
Positive52.3%
Neutral15.3%
Negative32.4%

X

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

iAnnotate 4

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Disappearing annotations
  • Inability to open/save files offline
  • Blurry text rendering after OCR
  • Inconsistent page numbering
  • Unreliable Dropbox/cloud syncing

Requested features

6 requests
  • Ability to copy/paste annotations
  • Eraser tool improvements
  • Customizable keyboard shortcuts
  • Dark mode option
  • Improved search functionality
Show 1 more
  • Batch processing of annotations

X

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

iAnnotate 4

No in-app purchases

None

X

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is iAnnotate 4 free?
iAnnotate 4 costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is X free?
X is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, iAnnotate 4 or X?
X is rated higher. iAnnotate 4 averages 4.7 out of 5 from 8.9K ratings, while X averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do iAnnotate 4 or X have ads?
Neither iAnnotate 4 nor X shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iAnnotate 4 or X?
iAnnotate 4 ships an update every 2 months, and X monthly. Most recently, iAnnotate 4 was updated on September 26, 2026 and X on July 8, 2026.

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