Comparison

Notepad vs Plain Note

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

Head to head
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

About

Plain Note

This app allows you to create and organize notes with customizable tags and icons. It offers lock screen and home screen widgets for quick access and supports character/line counting. Personalize your experience with themes, app icons, and fonts.

Highlights
  • Organize notes with tags
  • Customizable tag icons and colors
  • Character and line counting
  • Lock screen and home screen widgets
  • Customizable themes, app icons, and fonts
  • Archive and organize notes
Features
Read full description

"Plain Note" is a simple notes app. You can organize your notes by adding tags, and it supports lock screen and home screen widgets. It can be used on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Features • You can categorize your notes with tags. • Customize tag icons and colors. • You can count the number of characters and lines. • Archive and organize your notes. • Widgets can be added to the lock screen and home screen. • Customize themes, App icons, and fonts. (Some features are available for a fee.) Premium (in-app purchase) • Sync data with iPhone, iPad, and Mac via iCloud. This can also be used as a backup. • All themes and App icons are available. • All tag icons are available. • All font customizations are available. *Prices may vary by country or region. Please check in the app. *Some features may not be available in all languages or regions. Terms of Use: https://monelyze.app/en/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://monelyze.app/en/privacy

Screenshots

Notepad4 screens
Plain Note4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Plain Note at none against Notepad's shown. Plain Note also leads on update cadence (every 9 days vs every 3 months) and review sentiment (62% vs 33%). Notepad's advantage is iOS requirement (16.6 vs 26.0). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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 and Plain Note sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Plain Note holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Plain Note has 1.1K ratings behind it against 64, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 33% of Notepad's written reviews are positive against 62% of Plain Note's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Notepad ships an update every 3 months, Plain Note every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Notepad versus Plain Note: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotepadPlain Note
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (64 ratings)4.6 (1.1K ratings) — better
Positive reviews33.3% of reviews62.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings641.1K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 9 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS16.6 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size64 MB31 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperParth PandyaMonelyze Inc.

Customer experience

Notepad

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

Plain Note

All ratings1,079 ratings
Positive90.5%
Neutral3.6%
Negative5.9%
Written reviews106 reviews
Positive62.3%
Neutral13.2%
Negative24.5%

Bugs and requests

Notepad

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Plain Note

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Notes sometimes get deleted after updates
  • Widget not working as expected, showing wrong note

Requested features

7 requests
  • Ability to swipe widget to display another note
  • Subfolders for better organization
  • Export function to backup notes
  • Option to change app colors
  • Support for multiple notes in one widget
Show 2 more
  • Text formatting options (bold, italics, headings)
  • Ability to insert photos and videos

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
3 purchases

Plain Note

Subscriptions2
  • Premium - Monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Premium - Yearly7 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Premium - Lifetime$29.99

Questions

Is Notepad free?
Notepad is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Plain Note free?
Plain Note is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Notepad or Plain Note?
Plain Note is rated higher. Notepad averages 4.3 out of 5 from 64 ratings, while Plain Note averages 4.6 from 1.1K ratings.
Do Notepad or Plain Note have ads?
Notepad shows ads; Plain Note does not.
Which is updated more often, Notepad or Plain Note?
Notepad ships an update every 3 months, and Plain Note every 9 days. Most recently, Notepad was updated on October 2, 2026 and Plain Note on October 14, 2026.

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