# Notepad vs Plain Note

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.

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.

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.

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.

## The numbers

| Metric | Notepad | Plain Note |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.3 (64 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/notepad-an-organised-notes/id1099400916/reviews) | **[4.6 (1.1K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/plain-note-notes-widget/id1478542921/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 64 | **1.1K** |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews | **62.3% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | **Every 9 days** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 64 MB | 31 MB |
| Requires iOS | **16.6** | 26.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, Mac** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Parth Pandya](https://appshunter.io/developer/1063945331) | [Monelyze Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1086641918) |

## What reviewers say

### Notepad

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/notepad-an-organised-notes/id1099400916)

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:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (5)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 Month License For Notes App | $1.49 | per month |
| 1 Year License For Notes App | $11.99 | per year |
| Ad Free Notes | $1.99 | one-time |
| 1 Month License | $1.99 | one-time |
| 1 Year License | $9.99 | one-time |


### Plain Note

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/plain-note-notes-widget/id1478542921)

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:** Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Premium - Monthly | $2.99 | per month |
| Premium - Yearly | $19.99 | per year |
| Premium - Lifetime | $29.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Simple and clean design
- 💡 One-time payment model
- 🚀 Beautifully designed notes app
- 🚀 Intuitive and easy to use
- 👍 Customizable tags and icons

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Notes sometimes don't save properly
- 🐛 Slow and unreliable synchronization
- ❌ No text formatting options (bold, italics, etc.)
- ❌ No ability to insert photos or videos
- ❌ No option to export notes

**Reported bugs**

- Notes sometimes get deleted after updates
- Widget not working as expected, showing wrong note

**Requested features**

- 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


## Frequently asked 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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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*