Comparison

Note Always vs StretchPaper

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

Head to head
About

Note Always

A dedicated notebook app optimized for Apple Pencil, offering a smooth writing experience and intuitive editing tools. Effortlessly organize thoughts, draft ideas, and modify content without switching tools.

Highlights
  • Outstanding writing feel
  • Circle, grab, and move content
  • Intuitive modification (erase, undo)
  • Diagram creation
  • Photo editing
  • Drag and drop to other apps
Read full description

“Write smoothly. Correct intuitively.” Note Always is a dedicated notebook app for Apple Pencil. - Outstanding feel The fastest response. Realistic, smooth renderings of blurring and blotching. Because this app is just for the Apple Pencil, we were able to achieve this outstanding feel. - Circle, grab and move All it takes is enclosing the part you wish to move in a circle and move the hand icon. Color, width, and the size are also adjustable. - Smooth modification Erase with your finger, undo by tapping with two fingers, and “circle and move”. Without switching tools, perform “erase, undo, and modify” intuitively. Draft your thoughts. Sort out and elaborate drafts. In order to support the repeated process of think, write, and re-write, the product is made to pursue the pleasant ease of write and stress-free modification. Perfect for sorting ideas, drafting presentation or manuscript, self-brainstorming. For research, travel journaling, and schedule management. Main Features Stickies Intuitive stickies “writing with a pen and move with your finger” Free sorting is the most suitable for sorting out ideas and thoughts. Diagrammatization Straight line, square and circle can be modified beautifully without losing the handwritten style. Tip of the pen can be pushed in strongly, too. Edit photos Clipping and applying a retrospective filter, Shading gridlines. Casually making it look slightly stylish. Drag & drop Enclose and push with your finger to drop into another app as is! Easy linkage even with a part of a page in a notebook. Other features include zooming, Split View, rearranging pages, exporting to PDF, and saving on the iCloud. Note Always was created specifically for the Apple Pencil. You can use the app without one, but your writing will be much less smooth and responsive. We ask for your understanding.

About

StretchPaper

Unleash your creativity on an expansive, virtually endless digital canvas. This app allows for detailed note-taking, intricate diagramming, and artistic expression without space constraints. Export your work in various formats, customize your tools, and enjoy a seamless drawing experience.

Highlights
  • Infinite canvas
  • Note-taking
  • Diagramming
  • Artistic drawing
  • Export as images/PDFs
  • Vector manipulation
  • Custom pen definitions
Features
Read full description

Take notes and draw on an infinite* canvas! Stretchpaper is a new way to take notes, make diagrams, and show your artistic talent. With an infinite canvas, you'll never run out of room. Stretchpaper is both fun and useful! Export your drawings as images or mega-pdfs, manipulate vectors, define your own pens, and more. Works great on the iPad, but works best with the Apple Pencil and iPad Pro! * not actually infinite, but close enough!

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: StretchPaper at $2.99 against Note Always's $14.99. Note Always's advantage is review sentiment (68% vs 50%). On rating, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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

Note Always costs $14.99 and StretchPaper $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.9 for Note Always against 3.8 for StretchPaper. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 27 and 64 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 68% of Note Always's written reviews are positive against 50% of StretchPaper's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Note Always ships an update every 2 weeks, StretchPaper every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Note Always versus StretchPaper: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNote AlwaysStretchPaper
Price$14.99$2.99 — better
Rating3.9 (27 ratings) — better3.8 (64 ratings)
Positive reviews68.4% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings2764 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPadiPad
Requires iOS11.011.0
Further details — not scored
Size36 MB12 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlways Sunny Ltd.Infinite State Machine Inc.

Customer experience

Note Always

All ratings26 ratings
Positive73.1%
Neutral3.8%
Negative23.1%
Written reviews38 reviews
Positive68.4%
Neutral10.5%
Negative21.1%

StretchPaper

All ratings64 ratings
Positive67.2%
Neutral7.8%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews72 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral15.3%
Negative34.7%

Bugs and requests

Note Always

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

StretchPaper

Reported bugs

24 issues
  • Crashes and lost all work
  • App crashes when trying to share/export
  • Paste function not working
  • Undo doesn't go back far enough
  • Delete then undo bug
Show 19 more
  • Palm rejection issues
  • Finger drawing interferes with pen
  • Content disappears
  • Strokes disappearing
  • Grid is hard to see
  • App crashes without saving
  • Force closes when sharing to PDF
  • Glitchy export
  • App shuts down and glitches appear
  • Marks moving after undo/redo or app reopen
  • Notes shift slightly after reopening
  • Cannot load bigger workspaces
  • Takes forever to load smaller workspaces
  • Developer not responding to support requests
  • Export/share brings up nsurl error
  • Lines jump on screen
  • Color selection buggy
  • Cannot inactivate finger writing
  • Canvas size limit

Requested features

22 requests
  • Add 2-finger tap to undo
  • Add 3-finger tap to redo
  • Disable finger drawing/touch input
  • Add ruler/scale feature
  • Add shape detection
Show 17 more
  • Add text layer/typed text
  • Add import vector image
  • Add folder system
  • Add cloud backup (iCloud/Dropbox)
  • Add copy/paste functionality for images/elements
  • Add layers
  • Add color palette
  • Add ability to rename files
  • Add straight edge tool
  • Add zoom lock feature
  • Add quick undo gesture
  • Add sync to iCloud
  • Add ability to resize canvas to initial state
  • Add Spline tools
  • Add standard type tool
  • Add export to other formats
  • Add more zoom levels

In-app purchases

None

Note Always

No in-app purchases

None

StretchPaper

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Note Always free?
Note Always costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is StretchPaper free?
StretchPaper costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Note Always or StretchPaper?
Note Always is rated higher. Note Always averages 3.9 out of 5 from 27 ratings, while StretchPaper averages 3.8 from 64 ratings.
Do Note Always or StretchPaper have ads?
Neither Note Always nor StretchPaper shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Note Always or StretchPaper?
Note Always ships an update every 2 weeks, and StretchPaper every 3 weeks. Most recently, Note Always was updated on October 7, 2026 and StretchPaper on October 9, 2026.

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