Notes vs Simple Notepad
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Notes
Capture your thoughts, ideas, and important information with a versatile note-taking app. Attach various file types, scan documents, create checklists, and even sketch directly within your notes. Organize with folders, tags, and smart searches, and collaborate with others on shared notes.
- Add attachments (PDFs, images, links)
- Scan paper documents
- Create checklists
- Sketch with finger or stylus
- Search text in notes and handwriting
- Collaborate on shared notes
- Quick Note feature
Read full descriptionHide full description
Notes is the best place to jot down quick thoughts or to save longer notes filled with checklists, images, web links, scanned documents, handwritten notes, or sketches. And with iCloud, it's easy to keep all your devices in sync, so you’ll always have your notes with you. Features Powerful note-taking • Add attachments - PDFs, photos, maps, web links, and more. • Record and transcribe audio directly into a note. • Scan paper documents with the built-in document scanner. • Secure sensitive or personal data in a locked note. • Create checklists. Make a grocery list, a wish list, or a to-do list, then tap to check off items as you go. • Apply different text styles, such as heading or body, bulleted lists, highlighting, and more. • Tap next to section headers to reveal a chevron to collapse text. • Add tables to quickly organize information. • Use your finger, or Apple Pencil on a compatible iPad, to sketch right in your note or an inline PDF. Choose from a variety of brush styles and colors, and add lines and grids to a note for easier writing and drawing. • Take a Quick Note without opening the app - add Quick Note to your Control Center, swipe up from the bottom right corner with an Apple Pencil on iPad, or use Fn-Q on a keyboard. Organize and search • Search for text in notes, your handwriting, and even inside scanned documents and photos like receipts or bills. • Link from one note to another to connect ideas, content, or any information. Try typing >> for a shortcut to add links while writing in your note. • Keep your notes in folders and subfolders, or add tags to categorize them. Type or handwrite tags directly in your note - like #cooking or #expenses. • Automatically organize notes in a Smart Folder based on filters. Create rules to filter for Date Created, Checklists, Attachments, and more. Collaborate • Collaborate on entire shared folders or on specific shared notes. • Mention friends to notify them of important updates and link them directly to a shared note. • See what others added into a shared note while you were away with Activity view, a day-to-day list summary of activity from each collaborator. Notes for Apple Watch • View all of your iCloud notes right from your wrist; you can also pin notes, complete checklist items, or create new notes with dictation or Siri. Certain features are available only in select languages and regions.
Simple Notepad
This app offers a unique note-taking experience with a three-tab system for memos, remarks, and history. Attach photos to your notes and secure them with a password. Organize your thoughts with folder division for efficient management.
- Three-tab note structure (Memo, Remarks, History)
- Attach images to notes
- Password security lock
- Folder division for organization
- Revision history tracking
- Additional remarks field
Read full descriptionHide full description
"BestNote" is a memo pad application aimed at the highest. As a characteristic feature of "BestNote", the memo creation page is divided into three tabs. It is "memo" "remarks" "history". "Memo" tab is the same function as normal memo pad. "Remarks" "History" is a feature of this application's commitment. In the "Remarks" tab, there is another character input field in addition to the memo, so you can use it in various ways, such as writing a simple draft when writing a note or using it as a remarks column. In addition, it is also possible to attach images on the "Remarks" tab, and it is possible to use it beyond the frame of Notepad depending on the ingenuity. Although it is the "history" tab, contents written in the "memo" tab are accumulated in the history as the name does. (It will be written to the history when you press save button on memo page) With this function, it is possible to recover promptly even in unforeseen circumstances such as mistakenly editing important information accidentally. In addition to the security lock password function. Various functions such as folder division function to make memo easier to manage are carried. Please try downloading it once by all means. ・Terms of Use https://eeggs.jp/terms-of-use-en
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Notes at none against Simple Notepad's 1. Notes also leads on ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (641K vs 2.8K). Simple Notepad's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 9 months) and review sentiment (68% vs 51%). On price 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
Both are free to download. Simple Notepad sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $3.99 per month. Notes asks for nothing beyond the download.
Notes holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notes has 641K ratings behind it against 2.8K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 51% of Notes's written reviews are positive against 68% of Simple Notepad's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Notes ships an update every 9 months, Simple Notepad every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Notes | Simple Notepad |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (641K ratings) — better | 4.6 (2.8K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 51.2% of reviews | 68.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 641K — better | 2.8K |
| Update frequency | Every 9 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 32 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Apple | EasterEggs |
Customer experience
Notes
Simple Notepad
User reviews
Notes
From 641K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 📝 Versatile note-taking app
- 🔒 Secure with password/biometric lock
- 🌐 Seamless sync across devices
- 🚀 Quick and responsive
- 📂 Organized with folders and tags
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and glitches
- 🔍 Difficulty finding/retrieving notes
- 🔋 High battery drain when using Apple Pencil
- 📝 Limited formatting options (font, color, etc.)
- 🔒 Password reset issues with locked notes
Simple Notepad
From 2.8K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Simple and easy to use
- 🎨 Customizable colors and themes
- 🗂️ Folder organization
- 🔒 Secure with password protection
- 📝 Good for note-taking and journaling
Room to improve
- 🙄 Intrusive ads
- 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
- 📱 Not optimized for iPad
- 🖋️ No handwriting support
- 💾 No backup/sync options
Bugs and requests
Notes
Reported bugs
5 issues- Notes randomly disappearing or not syncing
- Cursor jumping around when editing text
- Typing lag and performance issues
- Inconsistent behavior when adding images
- Formatting problems when pasting content
Requested features
6 requests- Add undo/redo functionality
- Improve table formatting and calculations
- Allow custom folder colors and icons
- Implement a page view for longer notes
- Integrate with Reminders app for to-do lists
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Provide more drawing/annotation tools
Simple Notepad
Reported bugs
4 issues- App crashes on launch
- Notes disappearing after updates
- Vertical orientation not working
- Unable to recover lost notes
Requested features
5 requests- Option to remove ads
- Ability to sync notes across devices
- More font and formatting options
- Print functionality
- Improved iPad support
In-app purchases
Notes
No in-app purchases
Simple Notepad
- Premium Plan$3.991 Month







