Notes vs Plain Note
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
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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.
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.
- 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
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"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
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Notes at none against Plain Note's 3. Notes also leads on ratings volume (641K vs 1.1K) and rating (4.8 vs 4.6). Plain Note's advantage is update cadence (every 10 days vs every 9 months) and review sentiment (62% vs 51%). On price 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
Both are free to download. Plain Note sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 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 1.1K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 51% of Notes's written reviews are positive against 62% of Plain Note'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, Plain Note every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Notes | Plain Note |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (641K ratings) — better | 4.6 (1.1K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 51.2% of reviews | 62.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 641K — better | 1.1K |
| Update frequency | Every 9 months | Every 10 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| 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, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 31 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Apple | Monelyze Inc. |
Customer experience
Notes
Plain Note
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
Plain Note
From 1.1K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Simple and clean design
- 💡 One-time payment model
- 🚀 Beautifully designed notes app
- 🚀 Intuitive and easy to use
- 👍 Customizable tags and icons
Room to improve
- 🐛 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
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
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- Provide more drawing/annotation tools
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
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- Text formatting options (bold, italics, headings)
- Ability to insert photos and videos
In-app purchases
Notes
No in-app purchases
Plain Note
- Premium - Monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
- Premium - Yearly7 Days trial$19.991 Year
- Premium - Lifetime$29.99






