Comparison

BlackBerry Notes vs Notate for Microsoft 365

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

Head to head
About

BlackBerry Notes

Create, edit, and manage notes with rich text features. Organize and find notes by title, body, or category. Securely synchronize your data with Microsoft Exchange.

Highlights
  • Rich text editing
  • Sort notes by title, date
  • Search notes by title/body
  • Assign categories
  • Share notes via email
  • Synchronize with Microsoft Exchange
  • FIPS-validated cryptography
Features
Read full description

IMPORTANT NOTE: This version of the BlackBerry® Notes application is built for BlackBerry® Dynamics and will not operate without the necessary back-end software. Please contact your IT administrator for a username and password. BlackBerry Notes is an enterprise PIM application that allows you to create, edit, and manage notes that are synchronized with Microsoft® Exchange. Organize your notes: • Create notes with a full set of rich text editing features. • Sort notes by title, last modified, or creation date. • Find a note by title and/or body with the search tool. • Assign categories to your notes for an added level of organization. • Share your notes by sending them as emails (requires BlackBerry® Work). Keep your data secure and up to date: • Protect business data with FIPS-validated cryptography. • Synchronize notes with Microsoft Exchange. © 2016 BlackBerry Limited. Trademarks, including but not limited to BLACKBERRY, BBM, BES and EMBLEM Design are the trademarks or registered trademarks of BlackBerry Limited. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

About

Notate for Microsoft 365

This app is an all-in-one productivity tool designed to manage notes, tasks, contacts, calendar events, and email attachments. It integrates seamlessly with Microsoft 365 accounts, allowing users to edit documents, annotate PDFs, and scan business cards directly within the application.

Highlights
  • Edit Outlook email attachments
  • Fill and sign PDF forms
  • Annotate and collaborate on PDFs
  • Scan business cards to Outlook contacts
  • Scan paper documents to PDF
  • Syncs with Microsoft 365 accounts
  • Handwriting and Apple Pencil support
Features
Read full description

IMPORTANT: NOTATE REQUIRES a Microsoft 365, Hotmail, or Outlook.com email account. It has been specially designed to operate with Microsoft Office 365. Perfect for small & midsize businesses. Stay productive while you work from home! Notate is the ultimate Office 365 Information Manager. Notate syncs notes, tasks, contacts, calendar, and email attachments with your Outlook Office 365 account. Notate is an all-in-one tool for Microsoft Office 365. Edit and store your documents so they are always available on all of your devices. * Notes - Create handwritten notes -- sync with your Microsoft Outlook 365 Account * PDF - Desktop quality PDF editor! Fill out PDF forms, edit PDF, annotate PDF, create PDFs, and sign PDF documents * Files - Edit Microsoft 365 email attachments without leaving Notate. Scan paper documents into PDF files. * Todo - Manage your Microsoft 365 to do list * Calendar - Take notes and to do items in meetings and send meeting minutes * Contacts - Business card scanner converts cards directly into Microsoft 365 Outlook contacts * Email - View and edit email attachments. Document converter converts office documents into PDF All syncing with your Microsoft 365, Hotmail, or Outlook.com account! Business card scanner supports 19 languages for fast, accurate OCR. Document converter transforms office docs to PDF. Full PDF annotation and PDF editor capabilities including Adobe Forms support. Sign PDF documents and return them with ease. STAY FOCUSED, GET WORK DONE. Notate helps you get organized and stay productive. Start by capturing all your important information. With Notate you can quickly create typed or handwritten notes and insert images, audio recordings, web clippings, PDF documents and more. SAVE EVERYTHING. Collect everything that matters knowing that you'll always be able to find it. Enhance your notes with handwriting, drawings, images, documents, PDFs, web clippings, and more. FIND YOUR INFORMATION QUICKLY by organizing your notebooks like folders. Notes and to do items are searchable. Easily search across all notebooks or search for text within notes. The Notate preview mode provides users a quick glance into the note subject matter. —FEATURES— - View and EDIT Outlook email attachments from your Microsoft Office 365 account - Fill out PDF forms - ANNOTATE, collaborate, and comment on PDF documents with peers - SCAN business cards into Office 365 Outlook contacts - Advanced word processor - Embed images, audio, web clippings and documents - SCAN paper documents into PDF files - Annotate and SIGN PDF files - To do management with reminder notifications - Handwriting and Apple Pencil support - Shared workspaces for collaboration - Syncs with Microsoft Outlook, Hotmail, or Microsoft Office 365 - Features like Evernote, OneNote, Notability, provided in a secure enterprise environment Notate includes the following functions. Notes Writer PDF Scanner Scan Documents Business card scanner PDF signer Microsoft Office 365 To Do manager —MEMBERSHIP— Download Notate to try it free for thirty days. Cancel easily right from within Notate. After your free trial, Notate requires a subscription which provides you with regular app updates and syncing of your data. After your trial, you will not be charged unless you purchase a subscription. Subscriptions will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase. Your subscription will automatically renew unless automatic renewal is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. You can manage your subscriptions and automatic renewal status in Account Settings after purchase. Any unused portion of the free trial period will be forfeited when you purchase a subscription. Price may vary by location. Privacy policy: http://notateapp.com/privacy-policy

Screenshots

BlackBerry Notes3 screens
Notate for Microsoft 3654 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Notate for Microsoft 365 at 4.3 against BlackBerry Notes's 1.9. Notate for Microsoft 365 also leads on review sentiment (25% vs 13%) and ratings volume (33 vs 7). BlackBerry Notes's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 9). On price, update cadence, ads 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. Notate for Microsoft 365 sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $3.49 per month. BlackBerry Notes asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Notate for Microsoft 365 holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 1.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 7 and 33 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 13% of BlackBerry Notes's written reviews are positive against 25% of Notate for Microsoft 365's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BlackBerry Notes ships an update every 3 months, Notate for Microsoft 365 every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on August 21, 2026 and July 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
BlackBerry Notes versus Notate for Microsoft 365: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBlackBerry NotesNotate for Microsoft 365
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.9 (7 ratings)4.3 (33 ratings) — better
Positive reviews13.3% of reviews25.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings733 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.014.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size55 MB157 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperBlackBerry CorporationShafer Systems LLC

Customer experience

BlackBerry Notes

All ratings7 ratings
Positive14.3%
Neutral14.3%
Negative71.4%
Written reviews15 reviews
Positive13.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative86.7%

Notate for Microsoft 365

All ratings33 ratings
Positive84.8%
Neutral6.1%
Negative9.1%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive25.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative50.0%

In-app purchases

None

BlackBerry Notes

No in-app purchases

9 purchases

Notate for Microsoft 365

Subscriptions8
  • Monthly Subscription1 Month trial$3.491 Month
  • Monthly subscription(promo)1 Year trial$3.491 Month
  • Monthly Subscription14 Days trial$3.491 Month
Show 5 more
  • Monthly Premium Subscription$3.491 Month
  • Annual subscription1 Month trial$29.991 Year
  • Annual subscription (promo)1 Year trial$29.991 Year
  • Annual Subscription14 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Annual Premium Subscription$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • 14 day premium trialFree

Questions

Is BlackBerry Notes free?
BlackBerry Notes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Notate for Microsoft 365 free?
Notate for Microsoft 365 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, BlackBerry Notes or Notate for Microsoft 365?
Notate for Microsoft 365 is rated higher. BlackBerry Notes averages 1.9 out of 5 from 7 ratings, while Notate for Microsoft 365 averages 4.3 from 33 ratings.
Do BlackBerry Notes or Notate for Microsoft 365 have ads?
Neither BlackBerry Notes nor Notate for Microsoft 365 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, BlackBerry Notes or Notate for Microsoft 365?
BlackBerry Notes ships an update every 3 months, and Notate for Microsoft 365 every 2 months. Most recently, BlackBerry Notes was updated on August 21, 2026 and Notate for Microsoft 365 on July 5, 2026.

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