Comparison

Noteflow vs Motes

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

Head to head
About

Noteflow

This app offers a digital notebook experience designed to replace pen and paper. It allows for note-taking, PDF annotation, sketching, and freeform idea capture with vector ink that scales without quality loss. Seamlessly integrate real-world content and organize your thoughts digitally.

Highlights
  • Digital notebook replacement for pen and paper
  • Annotate PDFs and sketch freely
  • Convert real-world images to vector ink
  • Fluid editing without traditional layers
  • Drag-and-drop integration with iOS
  • Cloud storage synchronization
Features
Read full description

Noteflow is designed to replace pen and paper. It is a modern digital notebook that lets you get the most from your iPad and iPhone. Use it for taking notes, annotating PDFs, sketching and doodling, plus a whole lot more: Copy and paste from the real world: Use Inkport gen 2 to snap a picture of a whiteboard or writing and convert it into Noteflow's native vector ink. No special paper needed. Then resize, re-color, or edit as if you wrote it in Noteflow. Create layered drawings without layers: Use the highlighter tool to color and shade behind existing ink. Use Color-Select to separate and edit individual colors. It's a much more fluid and natural editing experience than with layers. Use the straight-line tool with a grid for fast and intuitive wireframes and drafting. Drag-and-drop, cloud-storage, and more: Noteflow natively integrates with iOS's file system and drag-and-drop capabilities. Drop photos and text into Noteflow, and drag your drawings into other apps. Store your files locally or sync with the cloud service of your choice. Make Noteflow a seamless part of your workflow, the way you like. SPACE FOR YOUR IDEAS TO ROAM Our vision for Noteflow is simple: to be digital pen and paper. The magic of pen and paper is in their versatility. They are useful for so many things, but particularly for the freeform capture of ideas. Noteflow expands upon this quality. You can naturally do all the things you normally do with pen and paper: take notes in meetings or class, and jot down flashes of inspirations on the go. And you can take that to a whole new level: One of Noteflow’s best uses is for "thinking on digital paper": quickly capture key ideas and concepts, then move and organize them on the screen. Noteflow's vector ink engine lets you scale and edit your work without any loss of quality. Your words and drawings remain tack sharp when zoomed in, giving you a huge effective working canvas even on a single page. There are analogues in the physical world, such as sketchnotes or everyday working on a white board, but being able to fluidly edit and move your ideas around the page is something you can only do digitally. When you represent the ideas in your head with your own personal scribbles on the screen, it effectively becomes an extension of your mind - giving you more room to think. We've designed every part of Noteflow to let you intuitively capture and work on your ideas the way you like. Whether it's dropping in existing information, quickly sketching concepts, or assembling polished presentations for others. EVALUATE NOTEFLOW RISK FREE Rather than just read about Noteflow, go ahead and try it out: We've decided to make the Basic Edition completely FREE. The Basic Edition is a full featured note-taking and sketching app. It comes with the Fountain Pen with black ink, photos, and a standard set of 5 popular fonts for text. Books max out at 20 pages each, but you can create as many as you like. NOTEFLOW+ Upgrade instantly at any time to get: + Inkport + Import and annotate PDFs + A customizable, full color palette, + The Marker, Write-Behind Highlighter and Straight Line tools. + Rotate, Cut, Copy, Paste Ink, and Page Management, + Notebooks with unlimited pages, + Page backgrounds and sizes, + An additional 50+ fonts, + And more! Learn more in the in-app Quickstart Guide. DIGITAL TOOLS FOR A DIGITAL AGE I hope you'll find Noteflow a useful part of your workflow, and that you'll discover new ways to do things with it that weren't easy before. We're very proud of the work we've put into Noteflow, but we're also just seen the beginning of what's possible with powerful new digital platforms like the iPad. Our goal is to push these platforms to their limits to craft useful tools. Tools that can help us think a little more clearly, communicate a bit more effectively, and connect with other in new and enriching ways. Thanks for joining us on this journey! -- The App Makers @ Qrayon.

About

Motes

A modern digital notebook for quick note-taking with easy styling and organization. Features include to-do lists, OCR text capture, and import/export options. Synchronize your notes across multiple devices using cloud storage.

Highlights
  • Quick note-taking with styles
  • Organize with labels
  • To-do lists and task tracking
  • OCR text capture
  • Import from OneNote/Evernote
  • Export to PDF
  • Cloud synchronization
Features
Read full description

Motes is a modern way of taking notes. Quickly jot down anything and make it look great with easy to use styles. Organize with labels and use highlighter for the important bits. Create to-do lists and keep track of your tasks. Capture text with OCR. Import notes from OneNote and Evernote. Export to PDF. Use your Google Drive, iCloud Drive, Microsoft OneDrive or Dropbox account to synchronize your notebook on multiple devices.

Screenshots

Noteflow4 screens
Motes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Noteflow at 4.2 against Motes's 3.0. Noteflow also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ratings volume (182 vs 1). Motes's advantage is review sentiment (67% vs 47%). 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. Motes sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $0.99 per year. Noteflow asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Noteflow holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Noteflow has 182 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 47% of Noteflow's written reviews are positive against 67% of Motes's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Noteflow ships an update every 6 weeks, Motes monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and August 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Noteflow versus Motes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNoteflowMotes
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (182 ratings) — better3.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews46.7% of reviews66.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings182 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS12.4 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB33 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperQrayon, LLCTomasz Gucio

Customer experience

Noteflow

All ratings182 ratings
Positive78.0%
Neutral7.1%
Negative14.8%
Written reviews30 reviews
Positive46.7%
Neutral10.0%
Negative43.3%

Motes

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral16.7%
Negative16.7%

In-app purchases

None

Noteflow

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Motes

Subscriptions1
  • Full version$0.991 Year

Questions

Is Noteflow free?
Noteflow is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Motes free?
Motes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Noteflow or Motes?
Noteflow is rated higher. Noteflow averages 4.2 out of 5 from 182 ratings, while Motes averages 3.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Noteflow or Motes have ads?
Neither Noteflow nor Motes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Noteflow or Motes?
Noteflow ships an update every 6 weeks, and Motes monthly. Most recently, Noteflow was updated on September 21, 2026 and Motes on August 16, 2026.

Other comparisons