Comparison

Note Board vs CardBeat

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

Head to head
About

Note Board

Capture quick thoughts and reminders by drawing sticky notes on a virtual cork board or by taking instant photos. Customize your notes with various colors and pen styles for a personalized experience.

Highlights
  • Virtual cork board
  • Sticky note creation
  • Instant photo memos
  • Multiple note colors
  • Various pen styles
  • Eraser tool
Features
Read full description

Note Board is a quick and fun way to handle your notes. Draw sticky notes on a virtual cork board or take an instant photo as a memo. There are multiple colors for the notes and different kind of pens and the eraser.

About

CardBeat

This app provides a digital cork board for writers to plot novels, screenplays, or short stories. It allows users to break down stories into acts, sequences, and scenes, and rearrange them freely. Users can customize cards with colors, lines, or grids, and choose from various drawing tools or keyboard input.

Highlights
  • Digital cork board for story plotting
  • Structure stories into acts, sequences, and scenes
  • Rearrange plot elements freely
  • Customizable cards with colors and backgrounds
  • Multiple drawing tools and keyboard input
  • Export boards as PDF
  • iCloud syncing
Read full description

A digital corkboard for plotting your novel, screenplay or short story. CardBeat keeps all the fun things about index cards – and gets rid of all the rest. Break your story into acts, sequences and scenes. Put each beat on a card, pin it to the board and shuffle until the structure works – without wasting ink or paper. WRITE YOUR WAY - Handwrite with Apple Pencil or just your finger – pens, pencils, markers and brushes in any color. - Prefer typing? Every card takes keyboard input, too. - Choose blank, lined, dotted or grid cards in different colors to track characters, subplots or timelines. SEE THE WHOLE STORY - Place cards anywhere on the board – no rows, columns or table cells. Turn on snap-to-grid when you want things tidy. - Zoom out for the big picture, zoom in to work on a single scene. - Working in a writers' room? Connect a TV, monitor or projector and show a clean view of the board while you plot. SHARE AND SYNC - Your boards stay in sync across iPhone and iPad with iCloud – or turn sync off with a single switch. - Export a board as a PDF for feedback, or as a CardBeat file your co-writer can import and keep working on. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No accounts, no ads, no third-party analytics. CardBeat doesn't collect any data. FREE TO START Plot up to two boards for free. Unlock unlimited boards with a one-time purchase – no subscription.

Screenshots

Note Board4 screens
CardBeat4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Note Board at 100% against CardBeat's 46%. Note Board also leads on rating (3.8 vs 3.5) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). CardBeat's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (33 vs 6). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Note Board sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and CardBeat sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Note Board holds the better App Store score, 3.8 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: CardBeat has 33 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Note Board's written reviews are positive against 46% of CardBeat's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Note Board versus CardBeat: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNote BoardCardBeat
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.8 (6 ratings) — better3.5 (33 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better45.8% of reviews
Number of ratings633 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size16 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDigital Footmark OyStefan Stuckmann

Customer experience

Note Board

All ratings6 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral16.7%
Negative16.7%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

CardBeat

All ratings33 ratings
Positive60.6%
Neutral12.1%
Negative27.3%
Written reviews24 reviews
Positive45.8%
Neutral29.2%
Negative25.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Note Board

One-time1
  • Remove ads$1.99
1 purchases

CardBeat

One-time1
  • Unlimited Story Boards$19.99

Questions

Is Note Board free?
Note Board is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is CardBeat free?
CardBeat is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Note Board or CardBeat?
Note Board is rated higher. Note Board averages 3.8 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while CardBeat averages 3.5 from 33 ratings.
Do Note Board or CardBeat have ads?
Note Board shows ads; CardBeat does not.
Which is updated more often, Note Board or CardBeat?
Note Board ships an update every 2 months, and CardBeat every 2 months. Most recently, Note Board was updated on October 24, 2026 and CardBeat on October 25, 2026.

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