Comparison

Note Board vs Card Buddy

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

Card Buddy

This app provides a digital corkboard for organizing ideas with index cards. Effortlessly arrange cards, add images, and utilize different text styles to outline stories, plot novels, or manage research. Its intuitive interface makes idea management feel natural and flexible.

Highlights
  • Drag-and-drop index cards on a free-form canvas
  • Two-sided cards with front summary and back details
  • Add images to cards for storyboards
  • Multiple text styles including Markdown
  • Kanban layout for column organization
  • Syncs across Mac and iPhone
Features
Read full description

Card Buddy turns your screen into an infinite corkboard for index cards. Drag cards anywhere on the canvas and watch neighboring cards glide out of the way — outlining your story should feel as natural as moving notecards on a desk. Perfect for screenwriters, novelists, and anyone who thinks in cards. Lay out your beat sheet, rearrange plot points, and build your story one card at a time. Features: - Drag-and-drop index cards on a free-form canvas, with neighbors that move out of the way automatically - Two-sided cards — type a summary on the front, details on the back - Add images to any card for storyboards and moodboards - Three text styles: Plain, Auto-style (instant headers and subtitles), and Markdown - Kanban layout to organize cards into columns - Built for Mac and iPhone — your boards go where you do Whether you're breaking a screenplay, plotting a novel, or organizing research, Card Buddy keeps your ideas movable. Terms of use: https://www.ussherpress.com/cardbuddy/terms/ Privacy policy: https://www.ussherpress.com/cardbuddy/privacy/

Screenshots

Note Board4 screens
Card Buddy4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Card Buddy at none against Note Board's shown. Card Buddy also leads on rating (4.3 vs 3.8) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). Note Board's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 84%). On price, update cadence and in-app purchases 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 Card Buddy 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

Card Buddy holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Card Buddy has 44 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 100% of Note Board's written reviews are positive against 84% of Card Buddy's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Note Board versus Card Buddy: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNote BoardCard Buddy
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.8 (6 ratings)4.3 (44 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better83.9% of reviews
Number of ratings644 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS17.015.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size16 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDigital Footmark OyAllen Ussher

Customer experience

Note Board

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

Card Buddy

All ratings44 ratings
Positive81.8%
Neutral6.8%
Negative11.4%
Written reviews56 reviews
Positive83.9%
Neutral3.6%
Negative12.5%

Bugs and requests

Note Board

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Card Buddy

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Trial mode does not allow saving
  • Images not displaying adequately
  • Double-tap zoom out feature interrupts text selection

Requested features

19 requests
  • Tagging individual cards
  • Apple Pencil support
  • More keyboard shortcuts
  • Support for multiple canvases within a single document
  • More customized options for text formatting, fonts, and colors
Show 14 more
  • Auto update to cloud option
  • Form of auto version number on save
  • Dropping small video clips
  • Templates
  • Fit to window view
  • Grab function for moving the board
  • Linking notes
  • Basic formatting (Bold, Italics, underline, highlight, color)
  • Share outline with others for editing
  • iPhone version
  • Duplicating boards
  • Duplicating cards
  • Disabling double-tap zoom out feature or making it customizable
  • Adding back previous document type options (Storyboard, Kanban, etc.)

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Note Board

One-time1
  • Remove ads$1.99
1 purchases

Card Buddy

One-time1
  • Non-expiring License$19.99

Questions

Is Note Board free?
Note Board is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Card Buddy free?
Card Buddy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Note Board or Card Buddy?
Card Buddy is rated higher. Note Board averages 3.8 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while Card Buddy averages 4.3 from 44 ratings.
Do Note Board or Card Buddy have ads?
Note Board shows ads; Card Buddy does not.
Which is updated more often, Note Board or Card Buddy?
Note Board ships an update every 2 months, and Card Buddy every 2 months. Most recently, Note Board was updated on November 2, 2026 and Card Buddy on November 7, 2026.

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