Comparison

ThinkSpace vs BigPaper

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

Head to head
About

ThinkSpace

This app is a powerful thinking tool that supports creative workflows with an intuitive interface and various thinking methods. It offers features like handwritten notes, unlimited canvases, idea generation frameworks, and real-time collaboration to aid brainstorming and idea structuring.

Highlights
  • Handwritten sticky notes
  • Unlimited canvas sizes
  • Idea generation frameworks
  • Real-time sharing
  • Mind mapping
  • Diagram creation
  • AI brainstorming
Features
Read full description

Too much on your mind, and no idea where to start? AI chats, posts you saw, books you read, things people told you. There is more to think about every day. ThinkSpace is a thinking notebook: put your thoughts on cards, then arrange and connect them as you think. As you move cards around and put ideas into your own words, your understanding deepens. ■ How it works Start with a single card: whatever is on your mind. 1. Collect: AI chats, web pages, photos, passing thoughts, via the Inbox or by pasting. 2. Write it down: turn them, and what is in your head, into handwritten or text cards. 3. Arrange and see the big picture: move, group, and connect cards. Step back, and unexpected connections, next questions, and next actions appear. 4. Explain: say what your cards or map mean, out loud, in your own words. Read the transcript back to check what you really understand. ■ Great for - Clearing your head when AI chats pile up - Making sense of books and videos, and turning them into questions and actions - Connecting ideas from research papers and textbooks so you can explain them in your own words - Creating nursing concept maps and connecting conditions, symptoms, and care - Bringing a story's world, characters, timeline, and ideas into one structure - Journaling: writing out tangled feelings and worries - Designing your career in the AI era, a social media strategy, or a product - Connecting visions and goals to concrete actions and reviews - Working through problems at work: causes, solutions, validation, results ■ Start from a purpose-built map No need to stare at a blank canvas wondering where to begin. - Concept map - Problem-solving map - Pathophysiology map - Career map for the AI era - Worldbuilding map - Social media strategy map - Habit-building map - Product design map - Vision map and more — start from a foundation that fits your topic. ■ Turn AI chats into a growing map Ask AI about a card and add the answers to your map. Break answers into ideas, connect them, and make sense of them in your own words; looking over the map sparks new questions to dig into. Your AI inputs are never used for training. ■ Key features - Infinite canvas: place cards anywhere, half-formed thoughts included. - Handwriting and text: Apple Pencil supported. Jot down ideas on cards and move them around with your finger. - Mind maps, flowcharts, groups, and connections: radial thinking, steps, cause and effect. - Send from AI chats: send a conversation from Claude or the share sheet to the ThinkSpace Inbox, then drag it in as a card. - Explain out loud: describe a card or map in your own words; it is transcribed and saved. You notice where your understanding is thin, and can read it back later. - Ask AI: ask about a card and add the answer as a new card. - Extract key-point cards from long notes and web pages. - AI brainstorming: branch a topic card into angles and questions. - Paste into cards: copied text, photos, or URLs become cards. - Add web pages, images, and screenshots to your canvas. - Search and reuse cards across maps. - Link canvases: big themes and subtopics in layers. - Export to image, PDF, and text. - Local-first: saved on your device, works offline. - Sync across devices (Pro): iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Turn scattered information and AI answers into understanding you can explain and act on. ■ Pro access - Unlimited canvases - Unlimited cards and groups - Expanded AI usage limit - Full feature access ——— Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. The renewal fee is charged to your iTunes account within 24 hours before the period ends. You can turn off auto-renewal anytime in your App Store account settings. ——— Terms of Service: https://thinkspace-public.s3.ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/terms-en.html Privacy Policy: https://thinkspace-public.s3.ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/privacy-policy-en-v2.html

About

BigPaper

This app offers an infinite canvas for note-taking, PDF annotation, and mind mapping. Import various document formats and add text, handwriting, tables, and more. Efficiently organize and edit content without page limitations.

Highlights
  • Infinite canvas for freeform note-taking
  • Import and annotate PDFs and other documents
  • Mind mapping with element connections
  • Handwriting and drawing tools with Smart Shapes
  • Table creation and linking
  • Multi-format document import and export
  • Screenshot mode for quick content capture
Features
Read full description

BigPaper is a borderless note taking application. You can import and expand PDFs and other formats in BigPaper and freely take notes in an infinite canvas without being limited by the edges of the document. You can use BigPaper on both iPhone and iPad for efficient editing with iCloud data sync. Whether it's annotating PDFs, making handbooks, or creating mind maps, BigPaper is ready to go. BigPaper's features include multi-format document import, text input, handwriting, mind mapping, tables, scanned documents, free edge screenshots, containers, folder management, search for handwriting and text, etc. We welcome every rating, and we will read every piece of feedback and take notes to incorporate it in future updates. Your 5-star review will encourage us to continue to upgrade BigPaper and introduce new features. —— Introduction of functions —— 「Infinite canvas, freeform add elements」 Canvas can be zoomed and moved for editing. Add documents in multiple formats such as PDF, as well as multiple types of elements such as tables, text, drawings, handwriting, pictures, stickers, paper, scanned documents, and more. These elements can be scaled and rotated. 「Mind Mapping - Easily connect ideas」 Innovative mind mapping mode. Connect elements on the page (text, pictures, tables, etc.) to quickly generate mind maps from inspiration. Also support the step-by-step enlargement of the idea by expanding the mind map. 「Type anywhere」 Customize the font, size and color of the text. To-do list, bullets can be added to the text. 「Brush Tool - Handwritten and Drawings」 Customize brush presets including color, transparency, tip size. Full-screen drawing, freely annotated documents that are not limited by the edges of the document. Smart Shapes: Hold a stylus or fingertip after drawing a graphic on the screen, intelligently recognize and generate the perfect shape. 「Create Table」 Easy create forms. Add row, add column, move row, move column. Tables can be linked to mind maps. 「Import and Export」 Imported document formats: PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Pages, Keynote, Numbers, etc. Expand all pages of the document to easily read and highlight all the content. Select text in the document to copy. Export PDF, export image, and BigPaper format. WYSIWYG, everything can be displayed in the exported document. 「Reading Mode」 Customize the "scrolling direction" to realize the classic reading mode. 「Screenshot Mode - Quickly capture key points」 In screenshot mode, you can continuously select areas to take screenshots, these screenshots will be added to the canvas immediately, and can continue to be edited and added to the mind map. 「Stickers, Paper Templates」 The themes of stickers include weather, three-dimensional geometry, music, etc., saving creation time and improving note-taking efficiency. Use stickers and paper stencils in combination to create beautiful manuscripts. 「Multiple Selection Tool - Efficient Editing」 You can freely select an area on the canvas using the multi-selection tool. The selected content as a whole can be resized, rotated, moved, deleted, and exported.Draw borders to take screenshots freely. 「Manage files with folders」 You can create folders to manage files. Easy personalization includes folder editing, file moving, sticking to the top, and more. 「iCloud Sync」 Continue to create notes on different devices and capture inspiration anytime, anywhere. 「Scan」 Scan documents, OCR text recognition(Available in English, Chinese, French, Italian, German, Portuguese and Spanish.) 「Search and Jump Locations」 Search for handwriting, text, text in documents. Also: OCR text recognition results of scanned documents and recognition of text in pictures. Contact us and send feedback: bp_10happy@hotmail.com

Screenshots

ThinkSpace4 screens
BigPaper3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: BigPaper at every 5 days against ThinkSpace's every 6 weeks. ThinkSpace's advantage is review sentiment (54% vs 27%) and rating (4.3 vs 4.0). On price, ads, 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. ThinkSpace sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and BigPaper 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

ThinkSpace holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ThinkSpace has 276 ratings behind it against 20, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 54% of ThinkSpace's written reviews are positive against 27% of BigPaper's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ThinkSpace ships an update every 6 weeks, BigPaper every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
ThinkSpace versus BigPaper: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThinkSpaceBigPaper
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (276 ratings) — better4.0 (20 ratings)
Positive reviews53.6% of reviews — better26.7% of reviews
Number of ratings276 — better20
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.6 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size261 MB253 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperNaoya Enokida10happy Technology Development(Dalian) Co.,Ltd.

Customer experience

ThinkSpace

All ratings276 ratings
Positive82.2%
Neutral5.8%
Negative12.0%
Written reviews220 reviews
Positive53.6%
Neutral9.5%
Negative36.8%

BigPaper

All ratings17 ratings
Positive64.7%
Neutral29.4%
Negative5.9%
Written reviews15 reviews
Positive26.7%
Neutral46.7%
Negative26.7%

Bugs and requests

ThinkSpace

Reported bugs

20 issues
  • App crashes on launch or during use
  • Data disappears after upgrading to paid version
  • Canvas fails to load with many items
  • Text boxes become uneditable
  • Grouped items move unexpectedly when resizing
Show 15 more
  • Eraser tool causes crashes
  • Login freezes and network connection errors
  • Registration and account creation failures
  • Undo function doesn't work properly
  • Cards stick or behave erratically
  • Zoom tool tab not displaying
  • Export function unresponsive on Mac
  • Text wrapping and alignment issues
  • Sticky notes change size unexpectedly
  • Items disappear from canvas
  • Forced quit required to close app
  • Laggy performance with Apple Pencil writing
  • Sync failures between iPad and Mac
  • Auto-organize feature snaps items incorrectly
  • White background export issues

Requested features

19 requests
  • One-time purchase option instead of subscription
  • Dark mode theme
  • Better palm rejection for Apple Pencil
  • Folder/project organization system
  • Ability to delete canvases easily
Show 14 more
  • Improved text editing within cards
  • Better arrow/connector customization
  • Undo with multi-finger gestures (like Procreate)
  • Export to vector formats (SVG)
  • Zoom controls for Mac version
  • Better grouping and ungrouping functionality
  • Collaborative editing features
  • iCloud sync option
  • Highlighter tool
  • Custom colors and pen sizes
  • Canvas renaming functionality
  • Better keyboard shortcuts for Mac
  • Chromebook support
  • Auto-layout option for mind maps

BigPaper

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

ThinkSpace

Subscriptions2
  • ThinkSpace Pro Access$2.991 Month
  • ThinkSpace Pro Access$29.991 Year
1 purchases

BigPaper

One-time1
  • BigPaper - Full Version Unlock$8.99

Questions

Is ThinkSpace free?
ThinkSpace is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is BigPaper free?
BigPaper is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, ThinkSpace or BigPaper?
ThinkSpace is rated higher. ThinkSpace averages 4.3 out of 5 from 276 ratings, while BigPaper averages 4.0 from 20 ratings.
Do ThinkSpace or BigPaper have ads?
Neither ThinkSpace nor BigPaper shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ThinkSpace or BigPaper?
ThinkSpace ships an update every 6 weeks, and BigPaper every 5 days. Most recently, ThinkSpace was updated on November 2, 2026 and BigPaper on October 24, 2026.

Other comparisons