Comparison

Nature Notes vs Leafnote

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

Head to head
About

Nature Notes

Record and share notes, photos, and audio from your outdoor adventures. Advanced tools allow for photo merging from other cameras and interactive map integration. Organize trips into multiple hikes and share them via email, web pages, or custom files.

Highlights
  • Record notes, photos, and audio
  • Merge photos from other cameras
  • Interactive Apple Maps integration
  • Organize trips into multiple hikes
  • Share via email, web pages, or files
  • GPS tracking and export (KML/GPX)
Read full description

NatureNotes allows you to record and share notes, photos, and audio recordings on any walk, tour, hike, or just a stroll around your neighborhood. If you are a serious photographer, advanced tools allow you to load pictures from another camera into the walk record. There are several options for sharing walks with friends or other NatureNotes users, including email, Web page creation, or sending a NatureNotes file to another user. Easy sharing: Take photos, save notes, and record audio on your Apple iPhone or iPad. The app offers powerful editing features to create a slideshow or Web folder that you can email to your friends or upload to a server. Interactive maps: Apple maps embedded in NatureNotes shows where you are at all times, as well as where you've been on your hike. Satellite view can show you the terrain with a data connection. If you repeat a hike you've taken before, you can use the interactive map to see where you are relative to your last hike. Organization: Divide your trip into multiple hikes, then put them under a single header. Combine the subsumed hikes into a single slideshow, email, or web folder for sharing. Creating multiple databases offers a system for organizing larger groups of walk records. Records can be copied directly to other databases for easy sorting and reorganization. Photo merging: Take photos with another camera and merge them directly into your NatureNotes recordings. A smart system using dates and timestamps places photos into their correct positions within previously-recorded records. Even without a recorded hike, create a new record from a set of location-encoded photographs, and see exactly where you took the photos, using the embedded Apple Maps features. If the photos contain captions from another photo-editing program, the captions will be copied into NatureNotes titles for immediate labelling within NatureNotes. All slideshow features and email or Web sharing features can then be used with the new records. Create a kml file for viewing the track in another tracking application, or a gpx file for loading a track with GPS data into photo editing applications. GPS tracking: NatureNotes provides detailed tracking data for your walks, regardless of whether you are in cellular range or not. Tracks can be exported as KML or GPX files for use in other applications. Duplication and backups: Take a complete set of records and copy them to another device, with a cable and computer, regardless of record sizes. In this way complete records can be shared or backed-up without loss of information or photographic resolution.

About

Leafnote

Features
Read full description

Instantly identify any plant. Build your personal plant collection. Leafnote is a powerful plant identifier that helps you recognize plants in seconds and track your discoveries over time. Point your camera at any plant, flowers, trees, succulents, ferns and get instant identification with detailed species information. HOW IT WORKS Take a photo or upload one from your library. Leafnote instantly identifies the plant and shows: - Common name - Scientific name - Plant family - Identification confidence Save plants to your collection and build your personal plant journal. YOUR PLANT JOURNAL Every plant you scan becomes part of your collection. Each entry includes: - Your original photos - Location where you found it - Links to Wikipedia and iNaturalist - Optional AI-generated plant insights Revisit your discoveries anytime. COLLECTIONS & CHALLENGES Discover more plants with curated collections. Track progress, find new species, and turn exploration into a rewarding experience. TRACK YOUR PROGRESS Grow your Biodiversity Score as you discover new plants. Stay motivated with: - Discovery streaks - Rarity system (Common → Legendary) - Activity tracking FEATURES - Instant plant identification - Camera & photo library support - Personal plant collection tracker - AI-powered plant insights - Biodiversity score & streaks - Clean, nature-inspired design - Completely free Powered by PlantNet, iNaturalist, and Claude. Perfect for hikers, gardeners, students, and nature lovers.

Screenshots

Nature Notes4 screens
Leafnote4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Leafnote at none against Nature Notes's 1. 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. Nature Notes sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Leafnote asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Nature Notes ships an update every 4 weeks, Leafnote every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on October 10, 2026.

Scorecard1 real difference · 8 level
Nature Notes versus Leafnote: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNature NotesLeafnote
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 weeksEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.617.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size172 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKenneth WahlTruman Yardley

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Nature Notes

One-time1
  • English$4.99
None

Leafnote

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Nature Notes free?
Nature Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Leafnote free?
Leafnote is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Nature Notes or Leafnote have ads?
Neither Nature Notes nor Leafnote shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Nature Notes or Leafnote?
Nature Notes ships an update every 4 weeks, and Leafnote every 3 weeks. Most recently, Nature Notes was updated on October 10, 2026 and Leafnote on October 10, 2026.

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