Comparison

Notes Writer vs NoteBuddy

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

Head to head
About

Notes Writer

This app is a comprehensive note-taking and PDF editing solution for mobile devices. It allows users to write, format, and organize notes, annotate PDFs, fill forms, and scan documents. The app offers advanced editing tools, powerful search, and seamless sharing and export options.

Highlights
  • Write and format notes
  • Annotate PDFs and fill forms
  • Organize with unlimited notebooks
  • Powerful full-text search
  • Document scanning
  • Sync with cloud services
  • Export to multiple formats
Features
Read full description

Notes Writer brings handwriting, PDF annotation, rich text, Math Notebooks, voice recordings and AI writing tools into one workspace for iPad and iPhone. Capture a lecture, mark up a paper, plan a project or turn a rough draft into something ready to share. WRITE AND MAKE IT YOURS Create beautifully formatted notes with headings, lists, colors and highlights. Work with Word documents, RTF, Markdown and plain text. Open documents in tabs and move between your ideas and reference material without losing your place. WRITE ON PDFs WITH APPLE PENCIL Take handwritten notes, sketch in the margins and highlight what matters. Choose from pens, pencils, markers, fountain pens and watercolor tools. Use the eraser, lasso and ruler to refine your work. Add text, shapes, images, signatures and audio to PDF notes. Fill forms, organize pages and keep your reading and annotations together. Measure distances and areas on scaled drawings, and apply text redactions in supported PDFs. GIVE YOUR WRITING AN AI ASSIST Rewrite a passage, simplify difficult language, fix spelling and grammar, or adjust the tone. Summarize, translate and explore ideas with AI tools and chat. Keep control of what goes into your notes and documents. CAPTURE VOICE, FIND THE WORDS Record lectures, meetings and ideas while they are fresh. Play recordings back at your pace and generate transcripts to revisit the details. Add recordings to your PDF notes and whiteboards for more context. THINK BEYOND THE PAGE Build visual whiteboards with notes, images and recordings. Capture quick thoughts on sticky notes. Structure ideas in Outline Notes with nested branches, rich text and images. Collapse sections, rearrange your thinking, and import or export outlines in OPML format. WORK THROUGH THE NUMBERS Combine explanations and calculations in Math Notebooks. Explore formulas with the built-in calculation tools and run Python cells when you need more. Create charts, write LaTeX documents and preview the finished PDF alongside your source. ORGANIZE YOUR STUDY AND RESEARCH Bring your notes, readings and research together in Study Projects. Organize subjects, lectures and sources in the Binder, plan ideas on the Corkboard and keep reference material beside your notes. Study Projects give everything a place as your understanding grows. TAKE BIG WRITING PROJECTS FURTHER Organize writing projects into sections in the Binder, plan with a Corkboard and review your writing as a manuscript. Keep research beside your draft, save snapshots and compile your work into a finished document or ebook. ORGANIZE, SCAN AND SHARE Keep notes and documents in folders with recognizable covers. Scan paper documents, import files and find what you need with search. Export supported documents to formats including PDF, DOCX, RTF, HTML and EPUB. Use the Files app and supported cloud locations to bring your work with you. LOOK AFTER YOUR WORK Autosave, document recovery and automatic backups help protect your progress. Use app and folder passcodes for an extra layer of privacy. Continue opening your existing Notes Writer PDF notes and outlines as you move to the new workspace. From your first handwritten idea to your final document, make room for the way you think. Privacy Policy http://www.noteswriter.com/Kairoos_Privacy_Policy.html Terms of Use https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

NoteBuddy

This note-taking application offers a comprehensive suite of tools for organizing thoughts and ideas. It supports rich text formatting, image insertion, and freehand drawing. Features like folder organization and iCloud synchronization ensure your notes are accessible and secure.

Highlights
  • Rich text editing
  • Add images and drawings
  • Folder and subfolder support
  • iCloud synchronization
  • Backup feature
  • Apple Pencil support
Features
Read full description

Note taking app with all important features you need: - rich text editing (bold, italic, underline, text alignments, text color, etc.) - add images - add drawings and hand written notes - support for folders and subfolders - iCloud synchronization - backup feature Including Support for: - Dynamic Type - Split Screen - Apple Pencil

Screenshots

Notes Writer4 screens
NoteBuddy3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Notes Writer at 4.5 against NoteBuddy's 3.3. Notes Writer also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (7.3K vs 16). NoteBuddy's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 26.0). 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. Notes Writer sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and NoteBuddy 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

Notes Writer holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notes Writer has 7.3K ratings behind it against 16, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 45% of Notes Writer's written reviews are positive against 22% of NoteBuddy's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Notes Writer ships an update weekly, NoteBuddy every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and August 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Notes Writer versus NoteBuddy: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotes WriterNoteBuddy
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (7.3K ratings) — better3.3 (16 ratings)
Positive reviews45.2% of reviews — better22.2% of reviews
Number of ratings7.3K — better16
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size626 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKairoos Solutions SLOleg Mueller

Customer experience

Notes Writer

All ratings7,328 ratings
Positive86.9%
Neutral5.1%
Negative8.1%
Written reviews952 reviews
Positive45.2%
Neutral15.2%
Negative39.6%

NoteBuddy

All ratings16 ratings
Positive56.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative43.8%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive22.2%
Neutral0.0%
Negative77.8%

Bugs and requests

Notes Writer

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Notes randomly disappearing or getting corrupted
  • Inability to recover deleted documents
  • Unexpected behavior when adding/deleting pages
  • Syncing issues and broken links between documents

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add more brushes and pen customization options
  • Improve the clipping/selection tool
  • Implement OCR and handwriting search
  • Provide a Mac version

NoteBuddy

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Notes Writer

Subscriptions2
  • Notes Writer Unlock All and AI3 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Notes Writer Unlock All and AI3 Days trial$14.991 Year
One-time5
  • Full Version Unlock Pro$3.99
  • Full Version Unlock Pro$4.99
  • Full Version Unlock Pro2 variants$5.99
Show 2 more
  • Full Version Unlock Pro$6.99
  • Lifetime Pro Full Unlock$9.99
1 purchases

NoteBuddy

One-time1
  • NoteBuddy Pro$2.99

Questions

Is Notes Writer free?
Notes Writer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is NoteBuddy free?
NoteBuddy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Notes Writer or NoteBuddy?
Notes Writer is rated higher. Notes Writer averages 4.5 out of 5 from 7.3K ratings, while NoteBuddy averages 3.3 from 16 ratings.
Do Notes Writer or NoteBuddy have ads?
Neither Notes Writer nor NoteBuddy shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Notes Writer or NoteBuddy?
Notes Writer ships an update weekly, and NoteBuddy every 3 months. Most recently, Notes Writer was updated on September 27, 2026 and NoteBuddy on August 17, 2026.

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