Comparison

Notes Writer vs Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures

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 combines handwriting, PDFs, voice recordings, and AI for note-taking, document annotation, and idea organization. It offers a paper-like writing experience with various tools and supports students, professionals, and writers with specialized features.

Highlights
  • Handwriting with Apple Pencil
  • PDF annotation and form filling
  • Voice recording and transcription
  • AI-powered writing assistance
  • Flashcard creation and spaced repetition
  • Quiz generation from notes
  • Document import and export
Features
Read full description

Notes Writer brings handwriting, PDFs, voice, documents and AI together on iPad and iPhone. Take notes in class, mark up a contract, record a meeting or plan a thesis, and keep it all in one place that is easy to search and share. HANDWRITING THAT FEELS LIKE PAPER • Write with Apple Pencil using pens, pencils, markers, fountain pens and watercolor brushes, and refine with the lasso, ruler and shapes. • Mix handwriting, typed text, images, stickers and audio on one page. • Choose blank, ruled, Cornell, planner, music or graph paper. • Search your handwriting, check its spelling, or convert it to text, math or LaTeX. • Tap your ink to hear what was said as you wrote it. FOR STUDENTS • Record lectures while you write, then search the transcript. • Hide key facts under Tape, reveal them one by one and turn them into flashcards. • Study flashcards with spaced repetition, reminders and a Home Screen widget. • Make a quiz from your notes, a topic or pasted text, and score yourself. • Circle a problem with Magic Lasso and ask AI to explain, solve or check it. • Find free open textbooks and keep each subject together in a Study Project. FOR PROFESSIONALS • Meeting Notes records and transcribes the meeting, enhances your notes and writes a summary with action items. • Mark up PDFs, fill forms, sign, measure plans and redact text. • Scan paper documents and recognize their text. • Present on an external display or with AirPlay, using a laser pointer. • Brainstorm on whiteboards with sticky notes, images and recordings. • Open Word, RTF, Markdown and plain text, and export to PDF, DOCX, RTF, HTML or EPUB. FOR WRITERS AND RESEARCHERS • Draft in rich text and keep your sources open in tabs. • Organize long projects in the Binder, plan on the Corkboard, save snapshots and compile a manuscript or ebook. • Write LaTeX papers with a live PDF preview. • Combine explanations, graphs, charts and Python cells in Math Notebooks. • Structure ideas as outlines and exchange them in OPML. AI THAT WORKS WITH YOUR NOTES • Rewrite, simplify, translate, or fix spelling and grammar. • Ask questions and get answers from your own notes, PDFs and transcripts. • Summarize a reading, a recording or a meeting. You decide what goes into your notes. YOUR NOTES, YOUR WAY • Import notes from other note-taking apps. • Sketch with graphite and charcoal, or paint with watercolor, oils and acrylics. • Share an iPad with separate profiles, each with its own notes and an optional passcode. • Keep folders with covers, and work with files in iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive and the Files app. • Autosave, recovery, backups and passcodes protect your work. Privacy Policy http://www.noteswriter.com/Kairoos_Privacy_Policy.html Terms of Use https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures

This app automatically records lectures, meetings, and conversations, transforming them into transcripts, summaries, and action items. It also allows users to chat with their recordings and use an AI writing assistant to improve their notes. Upload documents for AI-powered summaries and export notes for easy sharing.

Highlights
  • Automatic lecture and meeting recording
  • AI-generated transcripts and summaries
  • Action item and key takeaway extraction
  • Chat with your recordings for quick answers
  • AI writing assistant for note improvement
  • PDF and document summarization
  • Export and share notes
Features
Read full description

Never Take Notes Again. Greatnotes5 automatically records your lectures, discussions and meetings, turning conversations into word-for-word transcripts, concise summaries, key points, and action items in seconds. Who Is Greatnotes5 For? • Students recording lectures and creating study notes • Professionals taking meeting notes automatically • Teams tracking decisions and action items • Journalists recording interviews • Researchers capturing discussions and insights • Anyone who wants AI-powered notes and transcription What Does Greatnotes5 Do? Record meetings and instantly generate: • Meeting transcripts • AI summaries • Meeting minutes • Action items • Follow-ups • Key takeaways • Searchable notes Perfect for team meetings, client calls, interviews, and workshops. Lecture Notes & Study Assistant: Turn lectures and classes into organized study materials. • Lecture transcripts • AI-generated study notes • Lecture summaries • Key concepts • Important highlights • Exam preparation materials Focus on learning while Greatnotes5 handles note taking. Speech To Text Transcription: Convert audio into accurate text. • Meeting transcription • Lecture transcription • Interview transcription • Voice memo transcription • Conversation transcription Every transcript includes timestamps for easy review. Supports 50+ languages. Chat With Your Recordings: Ask questions about meetings, lectures, and recordings. • What decisions were made? • What are my action items? • Summarize this meeting. • What questions were asked? • What are the lecture highlights? • What deadlines were mentioned? Find answers in seconds without searching through recordings. AI Writing Assistant: Improve and organize notes with AI. • Summarize notes • Rewrite professionally • Improve grammar • Translate notes • Generate titles • Create highlights • Continue writing • Change tone • Paraphrase content PDF & Document Support Upload PDFs and documents to: • Generate summaries • Extract key information • Review content faster • Organize research materials Share Anywhere Export notes as PDF and share with coworkers, classmates, teachers, clients, and teams. Frequently Asked Questions What is the best AI note taking app for iPhone? Greatnotes5 records meetings, lectures, interviews, and conversations, then automatically creates transcripts, AI summaries, meeting notes, lecture notes, action items, and searchable notes. Can this app record meetings and create notes automatically? Yes. Greatnotes5 records meetings, converts speech to text, generates meeting minutes, creates summaries, and extracts action items automatically. Can Greatnotes5 transcribe audio into text? Yes. Greatnotes5 converts speech into accurate, time-stamped transcripts for meetings, lectures, interviews, classes, and voice recordings. Can students use Greatnotes5 for studying? Yes. Record lectures, generate study notes, review key concepts, and prepare for exams with AI-powered note taking. Can I chat with my notes? Yes. Ask questions about recordings and instantly find decisions, action items, summaries, and important details. Does Greatnotes5 create AI summaries? Yes. Greatnotes5 generates AI summaries, meeting minutes, lecture notes, highlights, key takeaways, and action items from recordings and documents. How does Greatnotes5 work? Greatnotes5 is an AI note taking app that records meetings, lectures, interviews, voice memos, and conversations, then automatically creates transcripts, AI summaries, meeting notes, action items, key takeaways, and searchable notes. Turn every meeting, lecture, and conversation into organized, searchable knowledge with Greatnotes5. Privacy Policy: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_wdVmWyFuw-bcjgMOr1xqLdBZs47o3anwCtNAM9XUBo/edit?usp=sharing Terms of Usage: https://docs.google.com/document/d/14FDMmPF4e01WpDefHlvt_WyrZwotTlCAlnjeBYPYtPw/edit?tab=t.0 Subscription Terms: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eTLrmLEFdZoJEw6EAV6CH15amxOVuYteuLpKFUmB1I4/edit?tab=t.0

Screenshots

Notes Writer4 screens
Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures4 screens

Verdict

The call

Notes Writer and Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures both sit at 4.5 stars, but that hides the real split: 66% of Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures's written reviews are positive against 45% of Notes Writer's. Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures also leads on iOS requirement (18 vs 26.0). Notes Writer's advantage is ratings volume (7.3K vs 1.4K). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days and Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Notes Writer against 4.6 for Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notes Writer has 7.3K ratings behind it against 1.4K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 45% of Notes Writer's written reviews are positive against 66% of Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Notes Writer ships an update every 4 days, Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 12, 2026 and November 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Notes Writer versus Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotes WriterGreatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (7.3K ratings)4.6 (1.4K ratings) — better
Positive reviews44.7% of reviews66.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings7.3K — better1.4K
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 5 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.018 — better
Further details — not scored
Size688 MB75 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKairoos Solutions SLKanza Ahmad

Customer experience

Notes Writer

All ratings7,339 ratings
Positive86.7%
Neutral5.1%
Negative8.2%
Written reviews968 reviews
Positive44.7%
Neutral15.1%
Negative40.2%

Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures

All ratings1,419 ratings
Positive88.4%
Neutral3.8%
Negative7.8%
Written reviews56 reviews
Positive66.1%
Neutral5.4%
Negative28.6%

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

Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Notes Writer

Subscriptions3
  • Weekly$1.997 Days
  • Notes Writer Unlock All and AI3 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Notes Writer Unlock All and AI3 Days trial$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Pro Full Unlock$14.99
9 purchases

Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures

Subscriptions7
  • GreatNotes Weekly Premium$2.997 Days
  • GreatNotes 40% Off7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Monthly3 Days trial$7.991 Month
Show 4 more
  • Monthly1 Month trial$9.991 Month
  • Yearly7 Days trial$34.991 Year
  • GreatNotes Yearly Offer7 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • GreatNotes Yearly Premium$59.991 Year
One-time2
  • Lifetime$44.99
  • Lifetime$239.99

Questions

Is Notes Writer free?
Notes Writer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures free?
Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Notes Writer or Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures?
Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures is rated higher. Notes Writer averages 4.5 out of 5 from 7.3K ratings, while Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures averages 4.6 from 1.4K ratings.
Do Notes Writer or Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures have ads?
Neither Notes Writer nor Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Notes Writer or Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures?
Notes Writer ships an update every 4 days, and Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures every 5 days. Most recently, Notes Writer was updated on November 12, 2026 and Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures on November 11, 2026.

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