Comparison

Notes Writer vs UPDF

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

UPDF

This app is a powerful PDF editor for mobile devices, offering AI-powered features for summarizing, translating, and chatting with documents. It allows users to read, edit, annotate, convert, and sign PDFs, as well as scan paper documents into editable files. Manage all your PDF files and protect them with security features.

Highlights
  • AI-powered summarization and translation
  • Edit text, images, and watermarks in PDFs
  • Annotate with various markup tools
  • Convert PDFs to Word, Excel, and PPT
  • Scan documents to editable PDFs
  • Sign and fill PDF forms
  • Organize and protect PDF files
Features
Read full description

UPDF for iOS is an AI-powered PDF editor for iPhone and iPad. Read, edit, annotate, convert, sign, and AI chat with your PDFs — all from your iOS device. Summarize lengthy documents, translate full PDFs, scan paper to PDF, and manage all your files in one place. Amazing features of UPDF for iOS: Edit PDF - Edit text in PDF (change color, font style, font size) - Edit images in PDF (rotate, extract, replace, and crop images) - Edit watermark in PDF (add, edit, delete and favor watermark) - Edit links in PDF (add, edit, copy, and delete) AI Assistant - Summarize, translate, explain, and rephrase lengthy PDFs in minutes. - Engage in a chat with UPDF AI and ask it any questions you have. - Summarize or translate PDF by pages. - Export conversations to Markdown or TXT files. - NEW AI Bookmark Agent: Auto-generate bookmarks and get instant section summaries for any PDF. - NEW AI Semantic Search: Search your PDF by meaning, not just exact words. - NEW AI Editing Suite: Rewrite, refine tone, or correct grammar directly. Read PDF - Flexible reading: vertical and horizontal scrolling, single page or two-page view - Dark mode to protect your eyes - Add and manage bookmarks with AI Bookmark Agent's help - Search text in PDF - Present PDF as a slideshow - Text-to-speech support Annotate PDF - Annotate PDFs using markup tools: pencil, highlight, underline, strikethrough, squiggly line - Add text boxes, text comments, callouts, sticky notes - Add shapes, stamps, and stickers to PDFs - Free-hand drawing on PDF pages OCR PDF - Convert scanned documents and images into searchable and editable PDFs - Recognize text in 38 languages Scan to PDF - Scan physical documents to PDF with your camera - Scan ID cards onto one page - Crop, rotate, and filter scanned images Convert PDF - Convert PDF to Word, Excel, PPT, and images Organize PDF Pages - Insert, replace, extract, split, rotate, remove, and reorder pages in PDFs - Merge multiple PDFs into one file - Copy, paste, and share specific pages in a PDF Sign PDF & Fill PDF Form - Create handwritten signatures - Import and add image signatures - Fill PDF form and add e-signatures - Save signatures to cloud for cross-platform use Create PDF - Create PDF with blank, lined, dotted, grid, and graph papers - Combine multiple files/images into one PDF Protect PDF - Password-protect PDFs to restrict opening, editing, and printing - Add or remove watermarks - Add digital signatures Manage Files - Upload, create, rename, move, copy, duplicate, and organize files or folders - Unzip files by simply tapping .zip files - Search for files - Supports two-finger multiple selections and operations - Move files or folders to trash, and find deleted items in the trash - Protect PDF files with a password or unlock protected PDF files - Compress one or multiple files into a zip file Security Space - Protect your privacy by moving files or folders to Security Space - Enable Face ID & Passcode to access your Security Space Import File - Import files from Photos albums - Import files from the Files App - Transfer files from a computer over the same Wi-Fi View files in All Formats - Browse dozens of different file formats including PDFs, Office documents (.doc, .docx, .ppt, .pptx, .xls, .xlsx), Pages, Keynotes, and Numbers with a single app - Open other formats such as text, HTML, XML, Web Archive, Images (JPG, JPEG, GIF, PNG, TIFF, SVG, BMP), video, audio *** Pro Features of In-App Purchase *** - Use UPDF across all platforms including desktops and mobiles - Free Users will get 1 GB of Cloud Storage; Paid users will get 10 GB of Cloud Storage for free - Advanced PDF features such as Convert PDF with OCR, batch process, etc. are available on the desktop - Unlimited use of Scan to PDF (Free trial only scans up to 5 pages) - Unlimited use of Security Space (Trial version stores up to 10 items) - Secure App with passcode/TouchID/FaceID Need help? Email us at support@superace.com

Screenshots

Notes Writer4 screens
UPDF4 screens

Verdict

The call

Notes Writer and UPDF both sit at 4.5 stars, but that hides the real split: 84% of UPDF's written reviews are positive against 45% of Notes Writer's. UPDF also leads on iOS requirement (14.0 vs 26.0). Notes Writer's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs fortnightly) and ratings volume (7.3K vs 697). On price, rating, ads 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. Notes Writer sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days and UPDF sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. 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 UPDF. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notes Writer has 7.3K ratings behind it against 697, 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 84% of UPDF's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Notes Writer ships an update every 4 days, UPDF fortnightly. Both last shipped on October 27, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Notes Writer versus UPDF: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotes WriterUPDF
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (7.3K ratings)4.6 (697 ratings) — better
Positive reviews45.0% of reviews84.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings7.3K — better697
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.014.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size659 MB195 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKairoos Solutions SLSuperace Software Technology Co., Ltd.

Customer experience

Notes Writer

All ratings7,331 ratings
Positive86.8%
Neutral5.1%
Negative8.1%
Written reviews957 reviews
Positive45.0%
Neutral15.2%
Negative39.8%

UPDF

All ratings678 ratings
Positive90.6%
Neutral1.9%
Negative7.5%
Written reviews937 reviews
Positive84.3%
Neutral5.3%
Negative10.4%

User reviews

Notes Writer

From 7.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Smooth writing experience
  • 💡 Versatile note-taking features
  • 🔒 Good privacy
  • 👍 Useful for various purposes (notes, PDF annotations, etc.)

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and freezes
  • 🔒 Limiting free version with paywalls
  • 🐛 Bugs with erasing, page management, and file corruption
  • 🐛 Laggy performance and slow loading times

UPDF

From 697 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent PDF editor
  • 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
  • 🔒 Secure file management
  • 💡 Powerful features like AI-powered summarization
  • 🚀 Fast and responsive performance

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes or stability issues
  • 💡 Need for more customization options
  • 💡 Lack of integration with third-party cloud storage
  • 🐛 Issues with handwriting recognition and annotation

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

UPDF

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Inability to edit text directly in PDF files
  • Inconsistent behavior when switching between devices
  • Occasional loss of editing progress when app is minimized

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add password protection for PDF files
  • Improve file organization and folder management
  • Implement keyboard shortcuts for power users
  • Expand OCR capabilities and text extraction
  • Allow custom signature and stamp imports

In-app purchases

8 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-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$14.99
13 purchases

UPDF

Subscriptions10
  • Monthly Subscription$9.991 Month
  • UPDF AI Unlimited$15.001 Month
  • UPDF AI Standard$15.001 Month
Show 7 more
  • UPDF Pro + AI Unlimited$18.991 Month
  • Quarterly Subscription$19.003 Months
  • Annual Subscription$49.991 Year
  • UPDF AI Standard$69.001 Year
  • UPDF AI Unlimited$79.001 Year
  • UPDF Pro + AI Standard$98.991 Year
  • UPDF Pro + AI Unlimited$118.991 Year
One-time3
  • Perpetual License$79.99
  • Perpetual License$128.99
  • UPDF & AI Add-on for iOS$148.99

Questions

Is Notes Writer free?
Notes Writer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is UPDF free?
UPDF is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Notes Writer or UPDF?
UPDF is rated higher. Notes Writer averages 4.5 out of 5 from 7.3K ratings, while UPDF averages 4.6 from 697 ratings.
Do Notes Writer or UPDF have ads?
Neither Notes Writer nor UPDF shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Notes Writer or UPDF?
Notes Writer ships an update every 4 days, and UPDF fortnightly. Most recently, Notes Writer was updated on October 27, 2026 and UPDF on October 27, 2026.

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