Notes Writer vs Papyrus
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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/
Papyrus
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Is your current note app slow? Meet a truly lightweight note app. - It's free — with no stingy limit on the number of notes. - Trimmed of every bit of bloat, yet complete with the features you actually need. - Open as many notes as you like with no slowdown, and PDFs load blazingly fast. - Import and edit notes from another popular note app. - Import by the folder — the hierarchy is preserved. [GoodNotes Import] Import .goodnotes files. Strokes, images, shapes, and masks are reproduced almost perfectly. [Handwriting] A custom vector drawing engine delivers extremely lightweight, high-precision ink. Five tools are built in: Pen, Highlighter, Eraser, Lasso, and Mask. Anything selected with the Lasso can be copied, moved, deleted, or duplicated. Mask is a study aid — cover what you want to memorize with the pen, then tap to peek underneath. Straight-line snapping and shape recognition (rectangles, circles, lines, and more) are also supported. [PDF Import & Annotation] Import a PDF and write directly on its pages. Switch between four page layouts: continuous scroll, single page, horizontal, and two-page spread. [File Organization] Organize your notes with a Finder-like file browser, creating folders freely. Switch between list and grid views, and move files and folders by drag and drop. A Trash lets you restore notes you deleted by mistake. [Tabs & Split View (iPad)] Open multiple notes at once in tabs. On iPad, split the screen to view and edit two notes side by side (Split View). [Page Sidebar] Swipe in from the left edge to reveal page thumbnails. Press and hold a thumbnail to reorder pages, and select multiple pages to delete, copy, and paste. [Images] Paste images from Photos, Files, or the clipboard. [Export] Export notes and PDFs as a "PDF for submission/printing," a "fast annotation PDF" (PDF annotations only), or a "Papyrus Archive" (.papyrus). [Apple Pencil] - iPad: draw with Apple Pencil only; pan and zoom with your finger. - iPhone: draw with your finger while the compact ink palette is open; otherwise pan and zoom. - With Apple Pencil Pro, use the squeeze gesture to bring up the hover palette. About Papyrus Sync (Subscription) iCloud sync and sharing are available through the "Papyrus Sync" subscription (monthly or yearly, auto-renewing). All core features — note-taking, PDF annotation, and more — are completely free. - Payment will be charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. - The subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. - Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. - You can manage your subscription or turn off auto-renewal in your Apple Account settings after purchase. - Prices are shown in the app and may vary by region. Terms of Use (EULA): https://coremedica.jp/pages/legal/terms-of-use Privacy Policy: https://coremedica.jp/pages/legal/privacy-policy
Screenshots
Verdict
Notes Writer and Papyrus are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Notes Writer sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days and Papyrus sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Notes Writer ships an update every 5 days, Papyrus every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Notes Writer | Papyrus |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (7.3K ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 45.1% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 7.3K — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 658 MB | 11 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Kairoos Solutions SL | waraku kobayashi |
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
Papyrus
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Notes Writer
- 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
- Full Version Unlock Pro$3.99
- Full Version Unlock Pro$4.99
- Full Version Unlock Pro2 variants$5.99
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- Full Version Unlock Pro$6.99
- Lifetime Pro Full Unlock$14.99
Papyrus
- Papyrus Sync Monthly$0.991 Month
- Papyrus Sync Yearly$9.991 Year









