# Simple Notes vs Notehot

The clearest difference is price: Simple Notes at Free against Notehot's $0.99. Simple Notes also leads on review sentiment (87% vs 63%) and rating (4.7 vs 4.5). Notehot's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 11 days vs every 3 months). On in-app purchases, monetization model, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Simple Notes is free to download; Notehot costs $0.99 up front. Simple Notes sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Notehot sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Simple Notes holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 791 and 175 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 87% of Simple Notes's written reviews are positive against 63% of Notehot's.

Simple Notes ships an update every 3 months, Notehot every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Simple Notes | Notehot |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | **Free** | $0.99 |
| Rating | **[4.7 (791 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/simple-notes-notepad-manager/id1457937396/reviews)** | [4.5 (175 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/notehot-notes-and-voice-text/id1491473755/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **791** | 175 |
| Positive reviews | **87.2% of reviews** | 62.7% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | **Every 11 days** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 216 MB | 134 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | **14.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Komorebi Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/481596469) | [Play Era](https://appshunter.io/developer/1491473754) |

## What reviewers say

### Simple Notes

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/simple-notes-notepad-manager/id1457937396)

This app offers a clean and efficient way to organize your thoughts and ideas. Easily add images, organize notes into colored folders, and secure your entries with a passcode. Customize the look with various themes and fonts, and back up your data to iCloud.

**Highlights:** Add photos to notes, Organize with colored folders, Calendar view for notes, Passcode and biometric lock, Customizable themes and fonts, iCloud backup and sync, Smart search with tags

**Features:** Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Premium (Monthly) | $4.99 | per month |
| Premium (Annual) | $14.99 | per year |
| Premium Service | $39.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Simple and easy to use
- 📁 Folder organization and color-coding
- 🔒 Password protection
- 💡 Useful for school and work notes
- 🚀 Fast and responsive

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🔒 Lack of iCloud sync
- 📐 Limited formatting options (no bold, italics, etc.)
- 🎨 Default folder color cannot be changed
- 🔍 No alphabetical sorting for folders

**Reported bugs**

- No local PC backup and restore feature
- UI looks outdated and childish

**Requested features**

- Add ability to pin notes at the top of a folder
- Implement iCloud sync between devices
- Introduce more text formatting options (bold, italics, underline, etc.)
- Allow changing folder colors


### Notehot

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/notehot-notes-and-voice-text/id1491473755)

This app offers a versatile note-taking experience, combining text, handwriting, audio, and photos. It features speech-to-text conversion, OCR for image text extraction, and iCloud synchronization across devices. Organize notes with hierarchical folders and set timed reminders for important tasks.

**Highlights:** Multi-form recording (text, hand-drawn, audio, photo), Speech to text conversion, OCR text extraction from images, Hierarchical folder management, Timed reminders, iCloud synchronization, Export to PDF, PNG, JPEG

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (6)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| VIP Subscription | $1.99 | per 7 days |
| VIP Subscription | $2.99 | per month |
| VIP Subscription | $5.99 | per 3 months |
| VIP Subscription | $9.99 | per year |
| VIP Subscription | $17.99 | per year |
| VIP Subscription | $14.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Very convenient for note-taking
- 👍 Smooth and clean interface
- 👍 User-friendly and convenient
- 👍 Good for recording things
- 👍 AI text generation is great

**What reviewers complain about**

- 😞 Misleading pricing, asks for subscription after download
- 😞 In-app purchases required for voice-to-text
- 😞 Limited language choices
- 😞 Requires money immediately after installation
- 😞 App is not free

**Reported bugs**

- App freezes and crashes
- Lost entire notes after app freezes
- Files are stretched or narrowed after import
- Imported files take up the entire screen
- Search function rarely finds existing text

**Requested features**

- Add Dark Mode
- Add smart shapes for diagraming
- Add a paper guide (college or wide)
- Add a 'pen' tool similar to pencil and marker
- Ability to add images


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Simple Notes free?

Simple Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Notehot free?

Notehot costs $0.99, and also offers in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Simple Notes or Notehot?

Simple Notes is rated higher. Simple Notes averages 4.7 out of 5 from 791 ratings, while Notehot averages 4.5 from 175 ratings.

### Do Simple Notes or Notehot have ads?

Simple Notes shows ads; Notehot does not.

### Which is updated more often, Simple Notes or Notehot?

Simple Notes ships an update every 3 months, and Notehot every 11 days. Most recently, Simple Notes was updated on October 11, 2026 and Notehot on October 9, 2026.

---

*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*