Comparison

Notebooks vs Aı Note Taker

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

Head to head
About

Notebooks

This app helps you write, organize, and manage documents, tasks, and files. It offers flexible writing modes, robust organization tools, and task management features, all while ensuring your data remains accessible and under your control.

Highlights
  • Formatted text, plain text, and Markdown writing
  • Create documents with styles, tables, and attachments
  • Organize with nested hierarchies and 'books'
  • Task management with due dates and checklists
  • Wiki-style linking and backlinks
  • Full-text search
  • Cross-device synchronization
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Own your notes — forever. Notebooks is a writing and organization app with no subscription, no lock-in, and no worries. Your documents are stored as standard files you can always access, export, or move freely. Pay once. Use for life. Use Notebooks as a personal wiki, Zettelkasten, document archive, task manager, or long-term writing space. Capture quick notes, turn them into actionable tasks, combine text fragments into chapters, organize research, or keep business documents separate from personal journals — without ever switching apps. Designed to help you stay focused and work at your own pace, Notebooks grows with your needs and is always ready to support you. WRITE AND CREATE Create beautifully formatted documents with styles, attachments, tables, checklists, and optional tables of contents. Choose from ready-made styles or design your own. Write in different ways: Formatted text (WYSIWYG) Plain text, with smart handling of lists, automatic character pairing, and a focused writing view Markdown, supporting MultiMarkdown and Discount, with syntax highlighting, dedicated keyboard keys, wiki-style links, and interactive checklists Sketch ideas or annotate images and PDFs using Apple Pencil. STORE AND ORGANIZE Notebooks stores all documents as regular files in standard formats. You always remain in control — no lock-in, no export worries, fully compatible across devices and over time. Organize your work in books and nested hierarchies without limits. Import PDFs, emails, web pages, MS Office and iWork documents, images, audio, video, and more. Use full-text search to find even the most deeply nested document. PLAN AND ACT Turn books into project lists and documents into tasks. Assign due dates and alerts, create nested projects, and track progress naturally — right where your work lives. Use simple checklists in formatted documents or Markdown for lightweight task tracking. STAY FOCUSED Link documents together to build knowledge over time. Use wiki-style links, backlinks, contexts, and smart books to keep everything connected and within reach. When you rename or move documents, links stay intact. A PLACE YOU CAN RELY ON Sync your documents between iPhone, iPad, Mac, and PC. Work on documents stored in other apps, compile selections into PDFs or eBooks, scan documents and extract text using OCR, and trust that your data stays accessible — now and in the future. With time, Notebooks often becomes the one place users rely on to keep everything that matters close at hand. WHAT USERS SAY “Notebooks is a wonderful app — sophisticated in an unassuming way. I feel more productive without spending time managing the app itself.” “You are GTD in every way that makes it efficient — and makes me efficient.”

About

Aı Note Taker

Capture private voice notes, transcribe audio to text, and transform content into PDFs, summaries, and study materials. Chat with your notes using an AI assistant and organize everything locally and securely. Requires iPhone 13 or newer, or 2023+ iPad.

Highlights
  • Unlimited voice notes and transcripts
  • AI-powered summaries and quizzes
  • AI assistant for chatting with notes
  • Text and PDF note creation/editing
  • Private and secure local storage
  • PDF reader and annotator
  • Translation of transcripts and notes
Features
Read full description

Voice Notes is the ultimate tool for capturing real-time, private voice notes, transcribing audio, and transforming your content into PDFs, summarized meeting or class notes, learning materials, and more. You can even chat with your voice notes and ask questions about the transcript content! Whether you’re in class, at a meeting, or taking personal notes, Voice Notes empowers you to record, organize, and enhance your voice and text notes with advanced AI, all while keeping your data local and private. Please note that due to the use of advanced local speech-to-text and dictation technologies, the minimum requirement to run this app is an iPhone 13 or later, or an iPad or iPad Pro from 2023 or newer. Key Features: • Unlimited Voice Notes & Transcripts: Record lectures, meetings, or personal notes and receive instant, unlimited transcriptions. • AI-Powered Tool: Easily generate summaries, quizzes, flashcards, additional explanations, and more from your transcripts. Perfect for studying, reviewing class material, or organizing meeting notes and memos. • AI Assistant: Ask questions and chat with your notes, powered by our intelligent AI assistant. • Write Text & PDF Notes: Create and edit text notes, or add notes directly to PDF documents with the built-in text processor and PDF editor. • Private & Secure: Your recordings and notes remain private and secure on your device. This app doesn't send your audio to external servers. • PDF Reader & Editor: Read, annotate, and manage PDF documents seamlessly. • Translate: Translate transcripts and notes into multiple languages and share them as PDF, PNG, or text files. • Share: Send your transcripts and notes as PDF, PNG, or text files. • Organize Your Content: Create unlimited folders and documents to keep your recordings, notes, and PDFs organized. Perfect for students, professionals, and anyone looking to capture and learn from audio notes, Voice Notes helps you unlock the full potential of your recordings with AI. Start recording and transforming your notes today! Important: The minimum requirement to run this app is an iPhone 13 or later, or an iPad or iPad Pro from 2023 or newer. Privacy Policy http://www.noteswriter.com/Kairoos_Privacy_Policy.html EULA https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ This app requires users to have a subscription to unlock all the features after a 3-day risk-free trial.

Screenshots

Notebooks4 screens
Aı Note Taker4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Notebooks at 83% against Aı Note Taker's 0%. Notebooks also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.3) and ratings volume (1.1K vs 11). Aı Note Taker's advantage is price (Free vs $17.99) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 5 weeks). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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

Aı Note Taker is free to download; Notebooks costs $17.99 up front. Notebooks sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and Aı Note Taker sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Notebooks holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notebooks has 1.1K ratings behind it against 11, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 83% of Notebooks's written reviews are positive against 0% of Aı Note Taker's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Notebooks ships an update every 5 weeks, Aı Note Taker fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Notebooks versus Aı Note Taker: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotebooksAı Note Taker
Price$17.99Free — better
Rating4.7 (1.1K ratings) — better4.3 (11 ratings)
Positive reviews82.6% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings1.1K — better11
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#90 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.616.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size47 MB863 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlfons SchmidKairoos Solutions SL

Customer experience

Notebooks

All ratings1,056 ratings
Positive94.1%
Neutral2.6%
Negative3.3%
Written reviews207 reviews
Positive82.6%
Neutral5.8%
Negative11.6%

Aı Note Taker

All ratings11 ratings
Positive81.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative18.2%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Bugs and requests

Notebooks

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Data loss after iOS upgrades
  • Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions

Requested features

4 requests
  • Improved Markdown support
  • More font and color customization options
  • Better Apple Watch integration
  • Export to Word format

Aı Note Taker

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Notebooks

One-time4
  • Small Tip$0.99
  • Custom Storage Locations$2.99
  • Medium Tip$2.99
Show 1 more
  • Generous Tip$4.99
1 purchases

Aı Note Taker

Subscriptions1
  • Voice Notes Unlock All and AI3 Days trial$2.991 Month

Questions

Is Notebooks free?
Notebooks costs $17.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Aı Note Taker free?
Aı Note Taker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Notebooks or Aı Note Taker?
Notebooks is rated higher. Notebooks averages 4.7 out of 5 from 1.1K ratings, while Aı Note Taker averages 4.3 from 11 ratings.
Do Notebooks or Aı Note Taker have ads?
Neither Notebooks nor Aı Note Taker shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Notebooks or Aı Note Taker?
Notebooks ships an update every 5 weeks, and Aı Note Taker fortnightly. Most recently, Notebooks was updated on September 23, 2026 and Aı Note Taker on September 15, 2026.

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