Comparison

Notehot vs BoardNotes

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

Head to head
About

Notehot

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
Read full description

Notehot is a simple and practical paperless note-taking application, which integrates text, hand-painting, audio, and photography. .   Product main function: Multi-form recording - supports text, hand-drawn, audio, and photo recording methods to meet your needs for scene creation Custom style - custom adjustment of detailed parameters such as text, pictures, hand-painted, etc. to make your notes colorful Free typography - support text wrapping, free movement, page style as you want Conference recording - recording of long-term conferences, with voice key mark, listen wherever you want Speech Recognition - Real-time conversion of speech to text, organize meeting minutes with less effort Hierarchical management - supports multi-layer folder classification and organization to meet daily induction requirements Timed reminders - set reminders for important notes, just for you ocr text extraction - picture to text, only between the fingers Export and share - support to export notes to pdf, png, jpeg and other formats, share your ideas with others Recover Notes - Supports recovery of note content deleted within 30 days Private Notes - Private note space, add a lock to your important documents iCloud synchronization - multi-device iCloud synchronization, allowing you to access notes anytime, anywhere If you like Notehot or have any other comments, please take a moment to write your review, or send an email to our email playeratech@gmail.com, this will help us to continuously improve the product and provide you with a better experience!  About subscription: Prices may vary in different regions. Fees will be charged to the credit card associated with your iTunes account, and the paid account will automatically renew when it expires. To cancel a renewal, you can do so 24 hours before the end of the current billing period. Once a paid account is activated, it cannot be cancelled. Renewals may be managed in Account Settings after purchase. About Terms: Privacy Policy: https://notehot.com/privacypolicy.html Terms of Service: https://notehot.com/termsofservice.html

About

BoardNotes

This app combines whiteboard, notebook, PDF management, mind mapping, and flashcard creation into a single, versatile handwriting note-taking tool. It offers a wide array of pen types, organizational features, and study aids to enhance productivity and learning.

Highlights
  • Handwriting note-taking
  • Integrated whiteboard
  • PDF import and editing
  • Mind mapping functionality
  • Spaced repetition flashcards
  • Multiple pen and brush types
  • Layer management
Features
Read full description

Feature Introduction: BoardNotes is a versatile handwriting note-taking app that integrates five major functions—whiteboard, notebook, PDF, mind map, and flashcards—covering most note-taking scenarios. It serves as your All-In-One App. Handwriting Pen: 1. BoardNotes utilizes Apple's native pen technology and has developed additional pens tailored for Chinese writing, including a fountain pen, a laser pointer for presentations, and a tape pen for masking notes. 2. Choose from a variety of brushes (laser pen, tape pen, ballpoint pen, straight-line pen, wavy-line pen, custom fountain pen, quill pen, pencil, marker, watercolor pen, fill pen, single-line pen, crayon, freehand pen) to unleash your creativity. 3. Lasso tool (extremely powerful). 4. Eraser (pixel eraser and object eraser). Whiteboard: 1. The whiteboard is ideal for organizing fragmented knowledge, brainstorming, and boosting creativity. 2. Write and draw freely without worrying about boundaries. 3. Customize background colors and grid templates. 4. Add various card types (text, image, video, audio, webpage, file, handwriting). 5. Multiple auxiliary tools: background board, pins, link navigation (supports bidirectional links), connectors, timer (countdown supported), calculator. 6. Quickly locate notes using the search function. Notebook & PDF: 1. Create notebooks and PDFs with multiple paper templates and cover options. Import images from Photos or PDFs from the Files app as pages or covers. 2. Add text, images, stickers, videos, webpage snapshots, audio recordings, links (bidirectional links supported), timers, calculators, and floating PDF windows. 3. Layer functionality—show or hide layers as needed. 4. Insert new pages via blank sheets, images, scanned documents, or files. 5. Cut, copy, and paste pages into other notebooks or PDFs. 6. Duplicate, rotate, or delete pages. 7. Reorder pages via long-press and drag in thumbnail view. 8. Create outlines and add bookmarks. 9. Search (text, handwritten notes, etc.). 10. Import e-books (epub, mobi, azw, etc.). Mind Map: 1. Mind mapping is a key feature within the whiteboard. 2. Nodes support multiple formats (text, image, handwriting, video, audio, webpage snapshot, file). 3. Offers 3 structures and 18 color schemes. 4. Add summaries (brackets). 5. Handwritten mind maps (using handwritten cards). 6. Long-press and drag selected cards into the mind map. 7. Reorder nodes or adjust hierarchy via long-press and drag. Flashcard: 1. Flashcards use the SuperMemo algorithm to automatically schedule optimal review intervals, reminding you before forgetting to maximize memory efficiency. 2. Flashcards support text, images, and handwriting. 3. Quickly create cards from notes in whiteboards, notebooks, or PDFs using the rectangular lasso tool. Download BoardNotes for free on iPad, iPhone, and Mac. For suggestions, please contact us via the in-app feedback feature.

Screenshots

Notehot4 screens
BoardNotes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: BoardNotes at Free against Notehot's $0.99. BoardNotes also leads on review sentiment (80% vs 63%) and rating (4.7 vs 4.5). Notehot's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On ratings volume, update cadence, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

BoardNotes is free to download; Notehot costs $0.99 up front. Notehot sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days and BoardNotes sells 23 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

BoardNotes holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 175 and 115 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 63% of Notehot's written reviews are positive against 80% of BoardNotes's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Notehot ships an update every 11 days, BoardNotes every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Notehot versus BoardNotes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotehotBoardNotes
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating4.5 (175 ratings)4.7 (115 ratings) — better
Positive reviews62.7% of reviews80.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings175 — better115
Update frequencyEvery 11 daysEvery 10 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS14.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size134 MB342 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPlay EraChongqing Ouluowa Technology Co., Ltd.

Customer experience

Notehot

All ratings175 ratings
Positive86.3%
Neutral5.7%
Negative8.0%
Written reviews51 reviews
Positive62.7%
Neutral13.7%
Negative23.5%

BoardNotes

All ratings115 ratings
Positive94.8%
Neutral1.7%
Negative3.5%
Written reviews45 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral6.7%
Negative13.3%

User reviews

Notehot

From 175 App Store ratings

What we love

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

Room to improve

  • 😞 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

BoardNotes

From 115 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💎 All-in-one app
  • 💡 Feature-rich note-taking
  • ✍️ Excellent Apple Pencil integration
  • 💰 Affordable one-time purchase
  • 🚀 Smooth performance

Room to improve

  • 🔋 High battery consumption
  • 🔥 Device gets hot
  • 🐛 Data loss (whiteboards erased)
  • 🚫 No automatic backup
  • 🔍 Limited search functions

Bugs and requests

Notehot

Reported bugs

19 issues
  • 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
Show 14 more
  • Cannot split screen
  • Note background is not pure black
  • Font size cannot be adjusted
  • Imported files only show filenames and cannot be edited
  • App downloads itself without authorization
  • Photos imported from gallery become blurry in the app
  • Extracted text from images is inaccurate
  • Text within the app cannot be copied to other locations
  • All typed text disappeared overnight
  • App is slow and laggy with large files
  • Writing is laggy
  • Sometimes a few pen strokes disappear after a long time
  • Occasional inexplicable jumps from handwriting to text input
  • Work disappeared after moving it to a folder

Requested features

20 requests
  • 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
Show 15 more
  • Add dual-window function for organizing notes
  • Improve search functionality
  • Allow two-finger adjustment of paper size
  • Add pure black background option
  • Adjustable font size
  • Improve import functionality to display content directly
  • Add ability to zoom and move imported files
  • Add ability to delete pages
  • Add ability to draw straight lines
  • Improve user-friendliness and ease of use
  • Add more writing features
  • Allow copying text to other applications
  • Improve file import clarity
  • Add more language options
  • Offer a one-time purchase option instead of subscriptions

BoardNotes

Reported bugs

16 issues
  • Whiteboards erasing automatically
  • No automatic backup leading to data loss
  • Syncing issues between iPad and Mac
  • Pencil tip not appearing on PDF annotations
  • App crashes frequently
Show 11 more
  • Recording data is lost
  • Cannot create new notebooks
  • Gear icon for settings missing in dark mode
  • Issue with eraser and color selection logic
  • Lasso tool missing cut button after cropping
  • PDF embeds appear blurry
  • Handwriting search not implemented
  • Accidental touches/palm rejection issues
  • Chinese font display issues in markdown
  • App freezes when using search function
  • Software flashes back (crashes)

Requested features

24 requests
  • Sync to Google Drive/other cloud services
  • Faster 'add to cards' function
  • View carded items in sidebar
  • Color coding for pins
  • Image opacity adjustment
Show 19 more
  • Faster image copy from whiteboard
  • Android app version
  • WebDAV function
  • Markdown editing/viewing function
  • Handwriting recognition and search
  • Improve palm rejection/anti-touch
  • Add more brush types (with stroke variation)
  • Search for handwritten text
  • Dark Mode UI
  • More calculator functions (square root, trig identities)
  • In-app browser (ChatGPT, YouTube integration)
  • Easier UI navigation of notebook pages
  • Ability to change existing page formats
  • More in-depth pen fine-tuning
  • Optimize UI, move undo/redo to top right
  • Adjust pressure sensitivity
  • Customizable top toolbar icons
  • Add college rule paper
  • Translate function for papers

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Notehot

Subscriptions5
  • VIP Subscription$1.997 Days
  • VIP Subscription2 variants$2.991 Month
  • VIP Subscription2 variants$5.993 Months
Show 2 more
  • VIP Subscription$9.991 Year
  • VIP Subscription3 Days trial2 variants$17.991 Year
One-time1
  • VIP Subscription$14.99
23 purchases

BoardNotes

One-time23
  • 7 days membership$0.99
  • 5 days membership$0.99
  • Math Formula Recognition$1.99
Show 20 more
  • 1 month membership$1.99
  • Annual Membership$3.99
  • Permanent Unlock All$3.99
  • 6 months membership$3.99
  • 6 months membership (discount)$3.99
  • Permanent Unlock All$4.99
  • Annual Membership$4.99
  • 6 months membership2 variants$4.99
  • Full version Unlock$5.99
  • Annual Membership (discount)$5.99
  • 6 months membership$6.99
  • Permanent Unlock All$6.99
  • Annual Membership2 variants$6.99
  • Spring Festival Discount$6.99
  • Annual Membership$7.99
  • Permanent Unlock All$7.99
  • Permanent Unlock All(discount)$7.99
  • Permanent Unlock All$8.99
  • Permanent Unlock All$9.99
  • Permanent Unlock All$19.99

Questions

Is Notehot free?
Notehot costs $0.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is BoardNotes free?
BoardNotes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Notehot or BoardNotes?
BoardNotes is rated higher. Notehot averages 4.5 out of 5 from 175 ratings, while BoardNotes averages 4.7 from 115 ratings.
Do Notehot or BoardNotes have ads?
BoardNotes shows ads; Notehot does not.
Which is updated more often, Notehot or BoardNotes?
Notehot ships an update every 11 days, and BoardNotes every 10 days. Most recently, Notehot was updated on October 9, 2026 and BoardNotes on October 8, 2026.

Other comparisons