Comparison

Kilonotes vs Widgetsmith

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

Head to head
About

Kilonotes

This app offers a digital notebook experience for handwritten notes, PDF annotation, and study organization. It features freehand drawing, text extraction, AI assistance for learning, and customizable templates to enhance productivity and learning.

Highlights
  • Handwritten note-taking
  • PDF annotation and markup
  • AI assistant for learning
  • OCR text extraction
  • Customizable notebooks and templates
  • Recording function
  • Global PDF search
Features
Read full description

We sincerely invite you to join us in exploring more efficient ways of taking notes and jointly reshape the modern learning mode. As a companion exploring new ways of taking notes, Kilonotes can meet your various needs. Whether it is recording class notes, annotating PDFs, doing test exercises, studying online courses, or organizing reading notes, Kilonotes will be your reliable study partner. Let's take good notes together. [Breakthrough the limitations of paper] ·Handwriting can be moved, scaled and rotated freely ·You can undo what you entered ·The size of the eraser can be adjusted to control the erasing range ·Scale paper function to make writing more comfortable You can insert pictures or photos, and combine text and pictures to deepen memory · Quick browsing function to help you quickly find what you need · Unlimited creation of paper, providing endless memory space ·Recording function, allowing you to take notes while listening to lectures ·Card function, create an exclusive knowledge base, you can create your card through pictures, brushes, and typing OCR function, convenient and fast text extraction A variety of fun-but-practical Journaling templates [Optimized reading experience] ·Global PDF search, quickly find what you need in the database · Outline function, convenient and fast positioning Multiple reading modes: eye protection, dark color, vision protection · Quick jump function, enter the page number to quickly navigate ·Translation function to help foreign language literature reading ·Extraction function, easy to collect important information ·PDF extension function, make reading and writing more free [Beyond the limits of the brush] · Change brush color, create custom colors, or pick any color with the eyedropper ·Adjustable brush width to adapt to various scenes ·Graffiti pen function, make notes more colorful [Custom Notebook] ·Provide many unique and beautiful covers for you to choose ·A variety of paper templates are available: blank paper, dot matrix paper, graph paper, to meet your needs ·You can import PDF and record freely in your own notebook [AI Assistant] • Built-in high-efficiency AI assistant helps you organize notes, expand knowledge points, and double your learning and work efficiency. • Exclusive AI problem-solving function supports selecting questions and sending them with one click, helping you easily overcome learning difficulties. [About subscription] Users can subscribe to the monthly subscription service of kilonotes to unlock advanced content, including custom time planning books. The subscription will be automatically renewed. If the user needs to cancel the subscription, the renewal needs to be closed 24 hours before the end of the current cycle. Users can close and cancel subscriptions and trials in their iTunes account. Contact us: feedback@top-stack.com Official website: https://www.kilonotesapp.com Privacy Policy: https://www.top-stack.com/page/ios_en_privacy.html User agreement: https://www.top-stack.com/page/Kilonotes_Terms_of_use_En.html

About

Widgetsmith

Personalize your device with highly customizable widgets for your home and lock screens. Showcase photos, track events, display weather, and launch apps directly from your widgets. Includes a wallpaper library and tools for theming.

Highlights
  • Customizable widgets
  • Home and lock screen personalization
  • Photo display
  • Event countdowns
  • Weather forecasts
  • App launching widgets
  • Theming tools
Features
Read full description

Widgetsmith lets you personalize your device like never before with a wide range of highly customizable widgets. It allows you to design your home screen to remind you of the people, places, and words that mean the most to you. Widgetsmith showcases your photos, counts down to upcoming events, provides quick access to your favorite music, allows you to check the weather at a glance, and more. You can build widgets with Actions to launch apps, run Shortcuts, send a text, and more, from your home screen or Control Center. Widgetsmith includes a library of iPhone wallpapers and a tool to theme your widgets to perfectly complement these wallpapers or any of your own. Each widget can be adjusted precisely to fit your desired appearance and function, using various colors, fonts, borders, and themes. With Widgetsmith, you can create your perfect home screen aesthetic and easily change it over time. WIDGETS: You can create almost anything with Widgetsmith, using the wide range of widget types offered in the app! Here are some favorites: Photos: Highlight your favorite images across your home screens with a range of filters and borders Photo Galleries: View photos in an album or customized collection Customizable Date & Time Clocks Activity Tracking & Step Counting Countdown Timers Solar & Lunar Trackers Weather Conditions & Forecasts Time Zone Tracker Widgetsmith lets you customize not only your home screen but also your lock screen! You can view inspirational song lyrics, a photo of a loved one, weather information, and more without unlocking your device. WALLPAPERS: Widgetsmith includes a collection of phone wallpapers from various artists. These can be downloaded directly from the app and used to create custom widget themes to quickly and easily theme your entire home screen in a pleasing color palette. FLEXIBILITY: If you want different widgets at different times of day, Widgetsmith has you covered! For example, a widget could show the weather in the morning, your calendar during your work day, and then switch to your Activity ring progress as you wrap up your day. This lets you take full advantage of each slot on your home screen. IN-APP TOOLS: Wisgetsmith is also home to a wide range of valuable tools, including: A weather app with air quality, pollen, and tide information A full-featured time zone converter Charts to review activity and workout data NOTES: Widgetsmith is designed to optionally integrate with Apple Health to display your steps and activity. Permission for Widgetsmith to access this data is controlled through the Apple Health app. Widgetsmith can also integrate with your photos, Apple Music library, calendars, reminders, and more. Access to this information is handled using the standard iOS/iPadOS/watchOS privacy prompts, which are shown only in Widgetsmith. Widgetsmith includes an optional premium subscription. This is offered on a monthly or annual basis. If you choose to purchase a subscription, your payment will be charged to your iTunes account. Subscriptions will automatically renew unless canceled within 24 hours before the end of the current period. After purchase, you can turn off auto-renewal at any time by going to your Account Settings in the App Store. Access to tide and weather data is only available to Widgetsmith Premium subscribers. LEARN MORE: Privacy Policy: https://widgetsmith.app/privacy Terms of Use: https://widgetsmith.app/terms

Screenshots

Kilonotes4 screens
Widgetsmith4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Widgetsmith at 772K against Kilonotes's 4.9K. Widgetsmith also leads on chart position (#37 vs unranked). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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. Kilonotes sells 20 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and Widgetsmith sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 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 — 4.6 for Kilonotes against 4.6 for Widgetsmith. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Widgetsmith has 772K ratings behind it against 4.9K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 71% and 72% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Kilonotes ships an update every 2 weeks, Widgetsmith fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 9 level
Kilonotes versus Widgetsmith: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterKilonotesWidgetsmith
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (4.9K ratings)4.6 (772K ratings)
Positive reviews71.3% of reviews72.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings4.9K772K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterFortnightly
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#37 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS15.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size481 MB183 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHefei T-Stack Information Technology Co., Ltd.Cross Forward Consulting, LLC

Customer experience

Kilonotes

All ratings4,924 ratings
Positive90.9%
Neutral3.9%
Negative5.3%
Written reviews864 reviews
Positive71.3%
Neutral10.6%
Negative18.1%

Widgetsmith

All ratings771,989 ratings
Positive90.2%
Neutral3.6%
Negative6.2%
Written reviews1,886 reviews
Positive72.1%
Neutral8.3%
Negative19.6%

User reviews

Kilonotes

From 4.9K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Affordable
  • 🚀 Lots of free features
  • 👍 Easy to use and intuitive
  • 👍 Customizable notebooks and pages
  • 👍 Good alternative to paid apps

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
  • 🐛 Syncing and backup issues
  • 🔒 Lack of password protection or privacy features
  • 👎 Limited free notebooks
  • 👎 Some features locked behind paywall

Widgetsmith

From 772K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Customizable widgets
  • 💡 Allows for aesthetic home screen design
  • 🤩 Great for organizing and personalizing
  • 🥰 Helpful for improving phone appearance

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Widgets turning grey or not working
  • 🤔 Inability to remove 'Widgetsmith' label
  • 🤨 Limited customization options for free users
  • 😕 Inconsistent widget behavior

Bugs and requests

Kilonotes

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Notebooks and notes getting deleted or scrambled
  • Lag and performance issues when writing or zooming
  • Inconsistent behavior of the pen and eraser tools

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add more free sticker packs and templates
  • Improve the lasso tool and image editing
  • Implement iCloud or cloud sync
  • Add a dark mode option
  • Improve the audio recording and playback features
Show 1 more
  • Allow more customization of notebooks and pages

Widgetsmith

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Widgets randomly turning grey or blank
  • Calendar and time widgets not updating correctly
  • App crashing or not opening
  • Issues with photo widgets not displaying images

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to choose specific photos for widgets
  • Option to adjust photo rotation interval
  • Custom color selection tool
  • Customizable widget labels
  • Transparent widget backgrounds

In-app purchases

20 purchases

Kilonotes

Subscriptions7
  • Cloud space monthly membership$0.991 Month
  • Monthly Subscription$1.991 Month
  • Quarterly Plan$4.993 Months
Show 4 more
  • AIChat$5.991 Month
  • Year Subscription1 Year trial$8.991 Year
  • Annual Plan$9.991 Year
  • Cloud space annual membership$9.991 Year
One-time13
  • ExamPolitics_2019_2023_testFree
  • Summer Forest 2022 Handbook$0.99
  • Xiaofen Diary 2022 Handbook$0.99
Show 10 more
  • Fresh 2022 Handbook$0.99
  • 康奈尔笔记$0.99
  • Cartoon mistake book$0.99
  • Paid Notebook$0.99
  • Alice$1.99
  • 咸鱼日常$1.99
  • AI Points Products$1.99
  • 月亮兔$1.99
  • Paid Notebook$2.99
  • Lifetime Access$19.99
4 purchases

Widgetsmith

Subscriptions4
  • Widgetsmith Premium7 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Widgetsmith Premium7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Widgetsmith Premium7 Days trial$19.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Widgetsmith Premium7 Days trial$29.991 Year

Questions

Is Kilonotes free?
Kilonotes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Widgetsmith free?
Widgetsmith is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Kilonotes or Widgetsmith?
Kilonotes and Widgetsmith are both rated 4.6 out of 5 on the App Store, from 4.9K and 772K ratings respectively.
Do Kilonotes or Widgetsmith have ads?
Both Kilonotes and Widgetsmith show ads.
Which is updated more often, Kilonotes or Widgetsmith?
Kilonotes ships an update every 2 weeks, and Widgetsmith fortnightly. Most recently, Kilonotes was updated on September 23, 2026 and Widgetsmith on September 24, 2026.

Other comparisons