# Kilonotes vs Freeform

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Freeform at none against Kilonotes's 20. Freeform also leads on ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (440K vs 4.9K). Kilonotes's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 3 months). On price, rating, review sentiment and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Kilonotes sells 20 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Freeform asks for nothing beyond the download.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Kilonotes against 4.6 for Freeform. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Freeform has 440K ratings behind it against 4.9K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 71% of Kilonotes's written reviews are positive against 73% of Freeform's.

Kilonotes ships an update every 2 weeks, Freeform every 3 months. Both last shipped on September 29, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | Kilonotes | Freeform |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.6 (4.9K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kilonotes-notes-and-mark-up-pdf/id1514322479/reviews) | [4.6 (440K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/freeform/id6443742539/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 4.9K | **440K** |
| Positive reviews | 71.3% of reviews | **72.5% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | **Every 2 weeks** | Every 3 months |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Free** |
| Size | 481 MB | 6 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.6** | 16.2 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Vision Pro |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Hefei T-Stack Information Technology Co., Ltd.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1514322478) | [Apple](https://appshunter.io/developer/284417353) |

## What reviewers say

### Kilonotes

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kilonotes-notes-and-mark-up-pdf/id1514322479)

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:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (20)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cloud space monthly membership | $0.99 | per month |
| Monthly Subscription | $1.99 | per month |
| Quarterly Plan | $4.99 | per 3 months |
| AIChat | $5.99 | per month |
| Year Subscription | $8.99 | per year |
| Annual Plan | $9.99 | per year |
| Cloud space annual membership | $9.99 | per year |
| ExamPolitics_2019_2023_test | Free | one-time |
| Summer Forest 2022 Handbook | $0.99 | one-time |
| Xiaofen Diary 2022 Handbook | $0.99 | one-time |
| Fresh 2022 Handbook | $0.99 | one-time |
| 康奈尔笔记 | $0.99 | one-time |
| Cartoon mistake book | $0.99 | one-time |
| Paid Notebook | $0.99 | one-time |
| Alice | $1.99 | one-time |
| 咸鱼日常 | $1.99 | one-time |
| AI Points Products | $1.99 | one-time |
| 月亮兔 | $1.99 | one-time |
| Paid Notebook | $2.99 | one-time |
| Lifetime Access | $19.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

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

**What reviewers complain about**

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

**Reported bugs**

- 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**

- 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


### Freeform

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/freeform/id6443742539)

This app provides a flexible canvas for bringing ideas to life. It supports various file types, drawing tools, and shape libraries for creative projects. Real-time collaboration with multiple users is also a key feature.

**Highlights:** Flexible canvas for ideas, Supports photos, video, audio, documents, PDFs, web links, Drawing with finger or Apple Pencil, Library of over 700 shapes, Built-in document scanner, Real-time collaboration with up to 100 users, Integrated Messages and FaceTime

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Great for note-taking and organizing
- 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
- 🎨 Excellent for creative projects
- 💡 Useful for brainstorming and mind mapping
- 🤝 Helpful for collaboration and sharing

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Frequent crashes and glitches
- 🔋 Drains battery quickly
- 🤔 Laggy performance, especially with complex boards
- 🤷‍♀️ Lack of organizational features like folders
- 📦 Issues with syncing and sharing boards

**Reported bugs**

- Boards randomly disappearing or not syncing properly
- Writing and drawing becoming unresponsive or laggy
- Overlapping and misaligned elements after editing
- Inability to rotate or resize objects accurately

**Requested features**

- Add dark mode option
- Improve Apple Pencil integration with pressure sensitivity
- Implement undo/redo shortcuts
- Allow for grouping and aligning of objects
- Add more shape and text formatting options


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Kilonotes free?

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

### Is Freeform free?

Freeform is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Kilonotes or Freeform?

Kilonotes and Freeform are both rated 4.6 out of 5 on the App Store, from 4.9K and 440K ratings respectively.

### Do Kilonotes or Freeform have ads?

Kilonotes shows ads; Freeform does not.

### Which is updated more often, Kilonotes or Freeform?

Kilonotes ships an update every 2 weeks, and Freeform every 3 months. Most recently, Kilonotes was updated on September 29, 2026 and Freeform on September 29, 2026.

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