# Widgetsmith vs Noteful

The clearest difference is ads: Noteful at none against Widgetsmith's shown. Noteful also leads on review sentiment (88% vs 72%) and rating (4.8 vs 4.6). Widgetsmith's advantage is ratings volume (773K vs 24K) and chart position (#36 vs unranked). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Widgetsmith sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Noteful sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Noteful holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Widgetsmith has 773K ratings behind it against 24K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 72% of Widgetsmith's written reviews are positive against 88% of Noteful's.

Widgetsmith ships an update every 2 weeks, Noteful fortnightly. Both last shipped on September 30, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | Widgetsmith | Noteful |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.6 (773K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/widgetsmith/id1523682319/reviews) | **[4.8 (24K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/noteful-notes-and-pdf-markup/id1587904334/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **773K** | 24K |
| Positive reviews | 72.1% of reviews | **87.5% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | **Every 2 weeks** | Fortnightly |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Best chart rank | **#36** | — |
| Size | 183 MB | 157 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.0** | 16.4 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Vision Pro** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Cross Forward Consulting, LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/295660206) | [Noteful Technologies Ltd](https://appshunter.io/developer/1587904336) |

## What reviewers say

### Widgetsmith

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/widgetsmith/id1523682319)

**Currently charting:** #36 Top Free · Productivity, #99 Top Grossing · Productivity (US App Store)

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:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Widgetsmith Premium | $1.99 | per month |
| Widgetsmith Premium | $3.99 | per month |
| Widgetsmith Premium | $19.99 | per year |
| Widgetsmith Premium | $29.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

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

**What reviewers complain about**

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

**Reported bugs**

- 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**

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


### Noteful

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/noteful-notes-and-pdf-markup/id1587904334)

This app revolutionizes paperless note-taking on iPad, allowing for handwritten notes, document annotation, and knowledge organization. It offers a fluid writing experience, PDF markup, powerful tagging, and audio recording synced with notes.

**Highlights:** Handwritten notes with Apple Pencil, PDF and document annotation, Organize notes with tags, Layers for annotations, Audio recording synced with notes, Import PDFs and MS Office documents

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

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Noteful Pro, Lifetime | $6.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Smooth writing experience
- 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
- 💡 Layers feature
- 👍 Affordable one-time purchase
- 🚀 Efficient and lightweight

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional crashes or freezes
- 🔍 No handwriting recognition or search
- 🔍 Limited text editing options
- 🔍 Lack of advanced features like math conversion
- 🔍 Exporting PDFs loses some formatting

**Reported bugs**

- Syncing issues across devices
- Lasso tool not working properly with PDFs
- Eraser tool not functioning as expected

**Requested features**

- Handwriting recognition and search
- More text editing options (bullet lists, etc.)
- Improved PDF handling and annotations
- Custom templates and sticker support
- Expanded cloud storage options (Dropbox, OneDrive, etc.)


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Widgetsmith free?

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

### Is Noteful free?

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

### Which has better reviews, Widgetsmith or Noteful?

Noteful is rated higher. Widgetsmith averages 4.6 out of 5 from 773K ratings, while Noteful averages 4.8 from 24K ratings.

### Do Widgetsmith or Noteful have ads?

Widgetsmith shows ads; Noteful does not.

### Which is updated more often, Widgetsmith or Noteful?

Widgetsmith ships an update every 2 weeks, and Noteful fortnightly. Most recently, Widgetsmith was updated on September 30, 2026 and Noteful on September 30, 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.*