Comparison

AxNote vs Quirely

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

Head to head
About

AxNote

This app offers an intelligent canvas for note-taking, allowing users to generate summaries from text, handwriting, and audio recordings. It supports image annotation, data visualization with tables and charts, and handwriting conversion to typed text. Designed for Apple Pencil, it provides flexible layouts and on-device AI features.

Highlights
  • AI-powered summaries from text, handwriting, and audio
  • Audio transcription and topic exploration
  • Image and PDF annotation
  • Data visualization with tables and charts
  • Handwriting to typed text conversion
  • Apple Pencil integration
  • Customizable layouts
Features
Read full description

AxNote is an intelligent canvas that thinks with you. Generate summaries from your notes and audio recordings with Apple Intelligence. Explore topics in recordings and jump to where they're discussed. Create flashcards from your notes with a single tap. Handwrite your notes and convert it to typed text. Drag and drop images, and instantly annotate on a blank canvas, lined, or grid paper. Snap perfect shapes. Create beautiful tables and charts to visualize your data. AxNote is a next-level digital note-taking experience. FEATURES Magic Summary: Generate summaries of your text, handwriting, or audio recordings using a device that supports Apple Intelligence. Summaries are perfect for catching up with meetings, revision, and for creating flashcards. Magic Summary cards can also be converted to a PDF or plain text for use in your favorite flashcard platform. Ask About Topics: Magic Summary automatically finds key topics discussed in your audio recordings and gives you summaries of those topics. You can also ask specific questions about the contents of your recording and Magic Summary will give you an answer using your recording as the source of truth. Jump To Topic: Instantly skip to the part of a recording where a specific topic is discussed with Magic Summary. No more manually scrubbing through hours of lectures or meetings. Audio Transcription: AxNote features fast, accurate audio transcription that runs directly on your device and supports languages other than English. Audio transcriptions can be added to your note or shared with others. Images, PDFs, Tables, and Charts: Drag and drop images and PDFs anywhere in a note. Images can be annotated directly over using a markup tool. Create simple tables with CSV support and link them with charts to create beautiful data visualizations. Images, tables, and charts live right alongside your handwriting and typed text. AxNote also supports Image Playground, so you can turn a prompt into an image and add it to your note (requires a device with Apple Intelligence enabled). Made for Pencil: AxNote is the perfect companion for Apple Pencil. With support for tilt and pressure sensitivity, shape snapping, Apple Pencil Hover, and handwriting-to-text, it's the only app you need to turn your ideas into beautiful ink. Layouts: Transform your iPad or iPhone into a real notebook with a selection of preset Layouts, including lined, grid, dot grid paper, and a freeform canvas. Customize your layouts with specific measurements for line and grid spacing and colors. Bookmarks: Pin what matters most in your notes. You can access your bookmarks from anywhere in a note, allowing you to jump within (and between) pages for quick access to important content. Privacy and Flexibility: With AxNote, you're in control of your data and where it's stored. Save your documents in your preferred cloud storage provider with the Files app or keep them on your device. AxNote's AI features also run directly on your Apple Intelligence-supported device, so your notes are never sent to an online service for processing or AI model training. Offline Support: AxNote's AI features (including Magic Summary and Audio Transcription) don't need an internet connection after initial setup, so you can work even when you're off the grid. --- AxNote+ - Unlimited pages - Unlimited Magic Summary usage - Customize Layouts These features are available with a one-time in-app purchase to AxNote+. Please read the Terms of Service at animantlabs.com/axnote/terms --- Need help? Please visit support.animantlabs.com/axnote Terms of Service: animantlabs.com/axnote/terms

About

Quirely

Transform your PDF collection into an intelligent, searchable knowledge base. This app allows you to ask questions about your documents and receive answers with direct source citations. It's designed to help researchers, students, and professionals quickly find and understand information within their personal archives.

Highlights
  • AI-powered semantic PDF search
  • Repository monitoring for new PDFs
  • Batch metadata extraction
  • Advanced search and filters
  • AI assistant for asking questions
  • Inline citations and bibliographies
  • Supports major citation styles
Read full description

Turn your PDF library into a powerful AI knowledge engine. Quirely PDF library manager transforms your personal archive of academic papers, medical studies, and technical PDFs into a searchable AI knowledge system. It helps researchers, clinicians, engineers, and students find, understand, and recall information with precision and context. Whether you’re writing a paper, conducting a meta-analysis, preparing for board review, or managing thousands of journal articles, Quirely gives you structure, speed, and comprehension. It’s like having a private ChatGPT trained entirely on your own documents—a research companion that never forgets where an equation, method, or paragraph was written. Smart Library. Instant Organization. The Library tab gives you full control of your PDF library: • Repository monitoring: Add entire folders once—Quirely continuously watches, indexes, and tags new PDFs automatically. • Batch ingestion: Extract authors, titles, venues, years, and DOIs from hundreds of papers in seconds. • Metadata completion: Missing citation data? Quirely fills in fields from trusted databases or lets you edit manually. • Advanced search & filters: Search by author, keyword, title, journal, or year, or do full-text semantic search to match words and meaning, not just exact phrases. • Effortless navigation: Open results directly to relevant pages, reveal them in Finder, or copy formatted citations instantly. • Supports major styles: MLA, APA, AMA, Chicago, BibTeX, and more. Ideal for organizing lab reports, journal clubs, grant PDFs, or literature reviews. Ask Anything. Find Everything. The Chat tab turns your library into an AI-powered assistant that answers questions with sources pulled directly from your PDFs. Ask Quirely: • “Find the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis method section in my oncology papers.” • “List diagnostic criteria for frontotemporal dementia from my neurology folder.” • “Summarize discussion trends on quantum entanglement from 2018–2024.” It understands both scientific and conceptual questions—from equations and data interpretations to broad thematic reviews. You’ll see: • Inline citations and full bibliographies • Clickable references opening exact PDF pages • Relevant passages showing text that supported each answer Every answer is grounded in your sources—no hallucinations, no guesswork. Why Quirely Exists Created by a physicist frustrated with endless PDF chaos, Quirely was designed to eliminate repetitive searching and bring real intelligence to personal research collections. Most reference managers only file papers—Quirely helps you think with them. It’s for anyone who needs to connect information, trace arguments, or recall formulas instantly—from scientists and clinicians to analysts and grad students. Your knowledge—organized, searchable, and conversational. • AI-powered semantic and contextual PDF search • Monitored directories with on-demand rescans • Batch metadata extraction and citation management • Advanced filters by author, venue, keyword, or full text • Inline citations and export • Private on-device chat assistant • Cross-platform for Mac, iPad, and iPhone with a one purchase • Ideal for researchers, clinicians, scientists, engineers, and graduate students Subscription Library organization and filtering is free. AI Chat requires subscription. Built for Research, Learning, and Clinical Insight Quirely isn’t just another PDF viewer—it’s a research accelerator. Its AI understands context, not just keywords, allowing you to locate formulas, equations, definitions, and methods across vast archives of scientific papers. It can surface the page where a specific constant appears, the paragraph explaining a clinical outcome, or the table defining an experimental setup. If you’re writing papers in physics, chemistry, biology, psychology, or medicine, Quirely is for you. Terms of Use (EULA): apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula Privacy Policy: quirely.ai/#privacy

Screenshots

AxNote4 screens
Quirely4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Quirely at 100% against AxNote's 50%. Quirely also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.3) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). AxNote's advantage is monetization model (free vs freemium). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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. AxNote sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Quirely sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Quirely holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 7 and 7 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of AxNote's written reviews are positive against 100% of Quirely's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

AxNote ships an update every 2 months, Quirely every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
AxNote versus Quirely: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAxNoteQuirely
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (7 ratings)5.0 (7 ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings77
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS26.018.5 — better
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB1.1 GB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJonathan BenjaminReggie Fisher

Customer experience

AxNote

All ratings7 ratings
Positive71.4%
Neutral14.3%
Negative14.3%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative25.0%

Quirely

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

AxNote

One-time1
  • AxNote+$24.99
3 purchases

Quirely

Subscriptions3
  • Basic$3.991 Month
  • Pro$6.991 Month
  • Lab$49.991 Month

Questions

Is AxNote free?
AxNote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Quirely free?
Quirely is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, AxNote or Quirely?
Quirely is rated higher. AxNote averages 4.3 out of 5 from 7 ratings, while Quirely averages 5.0 from 7 ratings.
Do AxNote or Quirely have ads?
Neither AxNote nor Quirely shows ads.
Which is updated more often, AxNote or Quirely?
AxNote ships an update every 2 months, and Quirely every 3 weeks. Most recently, AxNote was updated on October 6, 2026 and Quirely on October 7, 2026.

Other comparisons