Comparison

Moleskine Notebooks vs Basis

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

Head to head
About

Moleskine Notebooks

Capture handwritten notes and sketches on paper and instantly convert them to digital text and vector art. Seamlessly export your work to various file formats for easy sharing and integration into presentations. Best of both worlds for productivity and creativity.

Highlights
  • Handwritten notes to text conversion
  • Export notes as Word, RTF, TXT
  • Draw diagrams and import to presentations
  • Export sketches as vector art
  • Syncs with Moleskine Smart Pen and Notebooks
  • Offline note-taking with automatic sync
Features
Read full description

From paper to digital, the timeless pleasure of handwriting meets the limitless power of technology to evolve, expand, and reinvent your ideas. Every thought lives on paper, every idea grows beyond its boundaries. With Moleskine Notebooks (formerly Moleskine Notes), your creativity moves seamlessly between the physical world and the digital one. Designed for those who love to write, sketch, and create by hand, while also wanting to revisit, transform, and enhance their work on digital devices. Write on paper, watch it on screen. Place your smart notebook beneath your iPad: as your pen flows on paper, Moleskine Notebook captures every word, every line, every draft in real time. Instantly see your work come to life on your device, ready to explore, edit, or share. From your hand, beyond the page. With Moleskine Notebooks you can: - Turn handwritten notes into editable digital text. - Transform sketches and drawings into images for your digital projects. - Enrich your notes with the Apple Pencil or use the power of Artificial Intelligence to improve, organize, and reinterpret your creations. Rediscover the joy of freehand writing, empowered by digital technology. Moleskine Notebook is more than an app: it is the keyboard for creative minds. It accompanies you on a journey between inspiration and innovation, while preserving the beauty of handwriting. Moleskine Notebooks. Write the future, starting from paper. Terms of Service: https://www.moleskineeveryday.com/terms

About

Basis

This app unifies tasks, notes, and reference materials into a single, organized workspace. It aims to reduce context switching and promote focus by integrating all your to-dos and saved information. Designed for calm, it offers natural language capture and a rich text editor.

Highlights
  • Unified interface for tasks and notes
  • Reference library for articles and PDFs
  • Notebooks for organization
  • Natural language capture
  • Focus section for daily work
  • Rich text editor
  • Full keyboard support
Features
Read full description

Basis is a personal productivity tool that holds your tasks, notes, and reference material in one calm workspace. No more switching between a task app and a note app. One system for everything you want to do, remember, and save. WHY BASIS Your brain doesn't split "reply to Mike" from "the article I want to save" from "the recipe to try later." Different apps do, and every context switch is a tax on focus. Basis holds active tasks, captured notes, and your reference library in one place. Everything's cleanly organized, but nothing's walled off just because it happens to be a task versus a note. FEATURES - Tasks and notes in a unified interface - Reference library for articles, PDFs, photos, meeting notes - Notebooks to organize what you save, or leave things loose - Natural language capture: type "buy milk tomorrow p1 @errands" and Basis prioritizes, schedules, and tags it - Focus section to curate what you're working on today - Rich text editor with tables, lists, and inline images - Full keyboard support for power users DESIGNED FOR CALM Most productivity apps get louder over time. More badges. More features begging for attention. Basis takes the other path. Every design choice is against the noise, so your work stands out, not the app. WHO IT'S FOR For anyone who keeps their tasks in one app and their notes in another. Basis brings both together in one calm workspace.

Screenshots

Moleskine Notebooks4 screens
Basis4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Basis at 5.0 against Moleskine Notebooks's 4.1. Basis also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). Moleskine Notebooks's advantage is ratings volume (714 vs 1). On price, ads and device support 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. Moleskine Notebooks sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Basis asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Basis holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Moleskine Notebooks has 714 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Moleskine Notebooks versus Basis: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMoleskine NotebooksBasis
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (714 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews14.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings714 — better1
Update frequencyFortnightly—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size179 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMoleskine SrlLance Hackney

Bugs and requests

Moleskine Notebooks

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Unable to log in to Moleskine account
  • Google Drive integration and backup issues
  • Incorrect page/date display in planner
  • Partial or missing note transcription

Requested features

4 requests
  • Improved calendar integration and event management
  • Ability to rearrange and organize notebook pages
  • Better handwriting recognition and text editing tools
  • Seamless migration from previous app versions

Basis

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Moleskine Notebooks

Subscriptions2
  • Bundle + AI - Monthly Plan$9.991 Month
  • Bundle + AI - Annual Plan3 Days trial$79.991 Year
None

Basis

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Moleskine Notebooks free?
Moleskine Notebooks is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Basis free?
Basis is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Moleskine Notebooks or Basis?
Basis is rated higher. Moleskine Notebooks averages 4.1 out of 5 from 714 ratings, while Basis averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Moleskine Notebooks or Basis have ads?
Neither Moleskine Notebooks nor Basis shows ads.

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