Comparison

Notesnook vs Scribe

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

Head to head
About

Notesnook

This open-source app offers secure, encrypted note-taking and organization across all your devices. It features a robust editor, to-do lists, and a private journal with advanced security to protect your personal information.

Highlights
  • Military-grade encryption
  • Cross-platform synchronization
  • To-do lists and task management
  • Private journal with media support
  • Rich text and Markdown editor
  • Notebook organization
  • App lock with fingerprint support
Features
Read full description

Your notes are yours. Notesnook encrypts every one of them on your device before it ever reaches the cloud — so no one can read them. Not advertisers, not us. UNLIMITED NOTES. EVERY DEVICE. FREE. Most note apps cap the free plan until it hurts. Others stop after a few dozen notes. Notesnook never limits how much you write or how many devices you sync. A REAL EDITOR Headings, tables, code blocks, maths, outlines, Markdown and full-quality images. Notes that hold up whether you are writing a shopping list or a thesis chapter. ORGANISED AT ANY SIZE Nested notebooks, tags, colours, pinned and favourite notes, and search that stays instant at 10,000 notes. Link notes to each other and build your own private wiki. PRIVACY YOU CAN CHECK YOURSELF • End-to-end encryption is always on — you cannot switch it off, so you cannot forget • Encrypted on your device, in transit and at rest, using XChaCha20-Poly1305 and Argon2 • Even your notebook and tag names are encrypted • 100% open source under AGPLv3 — read every line, or run your own sync server • Recommended by Privacy Guides IMPORT YOUR OLD NOTES Bring your notes, notebooks and tags with you. Import from your previous notes app, plus plain Markdown and HTML files. EVERYWHERE YOU WRITE iPhone, iPad, Mac and the web. Sync is instant, and encrypted the whole way. ALSO INSIDE • Web clipper — save any article, ad-free and offline • Reminders across all your devices • Note version history, so nothing is ever really lost • Publish a note to a shareable link • Dark mode and custom themes FREE FOREVER Unlimited notes, unlimited devices, 50 notebooks, 50 tags and full end-to-end encryption. No ads. No trial countdown. PAID PLANS Add task lists, callouts, recurring reminders, more storage, and — on Pro — app lock, an encrypted vault and full-quality images. From $19.99 a year. Questions or feedback: support@streetwriters.co Privacy policy: https://notesnook.com/privacy Terms: https://notesnook.com/terms

About

Scribe

Enhance your language learning with custom keyboards that offer instant translation, verb conjugation, and noun pluralization. Get grammar rule reminders and context-aware annotations directly on your keyboard.

Highlights
  • Translate words or phrases
  • Verb conjugation charts
  • Noun pluralization
  • Noun gender and preposition case annotations
  • Pronoun declension assistance
  • Supports 7 languages
Features
Read full description

Scribe is a pack of iOS and iPadOS keyboards for language learners! It provides features to help users remember grammar rules so they can effectively communicate without ever leaving their keyboard. Included Languages: French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish. Current Features: - The Translate feature can translate single words or phrases from English into the language of the current keyboard. - With the Conjugate feature, a user is presented with the grammar charts for an entered verb instead of the keyboard. Pressing an example in the charts inserts the chosen conjugation into the text field. - The Plural feature allows a user to enter a noun and then insert its plural into the text field. - Scribe further annotates noun genders and preposition cases in the command bar to help users understand the context of what they're typing. Annotations are displayed once a user has typed a given word and pressed space, by pressing the Scribe key while a word is selected as well as under autocompletions and autosuggestions. - For languages with pronoun declension, Scribe also allows for the case annotation to be clicked and then the user can select the pronoun they want based on case, subject and object. Being fully open-source including data from Wikidata, the Scribe team loves to get both feedback and contributions. Please visit us at https://github.com/scribe-org/Scribe-iOS!

Screenshots

Notesnook4 screens
Scribe4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Scribe at none against Notesnook's 20. Scribe also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7). Notesnook's advantage is ratings volume (672 vs 2) and update cadence (every 8 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Notesnook sells 17 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Scribe asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Scribe holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notesnook has 672 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Notesnook ships an update every 8 days, Scribe every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Notesnook versus Scribe: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotesnookScribe
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (672 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews78.8% of reviews—
Number of ratings672 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 8 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size96 MB141 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStreetwriters LLCAndrew McAllister

Customer experience

Notesnook

All ratings672 ratings
Positive93.0%
Neutral2.4%
Negative4.6%
Written reviews401 reviews
Positive78.8%
Neutral6.5%
Negative14.7%

Scribe

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Notesnook

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes on launch on older iOS devices
  • Sync issues leading to data loss
  • Unreliable login and verification process

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved search functionality
  • Reminders and calendar integration
  • Handwriting and drawing support
  • Multilingual support
  • Improved table and spreadsheet features

Scribe

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

17 purchases

Notesnook

Subscriptions17
  • Notesnook Pro$0.991 Month
  • Notesnook Essential Plan7 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Notesnook Pro$2.491 Month
Show 14 more
  • Notesnook Pro Plan7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Notesnook Pro3 variants$4.491 Month
  • Notesnook Pro1 Month trial$4.491 Month
  • Notesnook Pro Plan7 Days trial$6.991 Month
  • Notesnook Believer Plan7 Days trial$8.991 Month
  • Notesnook Pro$9.991 Year
  • Notesnook Essential Plan14 Days trial$19.991 Year
  • Notesnook Pro$24.991 Year
  • Notesnook Pro Plan14 Days trial$29.901 Year
  • Notesnook Pro Yearly$49.991 Year
  • Notesnook Pro2 variants$49.991 Year
  • Notesnook Pro1 Year trial$49.991 Year
  • Notesnook Pro Plan14 Days trial$69.991 Year
  • Notesnook Believer Plan14 Days trial$89.991 Year
None

Scribe

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Notesnook free?
Notesnook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Scribe free?
Scribe is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Notesnook or Scribe?
Scribe is rated higher. Notesnook averages 4.7 out of 5 from 672 ratings, while Scribe averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Notesnook or Scribe have ads?
Neither Notesnook nor Scribe shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Notesnook or Scribe?
Notesnook ships an update every 8 days, and Scribe every 3 weeks. Most recently, Notesnook was updated on October 18, 2026 and Scribe on September 25, 2026.

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