Comparison

Notesnook vs Saber

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

Saber

Capture and organize your thoughts with a digital handwriting app designed for intuitive use. Features include dark mode inversion for eye comfort, advanced highlighter capabilities, and robust folder organization. Secure your notes with a dual-password system and enjoy seamless syncing across all your devices.

Highlights
  • Intuitive handwriting interface
  • Dark mode inversion for eye comfort
  • Advanced multi-line equation highlighting
  • Unlimited nested folders for organization
  • Dual-password note protection
  • Seamless cross-device syncing
  • Open-source code for transparency
Features
Read full description

Saber is the notes app built for handwriting. It's designed to be as simple and intuitive as possible, while still delivering unique features that you'll actually use. Additionally, Saber is available across all your devices, large and small, and syncs between them seamlessly. Notably, it can invert your notes when you're in dark mode. This allows you to write with white ink on a black background, which is much easier on the eyes in low-light environments like when the teacher turns off the lights in class. Images and PDFs are also inverted, so you can still use a digital printout or a textbook without the fuss. Saber uses a dual-password system to protect your notes from anyone but you, even if they have complete control over the server. You can safely store your notes on the official Saber server, another server, or even host your own! The app is completely open-source so that anyone can view the source code and see exactly what it's doing and how it handles your data. Many other note-taking apps are closed-source and proprietary, meaning that their inner workings are a mystery to the public. As someone who studies maths, highlighting multi-line equations was always a hassle with other apps, where the highlighter would change color when it overlapped with itself. Another problem I had was that in some apps, the highlighter would render on top of the text, fading it out and making it hard to read. Saber's highlighter has no such issues. It utilizes canvas compositing to render the highlighter in a way that is consistent with/better than traditional paper, where it handles overlaps and maintains color consistency. Saber has everything you need to keep your notes organized. Create folders inside folders inside folders to your heart's content with no limit on the number of nested folders. And even though a note may be buried deep within a nested folder, you can still access it easily with your most recent notes always available on the home screen. Discover a whole new way to capture and organize your thoughts with Saber. Whether you're a student, professional, or creative mind, Saber is your trusted companion for digital handwriting. Download now and let your ideas flow freely!

Screenshots

Notesnook4 screens
Saber4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Notesnook at 4.7 against Saber's 4.0. Notesnook also leads on ratings volume (653 vs 21). Saber's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 20). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads 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. Saber asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Notesnook holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notesnook has 653 ratings behind it against 21, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 78% of Notesnook's written reviews are positive against 76% of Saber's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Notesnook ships an update weekly, Saber fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Notesnook versus Saber: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotesnookSaber
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (653 ratings) — better4.0 (21 ratings)
Positive reviews78.1% of reviews — better76.5% of reviews
Number of ratings653 — better21
Update frequencyWeekly — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS15.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size89 MB49 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStreetwriters LLCAdil Hanney

Customer experience

Notesnook

All ratings653 ratings
Positive93.0%
Neutral2.5%
Negative4.6%
Written reviews389 reviews
Positive78.1%
Neutral6.7%
Negative15.2%

Saber

All ratings21 ratings
Positive76.2%
Neutral9.5%
Negative14.3%
Written reviews17 reviews
Positive76.5%
Neutral17.6%
Negative5.9%

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

Saber

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

Saber

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Notesnook free?
Notesnook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Saber free?
Saber is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Notesnook or Saber?
Notesnook is rated higher. Notesnook averages 4.7 out of 5 from 653 ratings, while Saber averages 4.0 from 21 ratings.
Do Notesnook or Saber have ads?
Neither Notesnook nor Saber shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Notesnook or Saber?
Notesnook ships an update weekly, and Saber fortnightly. Most recently, Notesnook was updated on October 2, 2026 and Saber on September 22, 2026.

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