Comparison

Notesnook vs Open Scanner

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

Open Scanner

Transform your device into a powerful document scanner. Quickly capture papers, automatically recognize text, and organize your scans with AI-powered features. Seamlessly share and edit your documents in various formats.

Highlights
  • Automatic text recognition (OCR)
  • Automatic document naming
  • Location-based tagging
  • Add saved signatures
  • Organize and re-order pages
  • iCloud sync
  • Annotate and edit scans
  • Export as PDF
Features
Read full description

Open Scanner is a fast and simple-to-use paper-scanning app with AI features to speed up your scanning workflow: - Automatic text recognition to build page transcript - Automatic document naming - Scans are tagged by your current location - Add signatures saved on your other devices - Native Vision Pro support - Keep your scanned documents in the Open Scanner library - Organize and re-order scanned document pages - iCloud syncs your library to all your devices - Annotate and edit your scans - Use Apple Pencil to mark up scans on iPad - Easy sharing and export of scanned documents as PDF - 100% native iOS app, with no third-party accounts necessary

Screenshots

Notesnook4 screens
Open Scanner4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Open Scanner at none against Notesnook's 20. Notesnook's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and ratings volume (672 vs 192). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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. Open Scanner asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Notesnook against 4.7 for Open Scanner. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 672 and 192 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 79% of Notesnook's written reviews are positive against 83% of Open Scanner's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Notesnook ships an update every 8 days, Open Scanner every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Notesnook versus Open Scanner: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotesnookOpen Scanner
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (672 ratings)4.7 (192 ratings)
Positive reviews78.7% of reviews83.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings672 — better192
Update frequencyEvery 8 days — betterEvery 10 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.6 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size96 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStreetwriters LLCPencil Research

Customer experience

Notesnook

All ratings672 ratings
Positive93.0%
Neutral2.4%
Negative4.6%
Written reviews399 reviews
Positive78.7%
Neutral6.5%
Negative14.8%

Open Scanner

All ratings192 ratings
Positive94.3%
Neutral3.6%
Negative2.1%
Written reviews12 reviews
Positive83.3%
Neutral16.7%
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

Open Scanner

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

Open Scanner

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Notesnook free?
Notesnook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Open Scanner free?
Open Scanner is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Notesnook or Open Scanner?
Notesnook and Open Scanner are both rated 4.7 out of 5 on the App Store, from 672 and 192 ratings respectively.
Do Notesnook or Open Scanner have ads?
Neither Notesnook nor Open Scanner shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Notesnook or Open Scanner?
Notesnook ships an update every 8 days, and Open Scanner every 10 days. Most recently, Notesnook was updated on October 15, 2026 and Open Scanner on October 14, 2026.

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