# Noteful vs Study Stack

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Study Stack at none against Noteful's 1. Study Stack also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.8) and review sentiment (100% vs 87%). Noteful's advantage is ratings volume (24K vs 2). On price, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Noteful sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Study Stack asks for nothing beyond the download.

Study Stack holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Noteful has 24K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 87% of Noteful's written reviews are positive against 100% of Study Stack's.

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Noteful | Study Stack |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.8 (24K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/noteful-notes-and-pdf-markup/id1587904334/reviews) | **[5.0 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/study-stack/id1588432598/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **24K** | 2 |
| Positive reviews | 86.9% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Fortnightly |
| Monetization | Freemium | **Free** |
| Size | 157 MB | 1 MB |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 | **14.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Noteful Technologies Ltd](https://appshunter.io/developer/1587904336) | [Erik Mederos](https://appshunter.io/developer/1591538592) |

## What reviewers say

### Noteful

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/noteful-notes-and-pdf-markup/id1587904334)

This app revolutionizes paperless note-taking on iPad, allowing for handwritten notes, document annotation, and knowledge organization. It offers a fluid writing experience, PDF markup, powerful tagging, and audio recording synced with notes.

**Highlights:** Handwritten notes with Apple Pencil, PDF and document annotation, Organize notes with tags, Layers for annotations, Audio recording synced with notes, Import PDFs and MS Office documents

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Noteful Pro, Lifetime | $6.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Smooth writing experience
- 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
- 💡 Layers feature
- 👍 Affordable one-time purchase
- 🚀 Efficient and lightweight

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional crashes or freezes
- 🔍 No handwriting recognition or search
- 🔍 Limited text editing options
- 🔍 Lack of advanced features like math conversion
- 🔍 Exporting PDFs loses some formatting

**Reported bugs**

- Syncing issues across devices
- Lasso tool not working properly with PDFs
- Eraser tool not functioning as expected

**Requested features**

- Handwriting recognition and search
- More text editing options (bullet lists, etc.)
- Improved PDF handling and annotations
- Custom templates and sticker support
- Expanded cloud storage options (Dropbox, OneDrive, etc.)


### Study Stack

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/study-stack/id1588432598)

Manage all your academic tasks, assignments, and exams in one organized place. Track daily courses, upcoming deadlines, and overdue work with clear visual indicators. Features a clean interface with light and dark mode support.

**Highlights:** Add courses with details, Track assignments and exams, View daily courses and upcoming deadlines, Mark assignments as complete, Sort lists by importance, Light and dark mode support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Noteful free?

Noteful is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Study Stack free?

Study Stack is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Noteful or Study Stack?

Study Stack is rated higher. Noteful averages 4.8 out of 5 from 24K ratings, while Study Stack averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.

### Do Noteful or Study Stack have ads?

Neither Noteful nor Study Stack shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Noteful or Study Stack?

Noteful ships an update fortnightly, and Study Stack fortnightly. Most recently, Noteful was updated on October 19, 2026 and Study Stack on October 3, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*