# Noteful vs Element Note

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Noteful at 87% against Element Note's 68%. Noteful also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.6) and ratings volume (24K vs 2.6K). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Noteful sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Element Note sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $3.49 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Noteful holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Noteful has 24K ratings behind it against 2.6K, 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 68% of Element Note's.

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Noteful | Element Note |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.8 (24K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/noteful-notes-and-pdf-markup/id1587904334/reviews)** | [4.6 (2.6K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/element-note/id6444015673/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **24K** | 2.6K |
| Positive reviews | **87.4% of reviews** | 68.1% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Fortnightly |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 157 MB | 129 MB |
| Requires iOS | **16.4** | 17.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, Mac** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Noteful Technologies Ltd](https://appshunter.io/developer/1587904336) | [Soysauce Lab](https://appshunter.io/developer/598496583) |

## 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.)


### Element Note

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/element-note/id6444015673)

This app offers a distraction-free digital notebook experience with advanced handwriting, PDF annotation, and sketching capabilities. It features unique brushes, a powerful rendering engine, and smart organization tools. Sync your notes across devices and collaborate with others seamlessly.

**Highlights:** Unique handwriting brushes, Smooth drawing engine, PDF annotation, Text, shape, and image attachments, On-device OCR search, Smart dark mode, iCloud sync and collaboration

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

**In-app purchases (5)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Element Note Yearly | $3.49 | per year |
| Element Note Yearly | $4.99 | per year |
| Lifetime Launch Special | $4.99 | one-time |
| Lifetime | $9.99 | one-time |
| Lifetime | $14.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Smooth handwriting experience
- 💡 Customizable pens and colors
- 👍 Clean and intuitive interface
- 🎨 Gradient and gradient brush tools
- 📚 Great for journaling and note-taking

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
- 🔍 Search function not working
- 🖼️ Issues with image handling and export
- 🔀 Difficulty switching between pen and eraser
- 🔑 Lack of password/locking feature for notes

**Reported bugs**

- Notes and files randomly disappearing
- Inconsistent behavior when using the floating keyboard
- Handwriting recognition not working as expected
- Exported PDFs losing formatting and background colors

**Requested features**

- Ruler tool
- Ability to resize/rotate selections
- Improved text editing and formatting
- Presentation mode for connecting to displays
- Ability to import/export multiple files at once


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Noteful free?

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

### Is Element Note free?

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

### Which has better reviews, Noteful or Element Note?

Noteful is rated higher. Noteful averages 4.8 out of 5 from 24K ratings, while Element Note averages 4.6 from 2.6K ratings.

### Do Noteful or Element Note have ads?

Neither Noteful nor Element Note shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Noteful or Element Note?

Noteful ships an update fortnightly, and Element Note fortnightly. Most recently, Noteful was updated on October 1, 2026 and Element Note on September 30, 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.*