# Noteful vs Freenotes®

Noteful and Freenotes® both sit at 4.8 stars, but that hides the real split: 87% of Noteful's written reviews are positive against 59% of Freenotes®'s. Freenotes®'s advantage is update cadence (weekly vs fortnightly). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Noteful sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Freenotes® sells 17 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Noteful against 4.7 for Freenotes®. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 24K and 64K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 87% of Noteful's written reviews are positive against 59% of Freenotes®'s.

Noteful ships an update fortnightly, Freenotes® weekly. Both last shipped on October 30, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | Noteful | Freenotes® |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.8 (24K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/noteful-notes-and-pdf-markup/id1587904334/reviews)** | [4.7 (64K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/freenotes-ai-notes-taking/id6464237904/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 24K | **64K** |
| Positive reviews | **86.9% of reviews** | 59.3% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | **Weekly** |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 157 MB | 660 MB |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 | **15.5** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Noteful Technologies Ltd](https://appshunter.io/developer/1587904336) | [Free Notes AI Note Taker LTD](https://appshunter.io/developer/6775767870) |

## 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.)


### Freenotes®

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/freenotes-ai-notes-taking/id6464237904)

This AI-powered digital notepad transforms your device into an intelligent workspace. It offers handwriting recognition, PDF annotation, and AI assistance for summarizing documents, answering questions, and aiding in study. Organize notes, sketch ideas, and sync across devices for a seamless paperless experience.

**Highlights:** AI Summaries and Chat with PDFs, AI Homework and Study Helper, Handwritten Note Organization, OCR Search and PDF Annotation, Infinite Canvas and Shape Recognition, Active Recall Tape and Flashcards, Picture-in-Picture Video Note-Taking

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

**In-app purchases (17)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Freenotes Weekly Plus Member | $1.99 | per 7 days |
| Freenotes Weekly Pro Member | $6.99 | per 7 days |
| Premium Freenotes AI Weekly | $6.99 | per 7 days |
| Freenotes Yearly Plus Member | $9.99 | per year |
| Freenotes Yearly Plus Member | $9.99 | per year |
| Monthly Pro Member Promotion | $19.99 | per month |
| Freenotes Monthly Pro Member | $19.99 | per month |
| Premium Freenotes AI Monthly | $19.99 | per month |
| Freenotes Yearly Pro Member | $39.99 | per year |
| Freenotes Yearly Pro Member | $39.99 | per year |
| Marketplace Content | $1.99 | one-time |
| Marketplace Content | $2.99 | one-time |
| Marketplace Content | $3.99 | one-time |
| Marketplace Content | $9.99 | one-time |
| Marketplace Content | $10.99 | one-time |
| Freenotes Remove Ads | $29.99 | one-time |
| Freenotes Plus Member Lifetime | $29.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Completely free app with no ads or in-app purchases
- 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly interface
- 📚 Comprehensive note-taking features (layers, templates, stickers, etc.)
- 🎨 Highly customizable (colors, fonts, covers, etc.)
- 🗂️ Excellent organization tools (folders, notebooks, etc.)

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional issues with syncing and iCloud backup
- 🖌️ Limited customization options for pen/pencil settings
- 🔍 Lack of handwriting recognition and search
- 🔗 No support for external links or clickable content
- 🔀 Difficulty in rearranging or splitting notebooks

**Reported bugs**

- Occasional freezing or lagging when writing/drawing
- Issues with the shape recognition tool not working as expected
- Problems with the eraser tool not functioning properly

**Requested features**

- Add handwriting recognition and search functionality
- Improve iCloud sync and backup capabilities
- Expand pen/pencil customization options
- Implement support for external links and clickable content
- Introduce features for easier notebook organization and splitting


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Noteful free?

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

### Is Freenotes® free?

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

### Which has better reviews, Noteful or Freenotes®?

Noteful is rated higher. Noteful averages 4.8 out of 5 from 24K ratings, while Freenotes® averages 4.7 from 64K ratings.

### Do Noteful or Freenotes® have ads?

Neither Noteful nor Freenotes® shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Noteful or Freenotes®?

Noteful ships an update fortnightly, and Freenotes® weekly. Most recently, Noteful was updated on October 30, 2026 and Freenotes® on October 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.*