Noteful vs Sorted
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Noteful
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.
- 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
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Noteful is your one-stop note-taking app to experience the new paperless revolution on iPad. Perfect for annotating documents, taking class notes or even building your personal knowledge system. It is time to put aside the paper clutter, as Noteful is a versatile tool that helps you to accelerate your learning and knowledge work. Take Beautiful Handwritten Notes • Natural, fluid and precise handwriting experience • Precise handwriting on iPad with Apple Pencil native support • Custom-built ink engine InfiniteStroke that captures and converts your strokes into high-resolution vector ink • 3 brushes available: ballpoint pen, fountain pen and highlighter • Switch between pen sizes and colours • Recognise geometrical shapes Markup, Highlight, Annotate • Import PDFs, MS Office documents to a notebook • Add images, shapes and typed text to notes • Use multiple paper templates in a single notebook • Export and share handwritten annotations as PDF • Use Quick Create to create a new notebook for quick sketching Powerful Tagging • Organise quickly by tagging with #tag or even #nested/tag anywhere in notebooks • More flexible than folders; Notes can be organised by subjects, by topics or by priorities • Browse notebooks or pages by tags • Rename, delete or re-assign tags to easily re-organise your library Layers in Notebook • Add annotation on separate layers without changing original content* • Hide or show layers independently • Rearrange layers • Make it possible to composite complex layout* All Your Notes, All the Time • Sync to all your iPhone and iPad devices* • Take textbooks, slides, handwritten notes and PDF documents with you wherever you go • Notebooks synced with iCloud are encrypted via account-based keys Powerful Editing • Erase strokes with eraser • Double tap on Apple Pencil to switch to eraser tool • Move and resize annotations with lasso tool • Unlimited undo, redo • Support Split View for multitasking Audio Record Notes • Record audio while you take notes • Audio playback position synced with the notes Modern App Design • A minimalist UI that maximizes content space • Streamlined design that requires fewer taps for common functions • Different orientations are available for the main toolbar • A clean UI that lets you focus on note-taking and the content We will be adding new features so please stay tuned for future updates. — Noteful is free to use without time limit but with certain features (marked with*) only available to users who upgrade to Noteful Pro via In-app purchase. Noteful Pro is available for one-time purchase and the features will be unlocked forever. — If you have support questions or product suggestions, please contact us by support. Wishing you happy note-taking! Customer Support: support@getnoteful.com Privacy Policy: https://www.getnoteful.com/privacy
Sorted
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Open Sorted and know in two seconds what needs doing today. Everything you need to do lives in three simple lists — Tasks, Shopping and Projects — and every item gets one of three colours: RED — urgent, needs doing today ORANGE — soon, this week GREEN — whenever, no rush Red always floats to the top. Tap the dot to change an item's colour — no menus, no fuss. The Today screen gathers every red item and anything due, so your whole day is one glance. SIMPLE ON PURPOSE • Three colours. No priority numbers, no labels to manage, no setup. • Add items fast — type them or speak them ("bread, milk, dog food" adds all three). • Snooze a task to tomorrow with one swipe. No guilt, no overdue badges. SHOPPING THAT WORKS IN THE SHOP • Tag items by shop (supermarket, hardware, chemist) and the list groups itself. • Tick things off as you go, then re-add regulars next week with one tap. PROJECTS WITHOUT THE OVERWHELM • Break big jobs into steps and tick them off one by one. • A progress bar shows how far you've come. FEEL THE PROGRESS • A "Done today" scoreboard shows everything you accomplished, day by day. • Clear your last red item and enjoy a little confetti. You earned it. • Optional gentle reminders: one in the morning if something's red, one in the evening telling you what you knocked off. Nothing naggy, ever. WIDGETS • Home screen and lock screen widgets show your red items at a glance — the two-second check becomes a zero-second check. PRIVATE BY DESIGN • No account. No sign-up. No tracking. Your lists never leave your phone. Sorted is for anyone who wants to get organized without managing an organizer. Three lists, three colours, done.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Sorted at none against Noteful's 1. Noteful's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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
Both are free to download. Noteful sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Sorted asks for nothing beyond the download.
Noteful ships an update fortnightly, Sorted every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Noteful | Sorted |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (24K ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 87.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 24K — better | — |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 157 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Noteful Technologies Ltd | David Coleman |
Bugs and requests
Noteful
Reported bugs
3 issues- Syncing issues across devices
- Lasso tool not working properly with PDFs
- Eraser tool not functioning as expected
Requested features
6 requests- 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.)
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- Customizable pen pressure and smoothing
Sorted
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Noteful
- Noteful Pro, Lifetime$6.99
Sorted
No in-app purchases









