Comparison

Handwriting Book vs Element Note

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Handwriting Book

This app offers an infinite canvas for note-taking and creative work. It features natural writing, shape and text insertion, document scanning, and easy sharing options. Organize your notes with folders and tags, and sync across devices.

Highlights
  • Infinite canvas
  • Natural writing experience
  • Insert text, shapes, and images
  • Built-in document scanner
  • Folder and tag organization
  • Multi-device synchronization
  • Export to PDF and image
Features
Read full description

Handwriting Book is an efficient app with infinite canvas. Natural and smooth writing, infinitely enlarged canvas, and supports the insertion of various geometric figures, texts, and pictures, whether it is recording class notes, meeting minutes, or any creative ideas, you can do it all easily. 【Fluent writing】 - Infinitely expand the enlarged canvas - Drag, zoom in and out at will, zoom to origin or zoom to fit canvas with one click - Real brushstrokes, natural and smooth writing - Can be set to use only Apple Pencil to avoid accidental touch - One-click switching between browsing and editing modes - Undo and redo 【Canvas settings】 - You can set canvas style, grid, horizontal line, vertical line, dot, etc. - You can set the color of the guide line or turn off the guide line - You can set canvas background 【Quick Insert】 - Insert text anywhere, support custom font size, font, font color, background color - Built-in document scanner, scan textbooks, contracts and other paper documents, automatically identify text content - Supports insertion of multiple geometric shapes, rectangle, circle, line, arrow, triangle, star, cylinder, cube, sine cosine, cone, coordinate system. At the same time, the inserted shapes can be customized with various parameters and saved as default properties. - Support for inserting photos in albums 【Note management】 - Unlimited note creation - Support for creating folders and classifying documents - Tag notes to find them faster - With a recently deleted folder, notes are no longer afraid of accidentally deleted - Directly choose to create notes on your local device or iCloud Drive - Copy, move, share notes with one click 【Easy Sharing】 - One-click sharing - One-click export (support image, PDF, drafts format) 【Multi-device synchronization】 - iCloud cloud storage, important data will never disappear - iPhone, iPad multi-device synchronization Subscription instructions: 1. Subscription service: We offer annual subscription 2. Subscription price: The subscription price depends on the selected subscription package, and the actual price shall prevail 3. Automatic renewal: Subscription will automatically renew unless you turn off automatic renewal at least 24 hours before the end of the current subscription period Privacy Policy: https://icreamapp.home.blog/2022/10/08/privacy-policy-15/ Terms of Use: https://icreamapp.home.blog/2022/10/08/term-of-use/ If you have any questions or suggestions about our app, please e-mail lilliancream@163.com.We are looking forward to your feedbacks.

About

Element Note

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
Read full description

Element Note is the next-gen note taking, PDF annotation, and light sketching app. We stripped down the unnecessaries and carefully polished the elemental functions for a digital notebook. With a modern look and powerful features, Element Note strives to provide an elegant writing space free of distractions. Features: Unique brushes - Pencil (HB Pencil, Mechanical Pencil) - Pen (Pen, Line Pen, Fountain Pen) - Brush (Art Brush, Round Brush) - Marker (Marker, Round Marker) Best-in-class note rendering engine - Smooth and fluid drawing powered by Metal technology - Support gradient ink for more expressive notes Powerful attachments - Text - Shape - Sticker - Image Universal Search - Search through your PDF & Handwritting using on device OCR Smart Darkmode - Smartly adapts all of your notes to the system darkmode without changing the paper or stroke colors. iCloud Sync & Collaboration - Sync via your personal iCloud (No data is passed to our server) - Collaborate through iCloud collaboration for up to 100 users. Desktop class organization - Intuitive multi-select drag and drop gesture to organize your notes or pages Element Note is free to try for up to 3 notes. Unlock the full app with an in app purchase to create unlimited notes. Terms and Conditions https://elementnote.app/terms Privacy Policy https://elementnote.app/privacy

Screenshots

Handwriting Book4 screens
Element Note4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Element Note at 68% against Handwriting Book's 0%. Element Note also leads on rating (4.6 vs 3.6) and ratings volume (2.6K vs 7). Handwriting Book's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Handwriting Book sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $4.49 per year 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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Element Note holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Element Note has 2.6K ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of Handwriting Book's written reviews are positive against 68% of Element Note's.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Handwriting Book versus Element Note: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHandwriting BookElement Note
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.6 (7 ratings)4.6 (2.6K ratings) — better
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews68.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings72.6K — better
Update frequency—Fortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB129 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer婧 李Soysauce Lab

Customer experience

Handwriting Book

All ratings7 ratings
Positive42.9%
Neutral42.9%
Negative14.3%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative75.0%

Element Note

All ratings2,564 ratings
Positive90.5%
Neutral4.1%
Negative5.4%
Written reviews335 reviews
Positive68.1%
Neutral11.6%
Negative20.3%

Bugs and requests

Handwriting Book

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Element Note

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • 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

6 requests
  • 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
Show 1 more
  • Seasonal or custom sticker packs

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Handwriting Book

Subscriptions1
  • Annual subscription$4.491 Year
5 purchases

Element Note

Subscriptions2
  • Element Note Yearly$3.491 Year
  • Element Note Yearly$4.991 Year
One-time3
  • Lifetime Launch Special$4.99
  • Lifetime$9.99
  • Lifetime$14.99

Questions

Is Handwriting Book free?
Handwriting Book 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, Handwriting Book or Element Note?
Element Note is rated higher. Handwriting Book averages 3.6 out of 5 from 7 ratings, while Element Note averages 4.6 from 2.6K ratings.
Do Handwriting Book or Element Note have ads?
Neither Handwriting Book nor Element Note shows ads.

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