Comparison

Saber vs Plane Notes

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

Head to head
About

Saber

Capture and organize your thoughts with a digital handwriting app designed for intuitive use. Features include dark mode inversion for eye comfort, advanced highlighter capabilities, and robust folder organization. Secure your notes with a dual-password system and enjoy seamless syncing across all your devices.

Highlights
  • Intuitive handwriting interface
  • Dark mode inversion for eye comfort
  • Advanced multi-line equation highlighting
  • Unlimited nested folders for organization
  • Dual-password note protection
  • Seamless cross-device syncing
  • Open-source code for transparency
Features
Read full description

Saber is the notes app built for handwriting. It's designed to be as simple and intuitive as possible, while still delivering unique features that you'll actually use. Additionally, Saber is available across all your devices, large and small, and syncs between them seamlessly. Notably, it can invert your notes when you're in dark mode. This allows you to write with white ink on a black background, which is much easier on the eyes in low-light environments like when the teacher turns off the lights in class. Images and PDFs are also inverted, so you can still use a digital printout or a textbook without the fuss. Saber uses a dual-password system to protect your notes from anyone but you, even if they have complete control over the server. You can safely store your notes on the official Saber server, another server, or even host your own! The app is completely open-source so that anyone can view the source code and see exactly what it's doing and how it handles your data. Many other note-taking apps are closed-source and proprietary, meaning that their inner workings are a mystery to the public. As someone who studies maths, highlighting multi-line equations was always a hassle with other apps, where the highlighter would change color when it overlapped with itself. Another problem I had was that in some apps, the highlighter would render on top of the text, fading it out and making it hard to read. Saber's highlighter has no such issues. It utilizes canvas compositing to render the highlighter in a way that is consistent with/better than traditional paper, where it handles overlaps and maintains color consistency. Saber has everything you need to keep your notes organized. Create folders inside folders inside folders to your heart's content with no limit on the number of nested folders. And even though a note may be buried deep within a nested folder, you can still access it easily with your most recent notes always available on the home screen. Discover a whole new way to capture and organize your thoughts with Saber. Whether you're a student, professional, or creative mind, Saber is your trusted companion for digital handwriting. Download now and let your ideas flow freely!

About

Plane Notes

An intuitive notebook app featuring an infinite canvas for note-taking and idea organization. It allows for seamless creation and management of notes without page limitations.

Highlights
  • Infinite canvas
  • Intuitive interface
  • Note organization
  • Idea management
  • Seamless note creation
Features
Read full description

This is an intuitive infinite canvas notebook app.

Screenshots

Saber4 screens
Plane Notes1 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Plane Notes at 4.6 against Saber's 4.0. Plane Notes also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs fortnightly) and ratings volume (93 vs 21). Saber's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ads (none vs shown). On price 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. Plane Notes sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Saber asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Plane Notes holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 21 and 93 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 76% of Saber's written reviews are positive against 43% of Plane Notes's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Saber ships an update fortnightly, Plane Notes every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 1 level
Saber versus Plane Notes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSaberPlane Notes
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (21 ratings)4.6 (93 ratings) — better
Positive reviews76.5% of reviews — better43.5% of reviews
Number of ratings2193 — better
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 2 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size49 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAdil HanneyJumpei Adachi

Customer experience

Saber

All ratings21 ratings
Positive76.2%
Neutral9.5%
Negative14.3%
Written reviews17 reviews
Positive76.5%
Neutral17.6%
Negative5.9%

Plane Notes

All ratings93 ratings
Positive88.2%
Neutral6.5%
Negative5.4%
Written reviews23 reviews
Positive43.5%
Neutral26.1%
Negative30.4%

In-app purchases

None

Saber

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Plane Notes

One-time1
  • Paid Version$5.99

Questions

Is Saber free?
Saber is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Plane Notes free?
Plane Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Saber or Plane Notes?
Plane Notes is rated higher. Saber averages 4.0 out of 5 from 21 ratings, while Plane Notes averages 4.6 from 93 ratings.
Do Saber or Plane Notes have ads?
Plane Notes shows ads; Saber does not.
Which is updated more often, Saber or Plane Notes?
Saber ships an update fortnightly, and Plane Notes every 2 days. Most recently, Saber was updated on September 22, 2026 and Plane Notes on September 24, 2026.

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