Comparison

NeatNotes vs Papyr

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

Head to head
About

NeatNotes

Organize and take notes quickly with a clean interface. See full note previews, customize note styles, and set reminders. Features smart grouping and automatic link title generation.

Highlights
  • Full note previews
  • Customizable note styles (plain, sticky, lined)
  • Home screen widgets
  • Paragraph-based reminders
  • Smart Stacks for automatic note grouping
  • Readable link titles
  • Photo integration
Features
Read full description

Less is more, when it’s done right. NeatNotes gives you only what you need to organize and take notes quickly. While other apps show you a really tiny preview, with NeatNotes you can see the real note before you open it. This makes the app more fun and easier to find your notes. Make your notes personal with three different note styles. * A plain note, with extensive formatting options. * A sticky note, with large fonts, colors and checklists. * A lined note for that nostalgic yellow pad. Mini Spreadsheets. No Tables. NeatNotes lets you perform spreadsheet-like calculations directly in your notes. Type a simple math expression and the answer is suggested underneath it. Reuse a number by dragging and dropping it elsewhere in your note. This creates a reference, so when you change the original number, every reference and related calculation updates automatically. Make a list of numbers and the total is suggested above the keyboard. You can then calculate splits and averages or count the lines in a list. You can also use units of measurement for length, volume, weight and temperature in your calculations. Convert between more than 150 fiat currencies, popular cryptocurrencies, gold and silver using the latest available exchange rates. Widgets that make sense. You can see your notes on your Home Screen with widgets. You can navigate your note by paragraph, check off checklist items, open links and even see photos in your notes. Create Multiple Reminders. Make any paragraph a reminder. Just tap the bell icon on the keyboard and you can set the date and time of the reminder. It will ring and notify you on the lock screen. When you tap the reminder, it will open the note and take you to the paragraph where you set it. Smart Stacks. All notes apps let you search your notes, but Smart Stacks takes it to the next level. 
 Smart Stacks automatically groups notes that share a trait, into one stack — like notes with contact info, or notes with checklists. You can also enter any word, and it’ll create a stack, with all the notes that contains the word. Photos and Readable links. You can add photos to your notes from your phone camera or photo library. You can even copy and paste them from another app like Safari. When you copy and paste a link, it automatically gets a readable title. So instead of seeing a complicated URL you see the title. This makes it easier for you to understand what the link is about rather than having to visit the link every time. No account needed. Use iCloud to Store and Sync. You don’t need to create another account. Just download the app and start using it. All your notes are automatically stored in iCloud and synced to other devices in your account. Privacy Your notes are extremely personal and we can't see them. In fact we don't even store them. Apple does in iCloud. We recommend that you turn on "Advanced Data Protection" in your iCloud settings, if you wish to prevent even Apple from having access to your notes.

About

Papyr

This app offers a private and efficient way to scan documents on your iPhone or iPad. It features smart editing tools to enhance scans and allows export to various formats without requiring an account. All processing is done locally on your device for maximum privacy.

Highlights
  • On-device scanning and processing
  • Smart editing tools
  • Searchable PDF export
  • Multi-page scan support
  • Automatic titles and tags
  • Export as PDF, JPEG, PNG
Features
Read full description

Papyr is a fast, private document scanner for iPhone and iPad. Capture pages, clean them up with smart editing tools, and export polished PDFs or images without creating an account. Everything happens on-device: scans, filters, OCR, titles, and tags stay local. Your documents never leave your phone unless you choose to share them. Highlights: - Printer-style scan enhancement for crisp, clean pages - Auto-detect edges with manual crop and rotate - Filters with brightness, contrast, and black point controls - Perspective correction for deskewing pages - Searchable PDFs with on-device OCR - Annotations for marks and signatures - Multi-page scans with reordering - Export as PDF, searchable PDF, JPEG, or PNG - Automatic titles and tags from OCR - Private by design with no account required

Screenshots

NeatNotes4 screens
Papyr4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Papyr at none against NeatNotes's shown. NeatNotes's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 5 weeks) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). On price, rating, in-app purchases and device support 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. NeatNotes sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Papyr sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for NeatNotes against 5.0 for Papyr. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: NeatNotes has 39 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

NeatNotes ships an update every 4 days, Papyr every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 5, 2026 and October 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
NeatNotes versus Papyr: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNeatNotesPapyr
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (39 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings39 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 5 weeks
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.217.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size32 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFusion EngineeringGagandeep Dolla

Customer experience

NeatNotes

All ratings39 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Papyr

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

NeatNotes

One-time1
  • Lifetime Unlock$7.99
3 purchases

Papyr

One-time3
  • Quick thanks$0.99
  • Coffee Time$1.99
  • Big Support$3.99

Questions

Is NeatNotes free?
NeatNotes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Papyr free?
Papyr is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, NeatNotes or Papyr?
Papyr is rated higher. NeatNotes averages 4.9 out of 5 from 39 ratings, while Papyr averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do NeatNotes or Papyr have ads?
NeatNotes shows ads; Papyr does not.
Which is updated more often, NeatNotes or Papyr?
NeatNotes ships an update every 4 days, and Papyr every 5 weeks. Most recently, NeatNotes was updated on October 5, 2026 and Papyr on October 4, 2026.

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