Mental Note ๛ vs Mental Note Lite ๛
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Mental Note ๛
This app offers a versatile digital notepad experience, allowing users to combine text, photos, voice recordings, and drawings on a single page. Capture ideas in any format, organize them with tags, and share them easily.
- Combine text, photos, audio, and drawings
- Finger drawing with multiple colors
- Add photos from album or camera
- Record audio while editing notes
- Organize notes with tags
- Password protect private notes
- Export notes in various formats (PDF, text)
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"...a true notepad experience that may help you make a clean break from the pencil-and-paper era." -New York Times. Users describe Mental Note as "the only notepad app... that's actually better than, and as simple as, a pen and paper." It's "the future of note taking", and "a big sketchpad... [to] free associate and put stuff down in any format". Turn your iPhone into a digital notepad. Combine photographs, voice recordings, drawings and text - all on the same page, in any order you choose. An idea... a flash - a moment of genius. When a thought hits, and you have to remember it, why limit how you record it? The more context and sensory details you can capture, the clearer the idea can be put down. Use photographs, audio, sketching and text together on the same page... a digital page that can be shared with anyone. Mental Note allows you to capture ideas as they happen: use photographs, dictate, add text, sketch on anything. Ideas clarified. Creativity captured. FEATURES - Draw with your finger using multiple colours and widths on top of photographs, text, or anywhere else on the page. Zoom in to sketch fine details. - Take a photo or choose one from your album and add it to the page. - Add audio to the page by recording with your microphone. Continue to edit your note while recording. - Organize your notes using tags. - Password protect your private notes and flag your important ones. - Attach Calendar events to your notes. - Undo, redo anything in the note by shaking the device. - Delete note sections using the toolbar button or by swiping any note section. - Move a note section by swiping and then dragging it to its new location. - Length of a note is limited only by device memory. - Export in a variety of formats including PDF, text, Mental Note format, and more. Send using email, iCloud, Dropbox, and more. * Send a note in Mental Note format so the note may be imported into another person's Mental Note app. * Using email, export a complete note directly from Mental Note as either a PDF document or a picture (each audio recording is attached to the email as a separate file). You can also email just the text from your note. - Export your notes and backups to your iCloud and/or Dropbox account. - Share a note with your friends using most installed apps. - Map the location a note was created at (if location services are enabled). - Change the size and font of the text in your notes. - Change the color and background of your notes. - Numerous other configuration options. THIS VERSION IS OPTIMIZED FOR iPhone. FOR iPad, PLEASE SEE Mental Note for iPad. Read more: www.zymbiotic.com X @zymbiotic facebook.com/zymbiotic
Mental Note Lite ๛
This app transforms your device into a versatile digital notepad. Seamlessly combine text, drawings, photos, and voice recordings on a single page to capture ideas in rich detail. Organize, protect, and share your notes in various formats.
- Combine text, photos, audio, and drawings
- Finger drawing with multiple colors
- Organize notes with tags
- Password protect private notes
- Export notes to PDF, text, and more
- Share notes via email and cloud services
Read full descriptionHide full description
"...a true notepad experience that may help you make a clean break from the pencil-and-paper era." -New York Times. Users describe Mental Note as "the only notepad app... that's actually better than, and as simple as, a pen and paper." It's "the future of note taking", and "a big sketchpad... [to] free associate and put stuff down in any format". Turn your iPhone into a digital notepad. Combine photographs, voice recordings, drawings and text - all on the same page, in any order you choose. An idea... a flash - a moment of genius. When a thought hits, and you have to remember it, why limit how you record it? The more context and sensory details you can capture, the clearer the idea can be put down. Use photographs, audio, sketching and text together on the same page... a digital page that can be shared with anyone. Mental Note allows you to capture ideas as they happen: use photographs, dictate, add text, sketch on anything. Ideas clarified. Creativity captured. FEATURES - Draw with your finger using multiple colours and widths on top of photographs, text, or anywhere else on the page. Zoom in to sketch fine details. - Take a photo or choose one from your album and add it to the page. - Add audio to the page by recording with your microphone. Continue to edit your note while recording. - Organize your notes using tags. - Password protect your private notes and flag your important ones. - Attach Calendar events to your notes. - Undo, redo anything in the note by shaking the device. - Delete note sections using the toolbar button or by swiping any note section. - Move a note section by swiping and then dragging it to its new location. - Length of a note is limited only by device memory. - Export in a variety of formats including PDF, text, Mental Note format, and more. Send using email, iCloud, Dropbox, and more. * Send a note in Mental Note format so the note may be imported into another person's Mental Note app. * Using email, export a complete note directly from Mental Note as either a PDF document or a picture (each audio recording is attached to the email as a separate file). You can also email just the text from your note. - Export your notes and backups to your iCloud and/or Dropbox account. - Share a note with your friends using most installed apps. - Map the location a note was created at (if location services are enabled). - Change the size and font of the text in your notes. - Change the color and background of your notes. - Numerous other configuration options. The Mental Note Lite digital notepad comes with space for four notes. Upgrade to the full version of Mental Note to create an unlimited number of notes. Read more: www.zymbiotic.com X @zymbiotic facebook.com/zymbiotic
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Mental Note Lite ๛ at Free against Mental Note ๛'s $4.99. Mental Note Lite ๛ also leads on rating (4.5 vs 4.0). Mental Note ๛'s advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (15 vs 2). On review sentiment, update cadence, 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
Mental Note Lite ๛ is free to download; Mental Note ๛ costs $4.99 up front. Mental Note ๛ sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Mental Note Lite ๛ sells 8 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Mental Note Lite ๛ holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Mental Note ๛ has 15 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 63% of Mental Note ๛'s written reviews are positive against 58% of Mental Note Lite ๛'s, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and August 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Mental Note ๛ | Mental Note Lite ๛ |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.0 (15 ratings) | 4.5 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 63.2% of reviews — better | 58.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 15 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 5 months |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 10 MB | 10 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Zymbiotic Technologies | Zymbiotic Technologies |
Customer experience
Mental Note ๛
Mental Note Lite ๛
Bugs and requests
Mental Note ๛
Reported bugs
4 issues- Notes sometimes disappear or get deleted unexpectedly
- Audio recording feature not working properly
- Keyboard issues causing loss of typed text
- Location services not accurately detecting user's location
Requested features
6 requests- Add iCloud or Dropbox sync
- Implement copy/paste and text formatting options
- Improve drawing tools with more customization
- Introduce a task/to-do list feature
- Add video recording capability
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- Provide more font and color options
Mental Note Lite ๛
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Mental Note ๛
- Paper Customization feature$2.99
- Straight Line Drawing feature$3.99
- Dark Mode Override feature$3.99
Mental Note Lite ๛
- Paper Customization feature$2.99
- 100 sheet refill pack$3.99
- Note Copying feature (includes free Note Linking feature)$3.99
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- Export to another app feature$3.99
- Password Protection feature$3.99
- Straight Line Drawing feature$3.99
- Dark Mode Override feature$3.99
- 250 sheet refill pack$4.99
Questions
Is Mental Note ๛ free?
Is Mental Note Lite ๛ free?
Which has better reviews, Mental Note ๛ or Mental Note Lite ๛?
Do Mental Note ๛ or Mental Note Lite ๛ have ads?
Which is updated more often, Mental Note ๛ or Mental Note Lite ๛?
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