Comparison

Mental Note Lite ๛ vs Noteday

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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 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

About

Noteday

Features
Read full description

Noteday is the notebook that feels like paper and thinks like a study partner. Write with buttery, low-latency Apple Pencil ink at up to 120Hz — pressure, tilt, and shapes that snap into place. Then let Noteday AI turn what you wrote into summaries, flashcards, quizzes, and even images, right on the page. WRITE THAT FEELS LIKE PAPER • Ultra-responsive 120Hz ink with real pressure • Straight-line snap and instant shape recognition • Partial eraser, lasso select, and a laser pointer for presenting • Zoom-write box and a ruler for precise work PAGES BUILT FOR REAL LIFE • Add text, images, stickers, sticky notes, and tables to any page • Organize with folders and search your typed content • Reorder, duplicate, and manage pages with ease • Record audio right alongside your notes • Set local reminders so nothing slips TEMPLATES MADE TO BE USED • Free hero planners, to-do lists, Cornell notes, and more built in • A growing marketplace of à-la-carte packs — productivity, student, finance, fitness, medical, music, travel and more • Buy once, own forever — apply any template as a page in any notebook COVERS WORTH COLLECTING • Museum-art covers from Hokusai, Van Gogh, Klimt, Monet, William Morris, and İznik masters • Full Gold, Full Silver, and Rose Gold metal covers with a live, moving gleam • Personalize with your name, monogram, and font • Import your own PDF or PNG as a cover NOTEDAY AI THAT STUDIES WITH YOU • Ask your notes and get answers with page references • Summarize, outline, make flashcards, build quizzes, and rewrite • Turn a description into an image placed straight onto your page • Start with 25 welcome credits, top up with credit packs anytime EXPORT & SHARE • Export any notebook as PDF or image to share anywhere NOTEDAY PRO Go unlimited with Noteday Pro: • Unlimited notebooks (free plan includes 2) • No ads • Premium stickers • 1,000 AI credits every month Noteday Pro is $2.99/month or $19.99/year with a 7-day free trial. • Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. • Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. • Your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the end of the current period. • Manage or cancel anytime in your Apple Account settings. • Any unused portion of a free trial is forfeited when you buy a subscription. • Templates, covers, and credit packs are one-time purchases you own forever. Privacy Policy: https://getnoteday.com/privacy Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Questions? getnoteday.com/support

Screenshots

Mental Note Lite ๛4 screens
Noteday4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Noteday at none against Mental Note Lite ๛'s shown. Noteday also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 5 months). Mental Note Lite ๛'s advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). On price, 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. Mental Note Lite ๛ sells 8 one-off in-app purchases and Noteday sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Mental Note Lite ๛ ships an update every 5 months, Noteday every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Mental Note Lite ๛ versus Noteday: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMental Note Lite ๛Noteday
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (2 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews58.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB34 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZymbiotic TechnologiesGambit Global LTD

In-app purchases

8 purchases

Mental Note Lite ๛

One-time8
  • Paper Customization feature$2.99
  • 100 sheet refill pack$3.99
  • Note Copying feature (includes free Note Linking feature)$3.99
Show 5 more
  • 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
10 purchases

Noteday

One-time10
  • Project Plan$0.99
  • Contraction Timer$0.99
  • Baby Feeding Log$0.99
Show 7 more
  • Milestone Tracker$0.99
  • Exam Study Planner$0.99
  • Class Schedule$0.99
  • Pregnancy Appointments$0.99
  • Pregnancy Journal$0.99
  • Invoice Log$0.99
  • Client / CRM$0.99

Questions

Is Mental Note Lite ๛ free?
Mental Note Lite ๛ is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Noteday free?
Noteday is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Mental Note Lite ๛ or Noteday have ads?
Mental Note Lite ๛ shows ads; Noteday does not.
Which is updated more often, Mental Note Lite ๛ or Noteday?
Mental Note Lite ๛ ships an update every 5 months, and Noteday every 2 weeks. Most recently, Mental Note Lite ๛ was updated on November 6, 2026 and Noteday on November 5, 2026.

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