Comparison

Mental Note Lite ๛ vs Notepad

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

Notepad

Capture thoughts, create to-do lists, and organize ideas with a versatile digital notebook. Supports handwriting, text notes, and secure cloud syncing. Personalize your experience with custom themes and icons.

Highlights
  • Create to-do lists with checkboxes
  • Unlimited text notes
  • Handwritten notes with Apple Pencil
  • Organize notes into folders
  • Pin and sort notes
  • iCloud backup and sync
  • Advanced search functionality
Features
Read full description

Jot down notes and organize your ideas with Notepad—the classic notepad writing app designed for keeping track of everything that matters. [ TO-DO LISTS ] • Create beautiful task lists with interactive checkboxes to track your daily tasks and goals. • Drag and drop to reorder items—organize your to-dos exactly how you want them. • Enjoy the satisfying experience of checking off completed tasks as you get things done. • Perfect for shopping lists, daily chores, project tasks, and everything in between. [ NOTES ] • Create unlimited text notes with rich formatting—quickly and easily. • Tap anywhere to start typing—it's simple, fast, and always saved automatically. • Works perfectly in both light and dark mode. [ RICH TEXT FORMATTING ] • Style your notes with bold, italic, underline, and strikethrough. • Choose from 7 text colors and 7 highlight colors to make important details stand out. • Pick from 18 handpicked font families—each with proper bold and italic variants. • A convenient formatting toolbar sits right above the keyboard for fast access. • Switch fonts anytime—your existing formatting is preserved. [ HANDWRITTEN NOTES WITH APPLE PENCIL ] • Capture your thoughts naturally with fluid, responsive handwriting that feels like pen on paper. • Create beautiful handwritten notes, diagrams, and drawings with realistic ink flow and pressure sensitivity. • Choose from fountain pens, pencils, and highlighters with customizable colors for a personalized writing experience. • Enjoy our adaptive paper grid that works perfectly in any orientation or device. [ FOLDERS - ORGANIZE YOUR NOTES ] • Organize notes into folders and subfolders with a clean, nested structure. • Assign a unique color to each folder, making it simple to categorize and find notes at a glance. • Drag-and-drop to reorder, and move multiple notes easily. [ PIN & SORT NOTES ] • Pin important notes to the top and sort by date, custom order, or alphabetical order. [ BACKUP WITH ICLOUD ] • Keep notes safe with automatic backups and iCloud sync across your devices. [ PERSONALIZE YOUR NOTEPAD ] • Give your notepad a personal touch with unique app icons, custom colors, stylish fonts, and a sleek dark mode for night owls. [ FIND NOTES FAST ] • Use advanced search tools and text highlighting to track down exactly what you're looking for. [ KEEP YOUR NOTES SAFE ] • Lock your notes with FaceID or TouchID for extra privacy. [ SHARE & PRINT ] • Send your notes to other apps like Mail or WhatsApp, or print them directly from Notepad. [ PREMIUM FEATURES FOR POWER USERS ] • Go ad-free, unlock exclusive themes, and get advanced sorting options with Premium. Notepad combines the nostalgic feel of a simple notebook with the functionality of today's tech. Use Notepad for everything from brainstorming ideas and setting personal reminders to creating shopping lists, to-do lists, grocery lists, chores lists, appointment notes, class notes, daily goals, password hints, birthday reminders, packing lists, travel itineraries, and more. Write, organize, and stay on top of everything that matters—download Notepad now and stay productive your way! Terms of Use & Privacy Policy: https://www.oldnotepad.com/terms.

Screenshots

Mental Note Lite ๛4 screens
Notepad4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Notepad at every 8 days against Mental Note Lite ๛'s every 5 months. Notepad also leads on review sentiment (84% vs 58%) and ratings volume (28K vs 2). Mental Note Lite ๛'s advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.0). 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. Mental Note Lite ๛ sells 8 one-off in-app purchases and Notepad sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Notepad holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notepad has 28K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 58% of Mental Note Lite ๛'s written reviews are positive against 84% of Notepad's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Mental Note Lite ๛ ships an update every 5 months, Notepad every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on August 26, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Mental Note Lite ๛ versus Notepad: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMental Note Lite ๛Notepad
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (2 ratings)4.8 (28K ratings) — better
Positive reviews58.0% of reviews84.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings228K — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 8 days — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB100 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZymbiotic Technologies1381802 Ontario Inc.

Customer experience

Mental Note Lite ๛

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews176 reviews
Positive58.0%
Neutral17.0%
Negative25.0%

Notepad

All ratings27,905 ratings
Positive96.7%
Neutral1.8%
Negative1.5%
Written reviews961 reviews
Positive84.1%
Neutral4.5%
Negative11.4%

Bugs and requests

Mental Note Lite ๛

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Notepad

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Notes randomly disappearing
  • Ads covering up the note-taking area

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add drawing/highlighting tools
  • Integrate with calendar and contacts
  • Ability to sort and organize notes
  • Option to password protect specific notes

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
7 purchases

Notepad

Subscriptions4
  • Monthly Premium Membership$1.991 Month
  • Monthly Premium Subscription$2.991 Month
  • Yearly Premium Subscription$14.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Yearly Premium Subscription$17.991 Year
One-time3
  • Lifetime Premium Membership$19.99
  • Lifetime Premium Membership$29.99
  • Lifetime Premium Membership$39.99

Questions

Is Mental Note Lite ๛ free?
Mental Note Lite ๛ is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Notepad free?
Notepad is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Mental Note Lite ๛ or Notepad?
Notepad is rated higher. Mental Note Lite ๛ averages 4.5 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Notepad averages 4.8 from 28K ratings.
Do Mental Note Lite ๛ or Notepad have ads?
Both Mental Note Lite ๛ and Notepad show ads.
Which is updated more often, Mental Note Lite ๛ or Notepad?
Mental Note Lite ๛ ships an update every 5 months, and Notepad every 8 days. Most recently, Mental Note Lite ๛ was updated on August 26, 2026 and Notepad on September 24, 2026.

Other comparisons