Comparison

abcNotes Full Version vs Notebook

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

Head to head
About

abcNotes Full Version

This app allows you to create stylish and functional notes and to-do lists with a realistic paper sticky note feel. It offers extensive customization options for appearance and functionality, including iCloud synchronization and checklist management.

Highlights
  • iCloud Synchronization
  • Checklist style notes
  • Customizable appearance (backgrounds, skins, icons)
  • Virtual desktops
  • Scale, rotate, and drag notes
  • Email and share notes
  • Save notes as images
Read full description

• iCloud Synchronization between iOS and MacOS X! • Checklist style notes! Manage your tasks directly on notes. abcNotes was designed to become your stylish and highly customizable, functional and easy to use assistant in taking notes and managing To Do lists. abcNotes is an awesome note taking application! It takes advantage of unique iOS devices touchscreen preserving realistic look & feel of paper sticky notes. abc Notes - Checklist & Sticky Note Application for iPhone and iPad (share, email and synch your lists, memos, projects and school notebooks) HINT: To make a checklist note: Double tap the note to edit it. Tap the Note Properties button (blue one with tools icon). Find the checklist switch next to text alignment toggles. The total number of unchecked items is displayed as badge on abcNotes icon. BEAUTIFUL APPEARANCE: • 88 backgrounds to choose from • 45 note skins • 27 badge designs & 115 icons EXTREMELY FUNCTIONAL: • 15 virtual desktops • Scale, rotate and drag notes • Easy to edit, duplicate, move between desktops • Supports any iPad orientation SHARE YOUR NOTES: • Email notes and desktops • Copy note image to any application • Synchronize notes between iOS devices • Save notes as image and place to lock or home screen No more boring note lists – abcNotes brings you the ability to make REAL notes on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. Put everything you need to remember into abcNotes! View you notes the way you want! Rotate your abcNotes to any angle you wish! abcNotes is great for shopping lists, student class notebook, to record lecture and interview notes or to track projects, recordings and more tasks at home, school and university (class or homework). Please feel free to contact us at alsedi.apple@gmail.com if you have suggestions, feature requests, or bug reports.

About

Notebook

Capture your thoughts, ideas, and tasks with a versatile digital notebook. Create rich notes with text, files, audio, and video. Organize content visually, collaborate in real-time, and access everything across your devices.

Highlights
  • Rich note creation with text, files, audio, and video
  • Checklist creation for task management
  • Bookmark collection and offline reading
  • Kanban-style note organization
  • Real-time collaboration and sharing
  • AI-powered journaling suggestions
  • Cross-device and cloud synchronization
Features
Read full description

Zoho Notebook is a free, ad-free note-taking app for students, teams and researchers: capture, find and reuse what you write down — typed notes, Apple Pencil handwriting, voice recordings with AI transcription, checklists, files and document scans in one note. Syncs across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and other devices. WHAT PEOPLE USE NOTEBOOK FOR 1. MEETING AND LECTURE NOTES Record with audio or video cards; Notebook AI turns it into searchable text with timestamps, so you jump straight to the decision instead of replaying it. Structured minutes with title, participants, decisions and action points sit in the note beside your highlights. Record screen and self at once; longer videos get chapters. 2. STUDY AND RESEARCH Record lectures and search the transcript weeks later. Scan textbooks and business cards, handwrite and sketch with Apple Pencil, use OCR to find text inside photos and handwritten notes, so nothing you captured becomes unfindable. A long note becomes an AI mind map before an exam. 3. DAILY TO-DOS AND JOURNALING Dedicated checklist cards keep tasks beside your notes, and recurring reminders keep them on schedule. Journaling prompts come from your own activity, easier to keep than a blank page. 4. FILES, SCANS, AND SAVED READING Add PDFs, Word docs and spreadsheets with file cards. Articles, videos, recipes and how-tos become Smart Cards, formatted automatically, readable offline and ad-free. Group it all into nested collections. QUESTIONS PEOPLE ASK Is it free? Yes, with 2GB of free storage and no ads. Notebook Pro adds more storage, longer notes, larger attachments, Email-In to save emails as notes, premium covers, and custom recurring reminders. Can I move my notes from Evernote, Google Keep, or OneNote? Yes, with dedicated migration tools; it arrives organized. Is my data private? Notes are encrypted in transit and at rest. We never sell your data and never show ads. Lock notes or notebooks with a password, Touch ID or Face ID; previews stay hidden until unlocked. Does it work offline? Yes. Create, edit and read offline, then pick up on another device once it syncs to the cloud. What can Notebook AI do? Transcribe audio and video, build mind maps, summarize and simplify, fix grammar, set tone (casual, professional, friendly, direct, or confident), translate into any language, draft notes, checklists, tables, code or a template from a prompt, and suggest tags. Notebook AI is a separate add-on. Does it use on-device AI and Siri? Yes. An on-device Knowledge Graph links ideas across notebooks and answers questions from your own notes. Siri creates and updates notes by voice with the app closed, and On-Screen Awareness summarizes what's on screen without switching apps. Can I share with non-users? Yes. @mention people to collaborate in real time, or publish a public note or video by link. MORE INSIDE - Search by title, content, tag, collaborator, or notebook; filter by any card type, contact, or link; search within one note; sort by date or relevance, with auto-suggestions and recent searches, offline and across languages - iPhone: text-search audio notes, share via iMessage, dictate with Siri, recent notes from the Notification Bar, SharePlay in calls - iPad: drag and drop, split view, slide over, multiple windows, Stage Manager - Apple Watch: record audio, scribble notes, check off lists, add photo notes, record in one tap from a watch face complication - VoiceOver and a dark interface - Roll back to any of a note's last 10 versions Subscriptions auto-renew unless cancelled and are charged to your Apple Account. Prices vary by location. Manage in your account settings. Privacy - https://www.zoho.com/privacy.html Terms - https://www.zoho.com/terms.html

Screenshots

abcNotes Full Version4 screens
Notebook4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Notebook at Free against abcNotes Full Version's $2.99. Notebook also leads on update cadence (every 6 days vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (24K vs 882). abcNotes Full Version's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 8) and review sentiment (86% vs 65%). On rating, ads 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

Notebook is free to download; abcNotes Full Version costs $2.99 up front. Notebook sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $2.49 per month. abcNotes Full Version asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for abcNotes Full Version against 4.7 for Notebook. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notebook has 24K ratings behind it against 882, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 86% of abcNotes Full Version's written reviews are positive against 65% of Notebook's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

abcNotes Full Version ships an update every 2 months, Notebook every 6 days. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
abcNotes Full Version versus Notebook: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterabcNotes Full VersionNotebook
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (882 ratings) — better4.7 (24K ratings)
Positive reviews86.1% of reviews — better64.7% of reviews
Number of ratings88224K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 6 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS12.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size41 MB220 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperALSEDI GroupZoho Corporation

Customer experience

abcNotes Full Version

All ratings882 ratings
Positive94.7%
Neutral3.2%
Negative2.2%
Written reviews1,089 reviews
Positive86.1%
Neutral7.1%
Negative6.8%

Notebook

All ratings23,853 ratings
Positive93.2%
Neutral3.1%
Negative3.7%
Written reviews603 reviews
Positive64.7%
Neutral10.4%
Negative24.9%

Bugs and requests

abcNotes Full Version

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Notebook

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Notes disappearing or getting corrupted
  • Freezing and crashing issues
  • Inconsistent behavior when editing notes
  • Syncing problems across devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved sorting and reordering options for notes
  • Enhanced search capabilities
  • Ability to export notes in various formats
  • More customization options for notebook covers
  • Integration with other productivity apps

In-app purchases

None

abcNotes Full Version

No in-app purchases

7 purchases

Notebook

Subscriptions7
  • Notebook Pro$2.491 Month
  • Notebook Pro Plus$3.991 Month
  • Notebook AI$4.991 Month
Show 4 more
  • Notebook Personal$14.991 Year
  • Notebook Pro2 variants$24.991 Year
  • Notebook Pro Plus$39.991 Year
  • Notebook AI$49.991 Year

Questions

Is abcNotes Full Version free?
abcNotes Full Version costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Notebook free?
Notebook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, abcNotes Full Version or Notebook?
abcNotes Full Version is rated higher. abcNotes Full Version averages 4.8 out of 5 from 882 ratings, while Notebook averages 4.7 from 24K ratings.
Do abcNotes Full Version or Notebook have ads?
Neither abcNotes Full Version nor Notebook shows ads.
Which is updated more often, abcNotes Full Version or Notebook?
abcNotes Full Version ships an update every 2 months, and Notebook every 6 days. Most recently, abcNotes Full Version was updated on September 24, 2026 and Notebook on September 24, 2026.

Other comparisons