Notability vs Note To Self Mail
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Notability
Capture, organize, and enhance your thoughts with a versatile digital notebook. Seamlessly blend handwriting, typing, and multimedia to annotate documents, record lectures, and generate summaries. Ideal for students and professionals seeking to boost productivity and learning.
- Handwritten and typed notes
- PDF and document annotation
- Audio recording and transcription
- AI-powered summaries and quizzes
- Customizable organization
- Cross-device sync
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From your first lecture to your next big meeting, Notability helps you think, learn, and work better. Take handwritten notes, annotate documents, record audio, and stay organized in one place so your ideas are always clear, searchable, and ready when you need them. NEW: NOTABILITY CLASSIC IS BACK Prefer to pay one time for Notability? Our Classic plan is a one-time purchase with no subscription required. FREE DIGITAL NOTES FOR WORK & SCHOOL • Write, type, or sketch with digital ink, highlighters, and text tools. • Mark up anything: PDFs, textbooks, lecture slides, images, and more. • Combine handwriting, typed text, images, diagrams, and sketches on the same page. • Stay organized with customizable folders and subjects that grow with you. FOR PROFESSIONALS: WORK SMARTER AND SAVE TIME • Mark up documents, capture meetings, organize ideas, and present with confidence. • Import and handwrite on any document: PDFs, DOCs, presentations, reports, and more. • Fill out forms in the office or on a job site. • Combine handwriting, text, photos and documents in one place. • Record calls and meetings to transcribe voice in real-time. Audio is synced to your notes so nothing is missed. • Receive automated meeting notes, takeaways, and summaries. • Search handwriting, transcripts, text, and PDFs to quickly revisit decisions and action items. • Present notes, documents, and ideas in full screen, with a laser pointer to guide attention. • View and edit two notes side-by-side to stay focused and productive. • Share a PDF of your note in one tap. FOR STUDENTS: STUDY SMARTER AND ACE EXAMS • Take handwritten notes digitally or annotate lecture slides or your textbooks. • Record lectures and get instant audio transcripts and real-time summaries in your notes. • Audio recordings are synced to the exact moment you write in a note — perfect for lectures. • Import lecture slides, textbook PDFs, and assignments into organized folders and subjects. • Search across handwriting, typed notes, and transcripts to instantly find content from classes. • Study content from your note with personalized quizzes and flashcards to practice with active recall. • Chat with your notes to review concepts, clarify ideas, and prepare for exams. WORK YOUR WAY • Seamlessly switch between handwriting and typing. • Import files instantly and keep everything connected. • Share notes easily to collaborate or get feedback when needed. • Access your notes across iPad, iPhone, Mac, and the web. • Create beautiful notes using templates from the Notability Gallery. UPGRADE TO A NOTABILITY SUBSCRIPTION Notability is free to use. With an upgraded subscription, you can receive: • Unlimited note-taking • AI-powered productivity and study tools • Handwriting recognition and math conversion • Live Audio transcripts • Auto-backup and iCloud sync Download for free on iPad, iPhone, Mac, and web. Privacy Policy: notability.com/privacy Terms of Service: notability.com/terms
Note To Self Mail
Quickly capture your thoughts and send them directly to your inbox. This app integrates with popular to-do list applications, streamlining your workflow by sending notes via email. It offers basic note-taking with advanced features available in the pro version.
- Send notes directly to inbox
- Integrates with Trello, Evernote, etc.
- Attach photos (pro)
- Create sketches (pro)
- Attach audio notes (pro)
- Scan documents (pro)
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"Note To Self Mail" is the fastest app for your notes. You can send your notes directly into your inbox, fast and without much effort and detours. "Note To Self Mail" was designed to support mail import for your favorite todo apps like Trello, Evernote, Wunderlist, Any.do, Todoist and many more. The app is not intended to manage your notes, but it offers everything you expect from a note app: - Writing notes - Attaching photos or files (pro version) - Creating sketches (pro version) - Attach audio notes (pro version) - Scan documents (Pro-Version) To make things easier and more flexible: you can use different e-mail addresses as recipients and connect to your own e-mail account for sending. Suggestions or feedback? support@note2selfmail.app Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
Notability and Note To Self Mail both sit at 4.8 stars, but that hides the real split: 90% of Note To Self Mail's written reviews are positive against 36% of Notability's. Note To Self Mail also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.5). Notability's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 6 weeks) and ratings volume (457K vs 374). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Notability sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and Note To Self Mail sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Notability against 4.8 for Note To Self Mail. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notability has 457K ratings behind it against 374, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 36% of Notability's written reviews are positive against 90% of Note To Self Mail's.
Notability ships an update weekly, Note To Self Mail every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Notability | Note To Self Mail |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (457K ratings) | 4.8 (374 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 36.3% of reviews | 90.2% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 457K — better | 374 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 6 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #75 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.5 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 411 MB | 85 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ginger Labs | Mathias Lipowski |
Customer experience
Notability
Note To Self Mail
User reviews
Notability
From 457K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Great app for note-taking
- 👍 Smooth handwriting experience
- 📝 Excellent organization and file management
- 🎙️ Useful audio recording feature
- 🔍 Handwriting recognition and search
Room to improve
- 🐛 Sync issues with iCloud
- 🔍 Limited search and organization options
- 🖍️ Frustrating highlighter behavior
- 🔒 Concerns about subscription model
- 🔧 Buggy after recent updates
Note To Self Mail
From 374 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Extremely fast and quick to use
- 👍 Simple and intuitive interface
- ⚙️ Highly customizable settings and options
- 🔒 Secure SMTP-based email delivery
- 📧 Seamless email integration with multiple accounts
Room to improve
- 🐛 Google OAuth authentication issues
- 🔐 Requires SMTP server configuration (technical barrier)
- ⚠️ Occasional reliability issues after extended use
- 📱 Limited Apple Watch support
- 🌐 Browser sharing functionality sometimes fails
Bugs and requests
Notability
Reported bugs
4 issues- Notes disappearing or getting corrupted
- Frequent crashes and performance issues
- Palm rejection problems after updates
- Inconsistent behavior when importing files
Requested features
5 requests- Improved folder/hierarchy organization
- More shape recognition and drawing tools
- Side-by-side viewing of multiple notes
- Ability to edit/rename audio recordings
- Better integration with other apps and services
Note To Self Mail
Reported bugs
7 issues- Google OAuth doesn't work properly
- Messages stuck in outbox with Google authentication
- App stops working after several weeks of use
- Safari share extension crashes or fails silently
- Browser sharing shows grey rectangle and fails
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- Music playback stops when sending notes
- Exchange server incompatibility
Requested features
8 requests- Scheduled/delayed send functionality
- Apple Watch native app
- Document scanning with PDF export
- YouTube title preservation in sharing
- iOS 26 UI updates
Show 3 moreShow fewer
- Improved browser extension performance
- Pop-up interface option instead of full screen
- Better Exchange server support
In-app purchases
Notability
- Notability Lite$5.991 Month
- Notability Plus$7.991 Month
- Notability Plus$12.993 Months
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- Notability Lite$14.991 Year
- Notability Plus1 Year trial2 variants$19.991 Year
- Notability Plus$19.991 Year
- Notability Pro$19.991 Month
- Notability Plus$29.991 Year
- Notability Pro3 Days trial$99.991 Year
- Notability Classic$49.99
Note To Self Mail
- Buy me a coffee$4.991 Year
- Pro Version$4.99
- Buy me a coffee$4.99
Questions
Is Notability free?
Is Note To Self Mail free?
Which has better reviews, Notability or Note To Self Mail?
Do Notability or Note To Self Mail have ads?
Which is updated more often, Notability or Note To Self Mail?
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