Notability vs Simple Notepad
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
Simple Notepad
This app offers a unique note-taking experience with a three-tab system for memos, remarks, and history. Attach photos to your notes and secure them with a password. Organize your thoughts with folder division for efficient management.
- Three-tab note structure (Memo, Remarks, History)
- Attach images to notes
- Password security lock
- Folder division for organization
- Revision history tracking
- Additional remarks field
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"BestNote" is a memo pad application aimed at the highest. As a characteristic feature of "BestNote", the memo creation page is divided into three tabs. It is "memo" "remarks" "history". "Memo" tab is the same function as normal memo pad. "Remarks" "History" is a feature of this application's commitment. In the "Remarks" tab, there is another character input field in addition to the memo, so you can use it in various ways, such as writing a simple draft when writing a note or using it as a remarks column. In addition, it is also possible to attach images on the "Remarks" tab, and it is possible to use it beyond the frame of Notepad depending on the ingenuity. Although it is the "history" tab, contents written in the "memo" tab are accumulated in the history as the name does. (It will be written to the history when you press save button on memo page) With this function, it is possible to recover promptly even in unforeseen circumstances such as mistakenly editing important information accidentally. In addition to the security lock password function. Various functions such as folder division function to make memo easier to manage are carried. Please try downloading it once by all means. ・Terms of Use https://eeggs.jp/terms-of-use-en
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Notability at none against Simple Notepad's shown. Notability also leads on ratings volume (457K vs 2.8K) and update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). Simple Notepad's advantage is review sentiment (68% vs 37%). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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
Both are free to download. Notability sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and Simple Notepad sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Notability holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notability has 457K ratings behind it against 2.8K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 37% of Notability's written reviews are positive against 68% of Simple Notepad's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Notability ships an update weekly, Simple Notepad every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Notability | Simple Notepad |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (457K ratings) — better | 4.6 (2.8K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 36.5% of reviews | 68.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 457K — better | 2.8K |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #80 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.5 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 411 MB | 32 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ginger Labs | EasterEggs |
Customer experience
Notability
Simple Notepad
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
Simple Notepad
From 2.8K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Simple and easy to use
- 🎨 Customizable colors and themes
- 🗂️ Folder organization
- 🔒 Secure with password protection
- 📝 Good for note-taking and journaling
Room to improve
- 🙄 Intrusive ads
- 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
- 📱 Not optimized for iPad
- 🖋️ No handwriting support
- 💾 No backup/sync options
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
Simple Notepad
Reported bugs
4 issues- App crashes on launch
- Notes disappearing after updates
- Vertical orientation not working
- Unable to recover lost notes
Requested features
5 requests- Option to remove ads
- Ability to sync notes across devices
- More font and formatting options
- Print functionality
- Improved iPad support
In-app purchases
Notability
- Notability Lite$5.991 Month
- Notability Plus$7.991 Month
- Notability Plus$12.993 Months
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- 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
Simple Notepad
- Premium Plan$3.991 Month
Questions
Is Notability free?
Is Simple Notepad free?
Which has better reviews, Notability or Simple Notepad?
Do Notability or Simple Notepad have ads?
Which is updated more often, Notability or Simple Notepad?
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