Notability vs StretchPaper
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
StretchPaper
Unleash your creativity on an expansive, virtually endless digital canvas. This app allows for detailed note-taking, intricate diagramming, and artistic expression without space constraints. Export your work in various formats, customize your tools, and enjoy a seamless drawing experience.
- Infinite canvas
- Note-taking
- Diagramming
- Artistic drawing
- Export as images/PDFs
- Vector manipulation
- Custom pen definitions
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Take notes and draw on an infinite* canvas! Stretchpaper is a new way to take notes, make diagrams, and show your artistic talent. With an infinite canvas, you'll never run out of room. Stretchpaper is both fun and useful! Export your drawings as images or mega-pdfs, manipulate vectors, define your own pens, and more. Works great on the iPad, but works best with the Apple Pencil and iPad Pro! * not actually infinite, but close enough!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Notability at Free against StretchPaper's $2.99. Notability also leads on rating (4.8 vs 3.8) and ratings volume (458K vs 64). StretchPaper's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 13) and review sentiment (50% vs 36%). On ads 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
Notability is free to download; StretchPaper costs $2.99 up front. Notability sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. StretchPaper asks for nothing beyond the download.
Notability holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notability has 458K ratings behind it against 64, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 36% of Notability's written reviews are positive against 50% of StretchPaper's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Notability ships an update weekly, StretchPaper every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Notability | StretchPaper |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $2.99 |
| Rating | 4.8 (458K ratings) — better | 3.8 (64 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 36.3% of reviews | 50.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 458K — better | 64 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #94 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 413 MB | 12 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ginger Labs | Infinite State Machine Inc. |
Customer experience
Notability
StretchPaper
User reviews
Notability
From 458K 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
StretchPaper
From 64 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 💡 Infinite canvas/zoom
- 👍 Simple and easy to use
- 💡 Good for mind maps/brainstorming
- 💡 Useful for Apple Pencil
- 💡 Great for freehand flowcharts
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes frequently
- 🐛 Lost work/data loss
- 🐛 Poor palm rejection
- 🐛 Finger drawing issues
- 🐛 Export/share crashes
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
StretchPaper
Reported bugs
24 issues- Crashes and lost all work
- App crashes when trying to share/export
- Paste function not working
- Undo doesn't go back far enough
- Delete then undo bug
Show 19 moreShow fewer
- Palm rejection issues
- Finger drawing interferes with pen
- Content disappears
- Strokes disappearing
- Grid is hard to see
- App crashes without saving
- Force closes when sharing to PDF
- Glitchy export
- App shuts down and glitches appear
- Marks moving after undo/redo or app reopen
- Notes shift slightly after reopening
- Cannot load bigger workspaces
- Takes forever to load smaller workspaces
- Developer not responding to support requests
- Export/share brings up nsurl error
- Lines jump on screen
- Color selection buggy
- Cannot inactivate finger writing
- Canvas size limit
Requested features
22 requests- Add 2-finger tap to undo
- Add 3-finger tap to redo
- Disable finger drawing/touch input
- Add ruler/scale feature
- Add shape detection
Show 17 moreShow fewer
- Add text layer/typed text
- Add import vector image
- Add folder system
- Add cloud backup (iCloud/Dropbox)
- Add copy/paste functionality for images/elements
- Add layers
- Add color palette
- Add ability to rename files
- Add straight edge tool
- Add zoom lock feature
- Add quick undo gesture
- Add sync to iCloud
- Add ability to resize canvas to initial state
- Add Spline tools
- Add standard type tool
- Add export to other formats
- Add more zoom levels
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 Plus7 Days trial$19.991 Year
- Notability Plus$19.991 Year
- Notability Pro$19.991 Month
- Notability Pro3 Days trial$99.991 Year
- Notability Classic$49.99
StretchPaper
No in-app purchases









