# Notability vs Plain Note

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Plain Note at 62% against Notability's 37%. Notability's advantage is ratings volume (457K vs 1.1K) and rating (4.8 vs 4.6). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Notability sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and Plain Note sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 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 1.1K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 37% of Notability's written reviews are positive against 62% of Plain Note's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Notability ships an update weekly, Plain Note every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Notability | Plain Note |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.8 (457K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/notability-ai-notes-and-planner/id360593530/reviews)** | [4.6 (1.1K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/plain-note-notes-widget/id1478542921/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **457K** | 1.1K |
| Positive reviews | 36.5% of reviews | **62.3% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Weekly** | Every 10 days |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | **#80** | — |
| Size | 411 MB | 31 MB |
| Requires iOS | **17.5** | 26.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Ginger Labs](https://appshunter.io/developer/318126112) | [Monelyze Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1086641918) |

## What reviewers say

### Notability

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/notability-ai-notes-and-planner/id360593530)

**Currently charting:** #80 Top Grossing · Productivity, #129 Top Free · Productivity (US App Store)

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.

**Highlights:** Handwritten and typed notes, PDF and document annotation, Audio recording and transcription, AI-powered summaries and quizzes, Customizable organization, Cross-device sync

**Features:** Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (10)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Notability Lite | $5.99 | per month |
| Notability Plus | $7.99 | per month |
| Notability Plus | $12.99 | per 3 months |
| Notability Lite | $14.99 | per year |
| Notability Plus | $19.99 | per year |
| Notability Plus | $19.99 | per year |
| Notability Pro | $19.99 | per month |
| Notability Plus | $29.99 | per year |
| Notability Pro | $99.99 | per year |
| Notability Classic | $49.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Great app for note-taking
- 👍 Smooth handwriting experience
- 📝 Excellent organization and file management
- 🎙️ Useful audio recording feature
- 🔍 Handwriting recognition and search

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Sync issues with iCloud
- 🔍 Limited search and organization options
- 🖍️ Frustrating highlighter behavior
- 🔒 Concerns about subscription model
- 🔧 Buggy after recent updates

**Reported bugs**

- Notes disappearing or getting corrupted
- Frequent crashes and performance issues
- Palm rejection problems after updates
- Inconsistent behavior when importing files

**Requested features**

- 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


### Plain Note

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/plain-note-notes-widget/id1478542921)

This app allows you to create and organize notes with customizable tags and icons. It offers lock screen and home screen widgets for quick access and supports character/line counting. Personalize your experience with themes, app icons, and fonts.

**Highlights:** Organize notes with tags, Customizable tag icons and colors, Character and line counting, Lock screen and home screen widgets, Customizable themes, app icons, and fonts, Archive and organize notes

**Features:** Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Premium - Monthly | $2.99 | per month |
| Premium - Yearly | $19.99 | per year |
| Premium - Lifetime | $29.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Simple and clean design
- 💡 One-time payment model
- 🚀 Beautifully designed notes app
- 🚀 Intuitive and easy to use
- 👍 Customizable tags and icons

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Notes sometimes don't save properly
- 🐛 Slow and unreliable synchronization
- ❌ No text formatting options (bold, italics, etc.)
- ❌ No ability to insert photos or videos
- ❌ No option to export notes

**Reported bugs**

- Notes sometimes get deleted after updates
- Widget not working as expected, showing wrong note

**Requested features**

- Ability to swipe widget to display another note
- Subfolders for better organization
- Export function to backup notes
- Option to change app colors
- Support for multiple notes in one widget


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Notability free?

Notability is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Plain Note free?

Plain Note is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Notability or Plain Note?

Notability is rated higher. Notability averages 4.8 out of 5 from 457K ratings, while Plain Note averages 4.6 from 1.1K ratings.

### Do Notability or Plain Note have ads?

Neither Notability nor Plain Note shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Notability or Plain Note?

Notability ships an update weekly, and Plain Note every 10 days. Most recently, Notability was updated on September 24, 2026 and Plain Note on September 22, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*