Notability vs Pocket Note
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
Pocket Note
Transform your device into a powerful business notepad. Quickly capture ideas with handwriting, typing, and rich media. Organize notes into groups and export them as images or PDFs for easy sharing and printing.
- Handwritten and typed input
- Customizable pen sizes and colors
- Paste photos and maps
- Insert figures and lines
- Export as image or PDF
- Organize notes into groups
- iCloud synchronization
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Would you like to make your smartphone or tablet PC into a useful business tool? Pocket Note is a notepad application specially designed for the business scene. With Pocket Note, you can quickly put your ideas together by a straightforward, simple operation. [Major functions] - We provided grid lines and horizontal ruled lines on the notepad to make it easier to organize what you write down.And when you don't need a grid or horizontal lines, you can choose "blank". - You can input either manually or from the keyboard (compatible with Apple Pencil). For manual input, choose from 2 pens, "regular" or "thick", and an eraser. For pen size and color, choose from 20 sizes and 25 colors. - You can paste up to 20 photos on each page. - You can paste maps. With a map, you can do the following: You can display your current position on the map using GPS. By continuously pressing down at a given location on the map, you can place a pin at the location. By inputting a name or address, you can place a pin at that location. You can also specify the zoom factor as you wish. - By pasting figures and lines, you can display your notes graphically. For figures, choose from rectangles, triangles or circles. You can specify their size and shape freely. Lines may be with or without arrows. For figures and lines, choose from 25 different colors. - You can save your notes as an image or a PDF file. You can do the following: Print them out with a printer. Save them as images in iOS "Photos". Attach them to emails as images or PDF files. Share them as images with iCloud Photo Sharing. Paste them as images in iOS standard "Notes". Save them as PDF files in iOS standard "iBooks". They can be uploaded as images to Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Evernote, Flickr, Line, etc. (If these applications are installed. Also, if the application is compatible with iOS App Extensions, they can be uploaded as images.) - Notes can be organized into groups. Several groups can be set for each note. Notes can be displayed by group, or by modified date. - It's compatible with iCloud, so you can share your notes on your iPhone or iPad. - Compatible with Siri Shortcuts. You can use this application for free for 30 days. If you want to use this app from the 31th day onward, please watch the advertisement movie or make In-App Purchase. [Contact us] https://www.studioks.net/en/contact-us/ [Studio K's - Business Applications Maker] https://www.studioks.net/en/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Notability at 4.8 against Pocket Note's 4.3. Notability also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months). Pocket Note's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.5). On price, review sentiment, in-app purchases and monetization model 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 Pocket Note sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Notability holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notability has 457K ratings behind it against 14, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 37% of Notability's written reviews are positive against 33% of Pocket Note's.
Notability ships an update weekly, Pocket Note every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and August 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Notability | Pocket Note |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (457K ratings) — better | 4.3 (14 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 36.5% of reviews — better | 33.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 457K — better | 14 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 2 months |
| 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 | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.5 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 411 MB | 25 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ginger Labs | NAOAKI SEKIGUCHI |
Customer experience
Notability
Pocket Note
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
Pocket Note
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
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
Pocket Note
- Pocket Note License$3.99
Questions
Is Notability free?
Is Pocket Note free?
Which has better reviews, Notability or Pocket Note?
Do Notability or Pocket Note have ads?
Which is updated more often, Notability or Pocket Note?
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