# Notability vs Kilonotes

The clearest difference is ads: Notability at none against Kilonotes's shown. Notability also leads on ratings volume (459K vs 5K) and chart position (#101 vs unranked). Kilonotes's advantage is review sentiment (71% vs 36%) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 18.0). On price, rating, update cadence and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Notability sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and Kilonotes sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 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 459K ratings behind it against 5K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 36% of Notability's written reviews are positive against 71% of Kilonotes's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. Both last shipped on November 3, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | Notability | Kilonotes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.8 (459K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/notability-ai-notes-and-study/id360593530/reviews)** | [4.6 (5K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kilonotes-notes-and-mark-up-pdf/id1514322479/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **459K** | 5K |
| Positive reviews | 36.1% of reviews | **70.6% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Weekly |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | **#101** | — |
| Size | 455 MB | 489 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | **15.6** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Ginger Labs](https://appshunter.io/developer/318126112) | [Hefei T-Stack Information Technology Co., Ltd.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1514322478) |

## What reviewers say

### Notability

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

**Currently charting:** #101 Top Grossing · Productivity, #149 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, iPhone Duo support

**In-app purchases (9)**

| 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 Plus | $19.99 | per year |
| Notability Pro | $19.99 | per month |
| Notability Pro | $99.99 | per year |

**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


### Kilonotes

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kilonotes-notes-and-mark-up-pdf/id1514322479)

Enhance your learning and productivity with a versatile note-taking and PDF annotation tool.  Record lectures, organize study materials, and leverage AI assistance for efficient knowledge management.

**Highlights:** Handwritten note-taking and editing, PDF annotation and markup, AI-powered note organization and problem-solving, Recording lectures while taking notes, Customizable notebooks and templates, OCR text extraction, Global PDF search

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (10)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cloud space monthly membership | $0.99 | per month |
| Monthly Subscription | $1.99 | per month |
| Quarterly Plan | $4.99 | per 3 months |
| AIChat | $5.99 | per month |
| Annual Plan | $9.99 | per year |
| Cloud space annual membership | $9.99 | per year |
| Paid Notebook | $0.99 | one-time |
| AI Points Products | $1.99 | one-time |
| Paid Notebook | $2.99 | one-time |
| Lifetime Access | $19.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Affordable
- 🚀 Lots of free features
- 👍 Easy to use and intuitive
- 👍 Customizable notebooks and pages
- 👍 Good alternative to paid apps

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
- 🐛 Syncing and backup issues
- 🔒 Lack of password protection or privacy features
- 👎 Limited free notebooks
- 👎 Some features locked behind paywall

**Reported bugs**

- Notebooks and notes getting deleted or scrambled
- Lag and performance issues when writing or zooming
- Inconsistent behavior of the pen and eraser tools

**Requested features**

- Add more free sticker packs and templates
- Improve the lasso tool and image editing
- Implement iCloud or cloud sync
- Add a dark mode option
- Improve the audio recording and playback features


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Notability free?

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

### Is Kilonotes free?

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

### Which has better reviews, Notability or Kilonotes?

Notability is rated higher. Notability averages 4.8 out of 5 from 459K ratings, while Kilonotes averages 4.6 from 5K ratings.

### Do Notability or Kilonotes have ads?

Kilonotes shows ads; Notability does not.

### Which is updated more often, Notability or Kilonotes?

Notability ships an update weekly, and Kilonotes weekly. Most recently, Notability was updated on November 3, 2026 and Kilonotes on November 3, 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.*