Notability vs Keynote
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
Keynote
Design and deliver professional presentations across Apple devices and even PCs. Utilize Apple-designed themes, add rich media, and apply cinematic animations. Collaborate in real-time and present confidently from anywhere.
- Apple-designed themes
- Cinematic animations and transitions
- Multi-presenter slideshows
- Real-time collaboration
- Import PowerPoint presentations
- Export to PowerPoint, PDF, and more
- Apple Intelligence writing and image tools
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Keynote is now part of Apple Creator Studio, an amazing collection of Apple’s most powerful creative apps designed to help you bring your ideas to life. The suite includes Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Motion, Compressor, and MainStage — plus premium content and intelligence features in Keynote, Pages, Numbers, and Freeform, all in one simple plan. Creating, viewing, and editing presentations in Keynote, as well as collaborating in real time, does not require a subscription. Create memorable presentations on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro. Start with an Apple-designed theme and add text, images, charts, and shapes. Bring it all to life with cinematic animations and transitions. Confidently present from anywhere, in person or virtually, and take turns controlling a presentation in multi-presenter slideshows. Get Started Quickly • Work from iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Vision Pro, or even a PC with iCloud.com • Select from a wide variety of Apple-designed themes • Import and edit Microsoft PowerPoint presentations Create Stunning Presentations • Easily change slide layouts and backgrounds • Add recorded audio, live video, and image galleries • Use powerful graphics tools including background removal and masking • Draw or write with Apple Pencil on iPad Cinema-Quality Animations • Beautiful cinematic slide transitions and impressive animations • Emphasis builds and Magic Move let you effortlessly add impact • See live on-canvas previews as you animate your slides • Draw a motion path with Apple Pencil on iPad Present to Your Audience • Rehearse with a customizable presenter display • Practice in an immersive Conference Room or Theater environment on Apple Vision Pro • Highlight with Apple Pencil or with your finger while presenting on iPad • Control your slideshow from an iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch Share with Anyone • Share your presentation publicly or collaborate with specific people using iCloud or Box • Make changes from any device and see a list of changes from others in real-time • Export presentations to Microsoft PowerPoint, PDF, HTML, movies, and image files Apple Intelligence • Use Writing Tools to proofread, rewrite, summarize, and compose text • Create your own fun images with Image Playground based on a description Some features of Apple Creator Studio require an Apple Intelligence–capable device. For full system requirements and usage limits for Apple Creator Studio intelligence features, see Apple Support article 125029.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Keynote at none against Notability's 13. Keynote also leads on review sentiment (62% vs 36%) and device support (5 vs 3). Notability's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months) and rating (4.8 vs 4.4). On price and 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
Both are free to download. Notability sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Keynote asks for nothing beyond the download.
Notability holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notability has 458K ratings behind it against 83K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 36% of Notability's written reviews are positive against 62% of Keynote's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Notability ships an update weekly, Keynote every 3 months. Both last shipped on October 19, 2026.
| Parameter | Notability | Keynote |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (458K ratings) — better | 4.4 (83K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 36.2% of reviews | 61.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 458K — better | 83K |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #107 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 408 MB | 662 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ginger Labs | Apple Inc. |
Customer experience
Notability
Keynote
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
Keynote
From 83K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use
- 🚀 Powerful features
- 💡 Great for presentations
- 🎨 Excellent animation and design tools
- 🤩 Fun and creative
Room to improve
- 🐛 Exporting issues with video and animations
- 🔒 Limited remote control functionality
- 🔍 Lack of advanced text editing options
- 🤔 Confusing UI at times
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
Keynote
Reported bugs
3 issues- Slides not displaying properly
- Presentation remote disconnecting unexpectedly
- Crashes when importing certain media files
Requested features
4 requests- Add more font and shape options
- Improve export capabilities for video and animations
- Enhance remote control functionality
- Streamline text editing experience
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 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
Keynote
No in-app purchases









