# Notability vs Pages

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Pages at none against Notability's 13. Pages also leads on review sentiment (59% vs 37%). Notability's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months) and rating (4.8 vs 4.6). On price, ratings volume, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Notability sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Pages asks for nothing beyond the download.

Notability holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 457K and 551K respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 37% of Notability's written reviews are positive against 59% of Pages's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Notability ships an update weekly, Pages every 3 months. Both last shipped on September 25, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | Notability | Pages |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.8 (457K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/notability-ai-notes-and-planner/id360593530/reviews)** | [4.6 (551K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pages-create-documents/id361309726/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 457K | **551K** |
| Positive reviews | 36.5% of reviews | **59.4% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Weekly** | Every 3 months |
| Monetization | Freemium | **Free** |
| Best chart rank | **#77** | — |
| Size | 411 MB | 656 MB |
| Requires iOS | **17.5** | 18.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Ginger Labs](https://appshunter.io/developer/318126112) | [Apple](https://appshunter.io/developer/284417353) |

## What reviewers say

### Notability

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

**Currently charting:** #77 Top Grossing · Productivity, #124 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


### Pages

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pages-create-documents/id361309726)

Create visually appealing documents with a wide range of templates and editing tools. Enhance your work with multimedia, track changes, and collaborate seamlessly. Offers advanced features for writing, design, and presentation.

**Highlights:** Apple-designed templates, Add images, video, audio, Track changes and comments, Screen View for mobile editing, Interactive EPUB creation, Drawing and annotation with Apple Pencil, Writing Tools for AI assistance

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 💻 Versatile writing app
- 🎨 Excellent creative features
- 🤝 Collaborative capabilities
- 📚 Great for writing books/stories
- 🏫 Useful for school/work documents

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional glitches and crashes
- 🔍 Difficult to find/organize documents
- 🖋️ Frustrating cursor and text editing
- 🔄 Inconsistent sync and file management
- 🔢 Limited font and formatting options

**Reported bugs**

- Documents disappearing or failing to save
- Keyboard freezing and unresponsive typing
- Formatting issues when importing/exporting files
- Compatibility problems with older devices/OS versions

**Requested features**

- Add more font and formatting options
- Improve cursor and text editing controls
- Streamline document organization and search
- Enhance sync and offline editing capabilities
- Integrate grammar/spelling correction tools


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Notability free?

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

### Is Pages free?

Pages is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

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

Notability is rated higher. Notability averages 4.8 out of 5 from 457K ratings, while Pages averages 4.6 from 551K ratings.

### Do Notability or Pages have ads?

Neither Notability nor Pages shows ads.

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

Notability ships an update weekly, and Pages every 3 months. Most recently, Notability was updated on September 25, 2026 and Pages on September 25, 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.*