Notability vs SimpleMind Pro
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
Read full descriptionHide full description
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
SimpleMind Pro
Organize your thoughts, capture ideas, and generate new concepts with a beautiful and intuitive mind mapping tool. Seamlessly synchronize your maps across devices and platforms, and enhance them with media and documents.
- Free-form and auto layout options
- Cross-platform synchronization
- Add images, notes, and voice memos
- Share maps as PDF or Image
- Customizable styles and themes
- Collapse/expand branches for overview
Read full descriptionHide full description
Mind mapping helps you organize your thoughts, remember information and generate new ideas. We've created a beautiful, intuitive app, so you can mind map wherever you are and whenever you want. SimpleMind Pro is designed to synchronize your Mind Maps across platforms. For example (as a separate purchase) for Mac - https://simplemind.eu/download/full-edition/ Highlights • Easy to use. • Continuously fine-tuned based on customer feedback. • Trustworthy and reliable: 15+ years of updates and improvements. • Used in a wide range of applications: business, education, legal and medical. • Unique free-form layout or various auto layouts. • Seamless synchronization using clouds. • Add media and documents. • Share Mind Maps. • Change and customize the style of the Mind Map. • Tools to help you maintain overview. Create ○ place topics anywhere you want in the free-form layout ○ or use auto layout - great for brainstorming ○ reorganize and restructure using drag, rotate, re-arrange or reconnect ○ use checkboxes, progress bars, auto-numbering ○ connect any two topics with a crosslink ○ label relations ○ virtually unlimited page size and number of elements ○ supports multiple Mind Maps on one page Add media and documents ○ images and photos ○ notes ○ icons (stock, emojis or custom) ○ link to a topic, mind map, contact, file or webpage ○ voice memos ○ videos Seamless synchronization using clouds ○ sync mind maps with your iPads and iPhones ○ sync mind maps across platforms. For example with Mac - as a separate purchase ○ sync using iCloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, 坚果云 - Nutstore and Nextcloud Share your Mind Map ○ for example as PDF or Image ○ outline, can be imported in word processors ○ create a slideshow to present your Mind Map (Tablet only) ○ print ○ export to Reminders or Calendar Style your mind map ○ change the appearance by selecting one of the 15+ style sheets ○ create your own style sheets ○ style every detail, exactly how you want it ○ change borders, lines, colors, background color, the checkbox color, and much more Maintain overview ○ collapse and expand branches ○ hide or show branches or topics ○ block out distractions with autofocus ○ highlight branches by displaying branch borders ○ visually group topics with group borders ○ organize your Mind Maps in folders ○ outline view ○ search
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Notability at Free against SimpleMind Pro's $10.99. Notability also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (457K vs 451). SimpleMind Pro's advantage is review sentiment (81% vs 37%) and in-app purchases (none vs 13). On rating, ads, chart position and device support 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
Notability is free to download; SimpleMind Pro costs $10.99 up front. Notability sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. SimpleMind Pro asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Notability against 4.7 for SimpleMind Pro. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notability has 457K ratings behind it against 451, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 37% of Notability's written reviews are positive against 81% of SimpleMind Pro's.
Notability ships an update weekly, SimpleMind Pro every 2 months. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.
| Parameter | Notability | SimpleMind Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $10.99 |
| Rating | 4.8 (457K ratings) — better | 4.7 (451 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 36.5% of reviews | 80.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 457K — better | 451 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Freemium — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #80 — better | #86 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.5 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 411 MB | 36 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ginger Labs | xpt Software & Consulting B.V. |
Customer experience
Notability
SimpleMind Pro
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
SimpleMind Pro
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
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- 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
SimpleMind Pro
No in-app purchases









