# Notability vs ZoomNotes

The clearest difference is review sentiment: ZoomNotes at 84% against Notability's 37%. ZoomNotes also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 13) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.5). Notability's advantage is price (Free vs $7.99) and ratings volume (457K vs 907). On ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Notability is free to download; ZoomNotes costs $7.99 up front. Notability sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. ZoomNotes asks for nothing beyond the download.

Notability holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notability has 457K ratings behind it against 907, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 37% of Notability's written reviews are positive against 84% of ZoomNotes's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Notability ships an update weekly, ZoomNotes every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Notability | ZoomNotes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | **Free** | $7.99 |
| Rating | **[4.8 (457K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/notability-ai-notes-and-planner/id360593530/reviews)** | [4.5 (907 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/zoomnotes/id462234530/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **457K** | 907 |
| Positive reviews | 36.5% of reviews | **84.3% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Weekly** | Every 3 weeks |
| Monetization | **Freemium** | Paid |
| Best chart rank | **#80** | — |
| Size | 411 MB | 149 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.5 | **15.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Ginger Labs](https://appshunter.io/developer/318126112) | [Deliverance Software Ltd](https://appshunter.io/developer/374494333) |

## What reviewers say

### Notability

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

**Currently charting:** #80 Top Grossing · Productivity, #129 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


### ZoomNotes

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/zoomnotes/id462234530)

This comprehensive visual note-taking app offers extensive zoom capabilities for creating handwritten notes and sketches on various digital surfaces. It supports PDF annotation, digital planning with calendar integration, and advanced features like sub-pages and bookmarks for organized visual files.

**Highlights:** Extensive zoom range for notes and sketches, Write over PDF and Office documents, Digital planner creation and calendar integration, Sub-pages for hierarchical organization, Bookmarks with presentation playback, Handwriting recognition for search, Layers for content control

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

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Powerful features
- 👍 Customizable interface
- 🖋 Smooth handwriting
- 🗓 Calendar integration
- 🔗 Linking capabilities

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashes and bugs
- 📚 Steep learning curve
- 🖥 Outdated user interface
- 🔍 Cluttered menus
- 🔀 Inconsistent page navigation

**Reported bugs**

- Randomly deleted text and input
- Syncing issues with cloud storage
- Unstable performance after updates
- Compatibility problems with newer devices

**Requested features**

- Handwriting to text conversion
- Improved page management
- Smoother page transitions
- Customizable keyboard shortcuts
- Better integration with cloud services


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Notability free?

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

### Is ZoomNotes free?

ZoomNotes costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.

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

Notability is rated higher. Notability averages 4.8 out of 5 from 457K ratings, while ZoomNotes averages 4.5 from 907 ratings.

### Do Notability or ZoomNotes have ads?

Neither Notability nor ZoomNotes shows ads.

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

Notability ships an update weekly, and ZoomNotes every 3 weeks. Most recently, Notability was updated on September 24, 2026 and ZoomNotes on September 23, 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.*