Notability vs Microsoft Copilot
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
Microsoft Copilot
This AI-powered app helps you be more productive at work. Chat with an AI assistant to create content, manage projects, find files, and learn new concepts. It offers voice interaction and expert insights for various tasks.
- Chat with AI assistant
- Voice interaction
- Find files quickly
- Accelerate learning
- Generate research reports
- Create and edit content
- Manage projects with notebooks
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The Microsoft Copilot app is the AI built for work. Copilot helps you keep your work moving, from early ideas to finished documents, presentations, and more. Whether you're creating content, managing projects, organizing your day, or finding information, Copilot helps you get more done from one place. Copilot connects to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and more, bringing the files and information you use into one place. Create polished documents, presentations, and spreadsheets, summarize articles and files, draft emails, brainstorm ideas, analyze information, and get answers grounded in the work you're doing. Need help tackling a bigger task? With Cowork, Copilot can take on multi-step work and help deliver finished files and completed to-dos, so you spend less time piecing work together and more time making progress. Choose between leading AI models, selecting the one that's best suited to the task at hand. Whether you're writing, researching, planning, or analyzing, Copilot gives you the flexibility to work your way. Copilot also remembers what matters, connects to the files and information you use most, and helps you pick up where you left off. Upload Word, Excel, PowerPoint, images or PDF files directly from your phone to ask questions, generate summaries, and find the information you need. For organizations with a Microsoft 365 Copilot subscription, Work IQ gives Copilot a deep understanding of your organization's work, people, and relationships, delivering more intelligent, relevant, personalized and trusted assistance. Copilot is built on the same enterprise-grade security foundation as Microsoft 365 — your permissions, encryption, and compliance commitments already in place. Data processing and protection commitments differ by subscription; see the full security documentation for details. Availability of Microsoft Copilot features may vary. Some capabilities require specific licenses or may be disabled by your organization's administrator. See this webpage for more information on feature availability by license: https://support.microsoft.com/topic/understanding-the-different-microsoft-copilot-experiences-cfff4791-694a-4d90-9c9c-1eb3fb28e842 Please refer to Microsoft’s EULA for Terms of Service for Microsoft 365. By installing the app, you agree to these terms and conditions: https://learn.microsoft.com/legal/microsoft-365/microsoft-365-copilot-mobile-license-terms
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Notability at none against Microsoft Copilot's shown. Microsoft Copilot's advantage is chart position (#10 vs #80). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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 and Microsoft Copilot sells 14 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Notability against 4.7 for Microsoft Copilot. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 457K and 1.3M respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 37% of Notability's written reviews are positive against 29% of Microsoft Copilot's.
Notability ships an update weekly, Microsoft Copilot every 4 days. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.
| Parameter | Notability | Microsoft Copilot |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (457K ratings) — better | 4.7 (1.3M ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 36.5% of reviews — better | 29.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 457K | 1.3M — better |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #80 | #10 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.5 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 411 MB | 448 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Ginger Labs | Microsoft Corporation |
Customer experience
Notability
Microsoft Copilot
User reviews
Notability
From 457K 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
Microsoft Copilot
From 1.3M App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Seamless integration of Office apps
- 🔒 Secure cloud storage with OneDrive
- 👍 Convenient all-in-one productivity solution
- 🚀 Great for on-the-go work and collaboration
Room to improve
- 🐛 Inconsistent file saving and syncing
- 🔍 Confusing file management and navigation
- 🔍 Limited functionality compared to desktop Office
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and performance issues
- 💰 Subscription-only model, no standalone option
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
Microsoft Copilot
Reported bugs
4 issues- Documents not saving properly
- Inability to change file names or locations
- Compatibility issues with older devices and OSes
- Unreliable syncing between devices and cloud
Requested features
4 requests- Allow opening multiple documents side-by-side
- Improve iPad optimization and user experience
- Provide better integration with third-party cloud storage
- Add more advanced formatting and editing capabilities
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
Microsoft Copilot
- Microsoft 365 Basic$1.991 Month
- Microsoft 365 Personal1 Month trial$6.991 Month
- Microsoft 365 Personal2 variants$9.991 Month
Show 11 moreShow fewer
- Microsoft 365 Personal1 Month trial$9.991 Month
- Microsoft 365 Family1 Month trial2 variants$12.991 Month
- Microsoft 365 Family$12.991 Month
- Microsoft 365 Premium Monthly2 variants$19.991 Month
- Microsoft 365 Premium Monthly1 Month trial$19.991 Month
- Microsoft Copilot Pro$20.001 Month
- Microsoft 365 Personal1 Month trial$99.991 Year
- Microsoft 365 Personal$99.991 Year
- Microsoft 365 Family1 Month trial2 variants$129.991 Year
- Microsoft 365 Family$129.991 Year
- Microsoft 365 Premium Annual1 Month trial$199.991 Year
Questions
Is Notability free?
Is Microsoft Copilot free?
Which has better reviews, Notability or Microsoft Copilot?
Do Notability or Microsoft Copilot have ads?
Which is updated more often, Notability or Microsoft Copilot?
Which is more popular, Notability or Microsoft Copilot?
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