Notability vs ZoomNotes Lite
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
ZoomNotes Lite
This app allows for handwritten notes and sketches on various digital documents, including PDFs and Office files. It offers unlimited zooming, customizable paper styles, and extensive sharing options. Additional features and pen types are available through in-app purchases.
- Unlimited zoom and panning
- Handwritten notes and sketches
- Markup PDFs and Office documents
- Customizable paper sizes and styles
- Extensive document sharing options
- Digital planning with calendar integration
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ZoomNotes Lite is an iPad/iPhone visual note-taking app. It lets you quickly make handwritten notes and sketches on virtual paper, on PDF files, on MS Word, Excel and Powerpoint docs (via GoogleDrive), and over images. Uniquely, it also lets you zoom in and out without arbitrary limits, an invaluable feature for this type of app. It has a free fully functioning pen (although you will be able to try the pens too), and more available as in-app purchases. It has unlimited paper sizes/styles, unlimited colours and line thicknesses, and a large range of ways to share its documents making ZoomNotes the most versatile handwriting/drawing app. ZoomNotes Desktop for Mac now also available. ZoomNotes is much more than a replacement for your trusted paper notebook! Compatible with any capacitive stylus pen (although fingers work well too). Here some reviews of the app store of the full version- The best note taking app available! ***** by MarkNance – Version 7.1.4 – Jul 6, 2016 Don’t be put off by all its features! ***** by Stevearcher – Version 7.1.3 – May 24, 2016 Most complete Note app I’ve tried ***** by ItsDartstx – Version 7.1.3 – Apr 20, 2016 Most effective note taking app ***** by John25642 – Version 7.1.3 – Jul 7, 2016 Full featured and innovative ***** by music-major – Version 7.1.3 – May 15, 2016 Hands(writing)-down, best notepad replacement out there. ***** by Jed123zz – Version 7.1.3 – Mar 23, 2016 Free features include: -1 Pen type - Felt tip. -Huge Zoom Range and Whiteboard page style -Rotatable views -Split screen mode (edit 2 documents at once) -Digital planning with links, which can also show events and reminders from the Calendar and Reminder apps -Write over PDF file -Write over MS Word, Powerpoint and Excel files (via GoogleDrive) -Calendar events/reminders :add events linked to your documents, possibly with alarms. The URL in the event links back to the document in ZoomNotes. -Typed text- limited to a single font, fills and borders -Regular shapes and arrows -Symbol library -Select, scale, rotate and shift -Cut, copy, paste (including between documents, pages and other apps) -Write over pdf files (markup) -Configurable paper types -Intuitive folder interface for documents -Sharing as PDF files, images, videos or ZoomNotes documents (via email, iTunes, clipboard, Dropbox, Twitter and Evernote) -In app printing -VGA compatible for use with projectors, monitors and AirPlay -Universal app - iPhone and iPad -iCloud support -Geo-located documents; documents can be optionally geo-located and viewed as pins on a map. -Layers let you control what is visible on a page, also options for 'master layers' which show on all pages. In app purchases features include: -7 extra Pen types, including Italic, Gel, Nib, Pencil and Watercolour. -Sub-pages (pages within pages within...) -Typed text- fully configurable fonts, colours, fills and borders -Unlimited colours and line styles -Bookmarks with animated playback -Insert images from camera or photo library -Insert web pages -Insert videos from camera or photo library -Edit inserted images, including masking and cropping -Record and playback sounds, including import and export of caf files - Handwriting recognition (14 different languages). Please note that the full version of ZoomNotes is equivalent to the Lite version with all the in-app purchases. There are lots more details including some videos of the app in action at www.zoom-notes.com Please remember to leave us a review. If you wish, you can send us feedback directly, we reply to every email sent to support@zoom-notes.com. If you experience any problems or bugs in the app, please email us your device information, which iOS version you are running to support@zoom-notes.com and we will fix it asap. Twitter - @zoomnotes
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Notability at 4.8 against ZoomNotes Lite's 4.2. Notability also leads on ratings volume (457K vs 214) and update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). ZoomNotes Lite's advantage is review sentiment (72% vs 37%) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.5). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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 ZoomNotes Lite sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Notability holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notability has 457K ratings behind it against 214, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 37% of Notability's written reviews are positive against 72% of ZoomNotes Lite's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Notability ships an update weekly, ZoomNotes Lite every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and August 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Notability | ZoomNotes Lite |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (457K ratings) — better | 4.2 (214 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 36.5% of reviews | 72.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 457K — better | 214 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #80 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.5 | 15.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 411 MB | 151 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ginger Labs | Deliverance Software Ltd |
Customer experience
Notability
ZoomNotes Lite
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
ZoomNotes Lite
From 214 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Versatile and feature-rich
- 👍 Smooth handwriting experience
- 💡 Powerful customization options
- 🚀 Seamless PDF annotation
- 👍 Reliable syncing and backup
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes and glitches
- 👎 Confusing and outdated user interface
- 🐛 Inconsistent pen and eraser behavior
- 👎 Limited free version functionality
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
ZoomNotes Lite
Reported bugs
4 issues- Syncing issues leading to document conflicts
- Random lines and dots appearing on the page
- Disappearing handwritten notes after saving
- Inability to unlock paid features after purchase
Requested features
4 requests- Improved text editing and formatting
- Easier organization with better folder management
- More tutorials and documentation
- Ability to recover accidentally deleted notes
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
ZoomNotes Lite
- Highlighter pen$0.99
- Text$0.99
- Images$0.99
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Bookmarks$0.99
- Sounds$0.99
- Sub-documents$0.99
- Tables$0.99
- Workspaces$1.99
- All Pens$2.99
- All features$7.99









