Comparison

Notability vs Vaila

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Handwritten and typed notes
  • PDF and document annotation
  • Audio recording and transcription
  • AI-powered summaries and quizzes
  • Customizable organization
  • Cross-device sync
Features
Read 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

About

Vaila

Effortlessly schedule group events by describing them in plain language. This app intelligently finds mutually available times, respecting calendar privacy. It simplifies coordinating meetings, social gatherings, and study sessions without endless back-and-forth.

Highlights
  • Natural language event description
  • Private calendar availability checks
  • AI-powered time suggestions
  • Group chat for confirmed plans
  • Optional calendar integration
  • Automatic plan confirmation to calendar
Features
Read full description

Vaila finds times that fit the plan, not just your calendar. Describe the plan the way you'd text it — "coffee this week," "dinner with Maya," "study session Sunday." Vaila privately compares everyone's availability and suggests times that actually make sense for the activity: mornings for coffee, evenings for dinner, real blocks for studying. HOW IT WORKS • Describe the plan in plain words • Vaila checks calendars privately. Participants only see suggested times • Everyone picks from a few smart options, and the plan is confirmed WHY PEOPLE USE VAILA • Invitees never need an account • Invite by email or phone • Connect Google, Outlook, or Apple Calendar (optional) • AI scheduling suggestions tuned to the kind of plan • Group scheduling without the "when are you free?" spiral • Chat with your group once a plan exists • Confirmed plans can land on your calendar automatically YOUR CALENDAR STAYS PRIVATE Vaila only uses availability to make suggestions. The people you plan with see time options — never your underlying calendar events. FREE AND VAILA PRO Vaila is free to use, with up to 10 AI time suggestions a day and groups of up to 3 people. Vaila Pro is an auto-renewing subscription at $6.99 per month, starting with a 7-day free trial. It raises the limits to 100 AI time suggestions a day and groups of up to 25, and lets you connect up to 3 calendars at once. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically each month unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel it any time in your Apple ID settings. Terms: https://vailaapp.com/terms · Privacy: https://vailaapp.com/privacy

Screenshots

Notability4 screens
Vaila4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Vaila at 100% against Notability's 36%. Vaila also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.8). Notability's advantage is ratings volume (458K vs 3) and chart position (#97 vs unranked). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Notability sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and Vaila sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $6.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Vaila holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notability has 458K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 36% of Notability's written reviews are positive against 100% of Vaila's.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Notability versus Vaila: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotabilityVaila
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (458K ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews36.2% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings458K — better3
Update frequencyWeekly—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFreemium
Best chart rank#97 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.0 — better18.5
Further details — not scored
Size413 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGinger LabsAryan Dhillon

Customer experience

Notability

All ratings457,834 ratings
Positive94.8%
Neutral1.3%
Negative3.9%
Written reviews3,733 reviews
Positive36.2%
Neutral8.7%
Negative55.2%

Vaila

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

Vaila

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Notability

Subscriptions9
  • Notability Lite$5.991 Month
  • Notability Plus$7.991 Month
  • Notability Plus$12.993 Months
Show 6 more
  • Notability Lite$14.991 Year
  • Notability Plus1 Year trial2 variants$19.991 Year
  • Notability Plus7 Days trial$19.991 Year
  • Notability Plus$19.991 Year
  • Notability Pro$19.991 Month
  • Notability Pro3 Days trial$99.991 Year
One-time1
  • Notability Classic$49.99
1 purchases

Vaila

Subscriptions1
  • Vaila Pro7 Days trial$6.991 Month

Questions

Is Notability free?
Notability is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Vaila free?
Vaila is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Notability or Vaila?
Vaila is rated higher. Notability averages 4.8 out of 5 from 458K ratings, while Vaila averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Notability or Vaila have ads?
Neither Notability nor Vaila shows ads.

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