# Notability vs Nimbus Note

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Nimbus Note at 82% against Notability's 37%. Nimbus Note also leads on iOS requirement (14.0 vs 17.5). Notability's advantage is ratings volume (457K vs 400) and rating (4.8 vs 4.5). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Notability sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and Nimbus Note sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

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 400, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 37% of Notability's written reviews are positive against 82% of Nimbus Note's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Notability ships an update weekly, Nimbus Note fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Notability | Nimbus Note |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.8 (457K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/notability-ai-notes-and-planner/id360593530/reviews)** | [4.5 (400 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/nimbus-note/id828918459/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **457K** | 400 |
| Positive reviews | 36.5% of reviews | **81.9% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Weekly** | Fortnightly |
| Monetization | Freemium | Freemium |
| Best chart rank | **#80** | — |
| Size | 411 MB | 85 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.5 | **14.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Ginger Labs](https://appshunter.io/developer/318126112) | [Nimbus Web Inc](https://appshunter.io/developer/938042715) |

## What reviewers say

### Notability

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

**Currently charting:** #80 Top Grossing · Productivity, #127 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


### Nimbus Note

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/nimbus-note/id828918459)

This app helps you gather and organize all your information in one place. Create text notes, scan documents, and manage to-do lists. Synchronize your data across devices for easy access and editing.

**Highlights:** Create formatted text notes, Attach various file types, Scan and digitize documents with OCR, Organize with workspaces, folders, and tags, Collaborate on notes with others, Create to-do lists with reminders, Cross-device synchronization

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Nimbus Pro | $7.99 | per month |
| Nimbus Pro | $71.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Great for notes and screenshots
- 🚀 Better than Evernote
- 👍 Better folder structure and AI search
- 👍 Reliable and constantly improving
- 👍 Useful, beautiful and free

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Misleading, just a version of Notes app
- 🐛 Lacks feature parity with web and desktop
- 🐛 Unreliable, lost notes and pictures
- 🐛 Slow and unreliable
- 🐛 Crashes on opening on iPad

**Reported bugs**

- Sync issues, different device counts
- Notes disappearing or getting corrupted
- Crashes when editing notes
- Incompatible with older devices
- Crashes on opening the app

**Requested features**

- Ability to scribble/write using pen
- Offline access
- Fujitsu scanner integration
- Ability to change default font colors
- Search in current folder


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Notability free?

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

### Is Nimbus Note free?

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

### Which has better reviews, Notability or Nimbus Note?

Notability is rated higher. Notability averages 4.8 out of 5 from 457K ratings, while Nimbus Note averages 4.5 from 400 ratings.

### Do Notability or Nimbus Note have ads?

Neither Notability nor Nimbus Note shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Notability or Nimbus Note?

Notability ships an update weekly, and Nimbus Note fortnightly. Most recently, Notability was updated on September 25, 2026 and Nimbus Note 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.*