Notability vs Cheatsheet
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
Cheatsheet
Quickly store and access important information like hotel room numbers or license plates via widgets, a custom keyboard, or your Apple Watch. This app simplifies recalling details without needing to unlock your phone.
- Quick recall memos
- Widget access
- Custom keyboard integration
- Apple Watch app
- Search functionality
- Organize with folders
- Format notes
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Cheatsheet is for the little things you never remember: hotel rooms, license plates, luggage combination, ID numbers. Write them down in Cheatsheet and then refer to them anytime in a Widget or paste them anywhere with the Custom Keyboard. No more fumbling to unlock your phone and find your notes app; Cheatsheet is as easy as looking at your lock screen, pulling up the keyboard, or glancing at your Apple Watch. App Features: • Simple UI for adding and managing your cheats. • Over 450 icons to help you recognize what you’re looking for. • Quickly copy a cheat by tapping-and-holding on a row. • Search for your cheats, both in the app and in Spotlight. • Use Shortcuts or Siri to “add notes to Cheatsheet” or “find notes in Cheatsheet”. • Organize your cheats with folders and titles. • Format your notes with bold, italics, lists, links, and more. • Protect your cheats with Passcode Lock (Pro feature). • Sync between all your iOS devices via iCloud (Pro feature). Widgets: • Multiple sizes, styles, and colors. • Tap a cheat to open it. Tap the “+” button to add a cheat in the app. • Cheatsheet also has a “Today widget” with options to copy or delete cheats. Apple Watch: • Add, edit, and delete cheats right from your wrist. • Complications show your top cheat (or several cheats) right on your watch face. • Syncs to your iPhone via iCloud (Pro feature). Keyboard Extension: • Shows up to 50 cheats, which you can insert anywhere you can use a custom keyboard. • Includes space, delete, and return keys to help with simple edits. Advanced Features: • Automate your workflows with Shortcuts. • Action extension: send text or URLs to Cheatsheet from any app via the share sheet. • Customize the Cheatsheet widget’s appearance and behavior to suit your needs. • Add or open notes from Control Center (iOS 18 required). • URL scheme for adding a cheat: cheatsheet://add?text=everything%20is%20awesome. Cheatsheet Pro: • Remove limits on the widget, keyboard, and Watch app. • Protect your cheats with Passcode Lock. • Organize your cheats with folders. • Sync your cheats between your devices with iCloud. • Cheatsheet Pro is a simple, annual subscription; there is a one-time purchase option for customers who want to avoid subscriptions. Cheatsheet for Mac is sold separately. • Purchases help support the ongoing development of Cheatsheet — this app is beloved by its users and has over 10 years of active development by a single indie developer, so your support is truly appreciated! Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
Notability and Cheatsheet both sit at 4.8 stars, but that hides the real split: 81% of Cheatsheet's written reviews are positive against 36% of Notability's. Notability's advantage is ratings volume (457K vs 1.9K) and chart position (#83 vs unranked). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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 Cheatsheet sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 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 Cheatsheet. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notability has 457K ratings behind it against 1.9K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 36% of Notability's written reviews are positive against 81% of Cheatsheet's.
Notability ships an update every 6 days, Cheatsheet every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Notability | Cheatsheet |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (457K ratings) — better | 4.7 (1.9K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 36.3% of reviews | 80.6% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 457K — better | 1.9K |
| Update frequency | Every 6 days — better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #83 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 17.5 | 17.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 411 MB | 128 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ginger Labs | Overdesigned, LLC |
Customer experience
Notability
Cheatsheet
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
Cheatsheet
From 1.9K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use
- 🚀 Quick access to information
- 💡 Useful for remembering important details
- 🤖 Seamless Apple Watch integration
- 💻 Syncs across devices
Room to improve
- 🐛 Sync issues
- 🔒 Lack of password protection
- 🔋 Apple Watch battery drain
- 💰 Paid upgrade required for full 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
Cheatsheet
Reported bugs
3 issues- Entries disappearing from widget
- Syncing problems between devices
- Crashes on older devices
Requested features
5 requests- Add ability to sort/reorder entries
- Improve sync reliability
- Implement password protection
- Allow adding images/attachments to entries
- Expand customization options (colors, icons, etc.)
In-app purchases
Notability
- Notability Lite$5.991 Month
- Notability Plus$7.991 Month
- Notability Plus$12.993 Months
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- 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
Cheatsheet
- Cheatsheet Pro$0.991 Month
- Cheatsheet Pro$1.991 Month
- Cheatsheet Pro$4.991 Year
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- Cheatsheet Pro14 Days trial$9.991 Year
- Small Tip$2.99
- Medium Tip$5.99
- Big Tip$9.99
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- Legacy$19.99
- Cheatsheet Pro (Lifetime)$79.99









