Comparison

Mental Note for iPad ๛ vs Jotsuyo

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

Head to head
About

Mental Note for iPad ๛

This app transforms your iPad into a versatile digital notepad. Seamlessly combine text, drawings, pictures, and voice recordings on a single page. Capture ideas in any format and share them easily.

Highlights
  • Combine text, pictures, audio, and drawings
  • Freehand sketching with multiple colors
  • Organize notes with tags
  • Password protect private notes
  • Export notes in PDF, text, and other formats
  • Share notes via email and cloud services
Read full description

"...a true notepad experience that may help you make a clean break from the pencil-and-paper era." -New York Times. Users describe Mental Note as "the only notepad app... that's actually better than, and as simple as, a pen and paper." It's "the future of note taking", and "a big sketchpad... [to] free-associate and put stuff down in any format". Mental Note for iPad brings the future closer with an even bigger sketchpad for you to capture your ideas on. Turn your iPad into a digital notepad.  Combine pictures, voice recordings, drawings and text - all on the same page, in any order you choose. An idea... a flash - a moment of genius.  When a thought hits, and you have to remember it, why limit how you record it?  The more context and sensory details you can capture, the clearer the idea can be put down. Use pictures, audio, sketching and text together on the same page... a digital page that can be shared with anyone. Mental Note allows you to capture ideas as they happen: use pictures, dictate, add text, sketch on anything.  Ideas clarified. Creativity captured. FEATURES - Draw with your finger using multiple colours and widths on top of pictures, text, or anywhere else on the page. Zoom in to sketch fine details. - Choose a picture from your album and add it to the page. - Add audio to the page by recording with the built-in microphone. Continue to edit your note while recording. - Organize your notes using tags. - Password protect your private notes and flag your important ones. - Attach Calendar events to your notes. - Undo, redo anything in the note by shaking the device. - Delete note sections using the toolbar button or by swiping any note section. - Move a note section by swiping and then dragging it to its new location. - Length of a note is limited only by device memory. - Export in a variety of formats including PDF, text, Mental Note format, and more. Send using email, iCloud, Dropbox, and more. * Send a note in Mental Note format so the note may be imported into another person's Mental Note app. * Using email, export a complete note directly from Mental Note as either a PDF document or a picture (each audio recording is attached to the email as a separate file). You can also email just the text from your note. - Export your notes and backups to your iCloud and/or Dropbox account. - Share a note with your friends using most installed apps. - Map the location a note was created at (if location services are enabled). - Change the size and font of the text in your notes. - Change the color and background of your notes. - Numerous other configuration options. THIS VERSION IS OPTIMIZED FOR iPad. FOR iPhone, PLEASE SEE Mental Note - the digital notepad. Read more: www.zymbiotic.com X @zymbiotic facebook.com/zymbiotic

About

Jotsuyo

Features
Read full description

This application is a search aid using Safari extension. Pre-registered keywords can be easily added to search keywords. Also, advanced searches such as exact match search can be easily performed.

Screenshots

Jotsuyo3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Jotsuyo at Free against Mental Note for iPad ๛'s $4.99. Jotsuyo also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 3) and update cadence (every 3 days vs every 5 months). On 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Jotsuyo is free to download; Mental Note for iPad ๛ costs $4.99 up front. Mental Note for iPad ๛ sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Jotsuyo asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Mental Note for iPad ๛ ships an update every 5 months, Jotsuyo every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Mental Note for iPad ๛ versus Jotsuyo: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMental Note for iPad ๛Jotsuyo
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating2.7 (6 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews51.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings6 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.015.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size17 MB21 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZymbiotic TechnologiesShuhei Takezawa

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Mental Note for iPad ๛

One-time3
  • Paper Customization feature$2.99
  • Straight Line Drawing feature$3.99
  • Dark Mode Override feature$3.99
None

Jotsuyo

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Mental Note for iPad ๛ free?
Mental Note for iPad ๛ costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Jotsuyo free?
Jotsuyo is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Mental Note for iPad ๛ or Jotsuyo have ads?
Neither Mental Note for iPad ๛ nor Jotsuyo shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Mental Note for iPad ๛ or Jotsuyo?
Mental Note for iPad ๛ ships an update every 5 months, and Jotsuyo every 3 days. Most recently, Mental Note for iPad ๛ was updated on October 21, 2026 and Jotsuyo on October 14, 2026.

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