Comparison

Mental Note for iPad ๛ vs Note Cards

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

Note Cards

This app helps you organize notes, checklists, flashcards, and structured data with a folder tree, tags, and fast search. It offers security features like PIN protection and personalization options such as themes and custom icons. The app works offline and does not require an account.

Highlights
  • Notes and Markdown creation
  • Checklists with amounts
  • Flashcards
  • Key-Value and table data
  • Folder tree structure
  • Tags and Favorites
  • Fast Search
  • App PIN protection
Features
Read full description

Note Cards: Stay Organized is an all-in-one app for notes, checklists, flashcards, markdown, and structured data. Create: -Notes and Markdown -Checklists and checklists with amounts -Flashcards -Key-Value and table data Organize everything with: -Folder tree structure -Tags and Favorites -Fast Search Security and personalization: -App PIN protection -Multiple theme colors -Custom folder icons and colors -Easy navigation Works offline. Local-first. No forced account.

Screenshots

Note Cards4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Note Cards at Free against Mental Note for iPad ๛'s $4.99. Note Cards also leads on rating (5.0 vs 2.7) and in-app purchases (none vs 3). Mental Note for iPad ๛'s advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (6 vs 1).

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

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

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Note Cards holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 2.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Mental Note for iPad ๛ has 6 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Mental Note for iPad ๛ versus Note Cards: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMental Note for iPad ๛Note Cards
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating2.7 (6 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews51.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings6 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 5 months—
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesAd-supported — better
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size17 MB27 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZymbiotic TechnologiesEdi Ermawan

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

Note Cards

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 Note Cards free?
Note Cards is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Mental Note for iPad ๛ or Note Cards?
Note Cards is rated higher. Mental Note for iPad ๛ averages 2.7 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while Note Cards averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Mental Note for iPad ๛ or Note Cards have ads?
Note Cards shows ads; Mental Note for iPad ๛ does not.

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