Comparison

Note Taker HD vs Fast Template

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

Head to head
About

Note Taker HD

This app allows for versatile handwritten note-taking and PDF annotation on iPad and iPhone. It offers features like zoomed ink, shapes, typed text, and image insertion, with flexible organization and sharing options.

Highlights
  • Zoomed ink for detailed writing
  • PDF annotation capabilities
  • Insert photos and shapes
  • Typed text blocks
  • Organize with folders and tags
  • Export as PDF
Features
Read full description

Zoomed ink, PDF markup, photos, shapes, typed text, folders and tagging, extensive AirPlay control, and much more. The latest upgrade of one of the first note taking apps designed specifically for the Apple iPad and now also available for the Apple iPhone, Note Taker HD has long been known as a powerful and stable application for writing and organizing handwritten notes and diagrams. Note Taker HD can also be used to annotate PDF files. It can shrink your writing so you can easily fit a lot of text on a page. You can read the reduced-size "ink" as if you had written those letters with a very fine pen. It gives you solid functionality and control to produce the pages you need. Documents are flexibly organized by tags, date/time last modified, favorites, and more, with a scrolling list of thumbnail images of part of each page to help you find them later. You can email one or more pages as a single PDF file, "Open In" other apps, or, if your device supports it, print. Note Taker HD lets you create pages by writing on the screen with your finger or an iPad/iPhone-compatible stylus. You can either write directly on the page for large drawings, or have the "ink" you write shrunk down. You can write in large letters on the screen rather than trying to make tiny motions like a pencil. You just keep writing and Note Taker HD automatically adds new writing next to the old. To quickly correct mistakes, it has multi-level undo and redo buttons as well as an eraser -- just drag your finger over the page to erase the "ink" under it. You can zoom in and out on a page using the pinch gesture while viewing or editing. The Zoomed Editing window lets you see both a zoomed-out overview and a zoomed-in close-up writing area at the same time. You can use "Open In" in other apps send PDF files to Note Taker HD for annotation. Other features include: - Pages organized into documents and folders - Typed blocks of text with optional borders - 60+ highly customizable shapes - Insert and crop images from Photo Albums, Pasteboard, or the iPad/iPhone camera - Custom backgrounds from images or PDF pages - Free templates and clip art on the support web site - VGA/HDMI/AirPlay support with zoom, pan, and a moveable pointer - Wrist guard to avoid inadvertent touches - Layout variations better suited to some left-handed users - Optional fields in output footers like in a word processor - Extensive built-in help - Smooth and crisp ink on screen and in PDF output - Share editable copies of your documents with others - Backup to a single file for off-iPad/iPhone storage - Password protected folders - Support for the iOS Data Protection API - Support for languages written right-to-left - Full-screen preview mode - Automatic advance and auto-return in zoomed editing - Copy/Cut/Paste between pages, rotate/resize ink Note Taker HD was designed and programmed by Dan Bricklin, the same person who over 40 years ago came up with VisiCalc, the pioneering electronic spreadsheet that made working with numbers on a personal computer so easy. To see it in action, click on the Support link here or go directly to www.notetakerhd.com.

About

Fast Template

Streamline daily communication with pre-written messages. Create custom templates for reports, time logs, or family updates, then send them with a single tap. Schedule reminders to ensure important emails are never missed.

Highlights
  • Create custom message templates
  • Send messages with one tap
  • Supports email and SMS sharing
  • Time-specific notification function
  • Record work start/end times
  • Daily report templates
Features
Read full description

This app makes it easy to send fixed form emails that must be sent every day. For example... ・Fixed format report to boss (daily report) ・Record the start and end times of today's work ・E-mail to family telling you to return home Once you have created a template, you only need is to launch the app and tap once. This app supports sharing to email, SMS and other apps. This app has a notification function of time specification. No more forgetting to send an email. Please try using this app. And I'd be happy if you could send me your opinions and impressions. Thanks for reading.

Screenshots

Note Taker HD4 screens
Fast Template4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Note Taker HD at 84% against Fast Template's 0%. Note Taker HD also leads on ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (140 vs 3). Fast Template's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.0) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 4 months). On in-app purchases, monetization model and device support 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

Note Taker HD costs $4.99 and Fast Template $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Fast Template holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Note Taker HD has 140 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 84% of Note Taker HD's written reviews are positive against 0% of Fast Template's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Note Taker HD ships an update every 4 months, Fast Template every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Note Taker HD versus Fast Template: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNote Taker HDFast Template
Price$4.99$2.99 — better
Rating4.0 (140 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews83.7% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings140 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB21 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSoftware GardenHaruya Nakamura

Customer experience

Note Taker HD

All ratings140 ratings
Positive73.6%
Neutral7.1%
Negative19.3%
Written reviews595 reviews
Positive83.7%
Neutral6.1%
Negative10.3%

Fast Template

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Note Taker HD

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashes when exporting PDFs
  • Crashes when adding photos
  • Crashes and loses data
  • Exporting to email not working well

Requested features

9 requests
  • Evernote integration
  • Ability to scroll between pages
  • Ability to underline, bold or italicize typed text
  • Ability to group objects together
  • Voice recording and clip function
Show 4 more
  • Dropbox/iCloud sync and backup
  • Ability to convert handwriting to text
  • Folders and sub-folders for better organization
  • Ability to rotate objects

Fast Template

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Note Taker HD

No in-app purchases

None

Fast Template

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Note Taker HD free?
Note Taker HD costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Fast Template free?
Fast Template costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Note Taker HD or Fast Template?
Fast Template is rated higher. Note Taker HD averages 4.0 out of 5 from 140 ratings, while Fast Template averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Note Taker HD or Fast Template have ads?
Fast Template shows ads; Note Taker HD does not.
Which is updated more often, Note Taker HD or Fast Template?
Note Taker HD ships an update every 4 months, and Fast Template every 2 months. Most recently, Note Taker HD was updated on October 12, 2026 and Fast Template on September 24, 2026.

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