Comparison

Note Taker HD vs Save2PDF

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

Save2PDF

Easily create professional PDFs directly on your iPad from various file formats like Word, Excel, Photos, and web pages. Merge multiple documents or select specific pages to build custom PDFs. Seamlessly integrate with other apps for quick conversion.

Highlights
  • Convert Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Photos, Web Pages, and more to PDF
  • Merge multiple files into a single PDF
  • Select specific pages from files for new PDFs
  • Import files from other apps via 'Open in...'
  • Email and print PDFs directly from the app
  • Supports iCloud integration
Features
Read full description

Create professional, great looking PDFs simply and easily right on your iPad without having to go near a computer! Save2PDF will convert most file formats into a PDF including Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Photos, Web Pages, Contacts and many more formats. What the Press Say: Macworld: "Save2PDF is a superb app that provides a fairly unique function" iAppSin: "Save2PDF is a practical app dedicated to converting and merging PDF files" iPad.net: "It is definitely a must-have app for professionals who use their iPad for business purposes" TouchMyApps: "There’s currently nothing like it at the App Store and iDevice users who’ve always wanted to create their own PDF files should definitely check it out." Save2PDF also enables easy merging of several documents into a single PDF, even if the files are completely different formats (i.e. create a single PDF by combining a document with a spreadsheet, or a Pages document with a Word file). It is also just as easy to merge multiple PDFs into a single PDF file. One of the other powerful features of Save2PDF is the ability to select a few pages from a file (i.e. a document or PDF) and a few from one or multiple other files - creating a new PDF containing only the pages required from those files. The PDF creation, arrangement and preview screen is intuitive and easy to use. Rearranging document order, selecting page ranges and adding further documents is all contained within one single area; there is no complicated file structure or hierarchy to learn! Save2PDF can easily be used in conjunction with other apps like Pages, Numbers or Keynote, simply use Open in.....Save2PDF to transfer any file from another app and convert it into a PDF - all done in only 2 steps! Providing the other app supports Open in... file sharing, transferring documents into Save2PDF is easy. FULL PDF CONVERTER • Convert common file formats into a PDF right on your iPad without using a computer • View/Convert/Merge Microsoft Office files, iWork files, Photos, PDFs, Contacts, Web Pages, Email attachments as well as many more file formats • Create a single PDF from multiple files even if they are a different format (i.e. merge a Word file with a Pages document etc) • Email and print finished PDF directly from within Save2PDF MERGE or APPEND PDF FILES • Merge multiple PDF files together • Add a page to an existing PDF file (i.e. a cover letter or fax cover) • Quickly and easily add further appendices to an existing PDF document CREATE PDFs FROM OTHER APPS • Import files from other apps using the Open in... file sharing to transfer into Save2PDF & convert into a PDF • Works with any app that has the Open in file Sharing built in (i.e. Mail attachments, Pages, Numbers or Keynote & many more) • Transfer documents and files from a computer into Save2PDF either via iTunes or by mounting the iPad as a disk or using the free file transfer software, WePrint FULL CLOUD SERVICES SUPPORT • Fully integrated with iCloud, CloudMe, Dropbox, GoogleDocs, Box.net, WebDAV • Convert documents & files in the cloud to PDF without downloading them first • Move or Print documents on your iPad from your Cloud account FULLY FUNCTIONAL PRINTING • Print to ALL printers (Network/WiFi/USB/Bluetooth) via your Mac or PC or direct to most WiFi printers without additional software. Also print to Apple AirPrint printers • Print from Pages, Numbers or Keynote extremely quickly & easily without the need for an AirPrint printer using Open in • USB & Bluetooth printers can be used with free print server software (Windows & Mac) • Print remotely via 3G/4G/EDGE WEB PAGE PRINTING • Browse and print web pages to ALL printers • Convert web pages to PDF documents for sharing • Store passwords and clear history/cache • Multiple tabs for splitting up browsing QUICK HELP - if you need it

Screenshots

Note Taker HD4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Save2PDF at 4.2 against Note Taker HD's 4.0. Save2PDF also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.0). Note Taker HD's advantage is review sentiment (84% vs 68%) and chart position (#110 vs unranked). On price, ratings volume, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Note Taker HD costs $4.99 and Save2PDF $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Save2PDF holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 139 and 64 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 84% of Note Taker HD's written reviews are positive against 68% of Save2PDF's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Note Taker HD versus Save2PDF: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNote Taker HDSave2PDF
Price$4.99$4.99
Rating4.0 (139 ratings)4.2 (64 ratings) — better
Positive reviews83.6% of reviews — better67.7% of reviews
Number of ratings139 — better64
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#110 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPad
Requires iOS17.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB49 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperSoftware GardenEuroSmartz Ltd

Customer experience

Note Taker HD

All ratings139 ratings
Positive73.4%
Neutral7.2%
Negative19.4%
Written reviews593 reviews
Positive83.6%
Neutral6.1%
Negative10.3%

Save2PDF

All ratings64 ratings
Positive81.3%
Neutral4.7%
Negative14.1%
Written reviews502 reviews
Positive67.7%
Neutral5.4%
Negative26.9%

User reviews

Note Taker HD

From 139 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fantastic app, great for engineering and customer communication
  • 👍 Text and sketching on the same page
  • 👍 Typed notes are more legible than handwritten
  • 👍 Typed text remains as editable text objects
  • 👍 Zoom window for precise drawing

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes when exporting PDFs
  • 🐛 Crashes when adding photos
  • 🐛 Crashes and loses data
  • 🐛 Exporting to email not working well
  • 🔍 Interface not very intuitive, steep learning curve

Save2PDF

From 64 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Efficient PDF conversion
  • 👍 Customizable PDF settings
  • 💡 Useful for work and personal use
  • 🔒 Secure file handling
  • 🌐 Integrates with cloud storage

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
  • 🤔 Unintuitive user interface
  • 🔄 Formatting issues with some file types
  • 🕰️ Slow performance at times
  • 🔒 Concerns about security and privacy

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

Save2PDF

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Compatibility issues with iOS updates
  • Memory errors and data loss
  • Inconsistent PDF formatting
  • Unreliable cloud sync and sharing

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved integration with other apps
  • Ability to annotate and edit PDFs
  • Support for more file formats
  • Wireless printing functionality
  • Streamlined file management

In-app purchases

None

Note Taker HD

No in-app purchases

None

Save2PDF

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Note Taker HD free?
Note Taker HD costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Save2PDF free?
Save2PDF costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Note Taker HD or Save2PDF?
Save2PDF is rated higher. Note Taker HD averages 4.0 out of 5 from 139 ratings, while Save2PDF averages 4.2 from 64 ratings.
Do Note Taker HD or Save2PDF have ads?
Neither Note Taker HD nor Save2PDF shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Note Taker HD or Save2PDF?
Note Taker HD ships an update every 4 months, and Save2PDF every 4 months. Most recently, Note Taker HD was updated on September 23, 2026 and Save2PDF on September 21, 2026.

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