Comparison

pdf vs Notepad

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

Head to head
About

pdf

Manage and annotate PDF files on your iPad with fast page turning and intuitive finger-writing. Easily import PDFs, organize them into bookshelves, and export annotated versions via email. Features include zoom, cropping, and multiple pen options.

Highlights
  • Fast page turning and scanning
  • Intuitive finger-writing and annotation
  • Easy PDF import via Dropbox, Email, iTunes
  • Categorized bookshelves with search
  • Export annotated PDFs via email
  • Pinch zoom and crop page margins
Read full description

[notice] pdf-notes for iPad (ads) involves advertisements. Paid version is available at http://itunes.apple.com/app/id4172008446 Utilize pdf-notes to manage all the pdf files on your iPad. Fast display, quick page-turning even a thousand pages, useful finger-writing and email your notes to your friends. Differentiation-1. While turning pages of paperbooks fast, you can glance over the pages. While turning pages of pdf-notes fast, you can still run over the contents. Speedy page turning and scanning the contents with pdf-notes or paperbooks. Differentiation-2. There are many pdf readers allow you to annotate; but do you know which app allows you can write any notes in a second? If you are using pdf-notes, you may experience very fast and intuitive finger-writing like: zoom-in and note by double-tap or; writing with one finger, page-turning with two fingers, pen-changing with three fingers. - Easy importing PDF files through (DropBox, Email or Safari's) "Open In..." or iTunes - Categorized multiple bookshelves(booklists) with powerful search - Displaying pages as optimized size 1024x768 of iPad - Portrait and landscape view - Pinch zoom and crop page-margins - Fast loading and Speedy page-turning - Finger-writing with a variety of pens, highlighters and text notes - Easy "zoom-in and note" on a magnified screen by a double tap - One-step page-turning using 2 fingers on editing mode - One-step pen-changing or undo/redo using 3 fingers on editing mode - Exporting annotated PDF files to Email - External display and screen brightness controls - AirPrint and multi-tasking Misunderstandings about pdf-notes: - Not only pdf-notes but every app recently updated is removed from the open-in menu because iOS5 or formers currently show only 10 apps in open-in menu. - iPad/iphone Mail/iBooks can't display PDF annotations so that please open it in the other pdf apps. - please visit the support site for more information http://bit.ly/f6D31P Blog http://pdf-notes.com Email musebook@musebook.com Twitter http://twitter.com/musebook4u YouTube http://youtu.be/4AyRyFq9yxg NOTE: All content contained herein is subject to change without notice.

About

Notepad

Capture thoughts, pictures, voice memos, and checklists with this smart notepad. Organize and quickly find all your information, including secure storage for logins and passwords. Features include reminders, backup options, and printing capabilities.

Highlights
  • Capture thoughts, pictures, and voice records
  • Create and manage checklists
  • Secure storage for logins and passwords
  • Organize notes with categories and colors
  • Quick search and recent notes list
  • Backup, restore, and print notes
  • Birthday reminders
Features
Read full description

Smart notepad makes it easy to capture your thought, pictures, voice records, checklist, birthdays, logins, and passwords. You can easily organize it and find it quickly later. The notepad helps you to keep all information with you. Smart notepad is very powerful but simple and easy to use. Main features: - Add notes - Add existing pictures to notes - Take photos and add to notes - Add voice records and listen to at any time - Add checklists - Add and remember birthdays - Secure storage for logins and passwords - Encoding with RSA and DES algorithms - Categories for notes - Colors for categories - A quick search for any data - Recent notes list - Restore removed notes from trash folder - Sorting notes by different fields - Birthdays reminder - Quick buttons to create notes - Quick copy data to memory - Password on application startup - Restore password to the email - Backup/restore data - Print notes - Share notes Supported languages: English, Russian, Spanish, Hindi, Portuguese, Indonesian, German, Bengali, French, Italian, Vietnamese, Chinese Simplified If you have any ideas for improvement just contact us by softser06@gmail.com Permissions Notice Camera: This is used to attach images to notes Microphone: This is used to attach voice records to notes Storage: This is used to backup/restore all notes Terms of Use (EULA) - https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula Privacy Policy - https://sites.google.com/prod/view/softser/home/notepad (Ages 10+)

Screenshots

Notepad4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Notepad at 5.0 against pdf's 3.3. Notepad also leads on review sentiment (79% vs 68%) and device support (3 vs 1). pdf's advantage is ratings volume (22 vs 2). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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

Both are free to download. pdf sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Notepad sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Notepad holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: pdf has 22 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 68% of pdf's written reviews are positive against 79% of Notepad's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

pdf ships an update every 3 weeks, Notepad every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 3, 2026 and August 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
pdf versus Notepad: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterpdfNotepad
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.3 (22 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews68.3% of reviews78.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings22 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size141 MB84 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAMuseTec Co., Ltd.siarhei yatsuk

Customer experience

pdf

All ratings21 ratings
Positive57.1%
Neutral4.8%
Negative38.1%
Written reviews293 reviews
Positive68.3%
Neutral9.9%
Negative21.8%

Notepad

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews19 reviews
Positive78.9%
Neutral5.3%
Negative15.8%

Bugs and requests

pdf

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Annotated PDFs losing data during export
  • Crashes after recent app updates
  • Inconsistent behavior when switching between apps
  • Incorrect page numbering and navigation

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add text typing and editing capabilities
  • Implement a table of contents feature
  • Improve integration with cloud storage services
  • Allow custom organization of PDF files
  • Enhance the note-taking experience

Notepad

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

pdf

One-time3
  • 2-Month Pass$0.99
  • 1-Year Pass$4.99
  • Lifetime License$9.99
1 purchases

Notepad

Subscriptions1
  • Full access monthly$0.991 Month

Questions

Is pdf free?
pdf is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Notepad free?
Notepad is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, pdf or Notepad?
Notepad is rated higher. pdf averages 3.3 out of 5 from 22 ratings, while Notepad averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do pdf or Notepad have ads?
Both pdf and Notepad show ads.
Which is updated more often, pdf or Notepad?
pdf ships an update every 3 weeks, and Notepad every 6 weeks. Most recently, pdf was updated on September 3, 2026 and Notepad on August 16, 2026.

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