Comparison

Microsoft OneNote vs Simple Notepad

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

Head to head
About

Microsoft OneNote

Capture thoughts, ideas, and plans in a digital notepad. Organize, search, and secure your notes, memos, and sketches. Sync across devices for access anywhere, anytime. Collaborate with others on shared notepads.

Highlights
  • Capture thoughts and ideas
  • Digital sketchbook
  • Organize and search notes
  • Sync notes via OneDrive
  • Collaborate on shared notepads
  • Handwritten notes and drawings
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Supercharge your productivity with OneNote. Organize thoughts and ideas, and simplify planning important moments with your digital note-taking. Smart notes on your phone can sync across all your devices with Microsoft OneNote. Combine the power of digital ink with the natural feel of a pen to help you sketch out your inspirations. Take smart notes and capture every detail with voice transcription. Our writing tools make it easy to capture your notes, review your content later, and access AI studying. Take smart notes, share writing ideas, organize note-taking, and collaborate on your creative ideas and writing - all with Microsoft OneNote. ONENOTE APP FEATURES: AI-POWERED COPILOT NOTEBOOKS • Make sense of your files with AI chat • Summarize meetings, classes, and discussions easily from your notes • Listen to audio overviews, created directly from the notes you take AI NOTE-TAKING WITH HOMEPAGE AND QUICK CAPTURE • Streamlined writing: Find notes from your connected accounts in one place to easily create, find, & act on your notes. Now with Samsung Notes integration. • AI workflows with Copilot: Capture text, voice, ink or images to your notepad with Quick Capture • Smart notes: Capture smart notes in ink. Click the pen button & write down thoughts • Write smart notes, draw & clip things from the web to add to your writing notebook SCAN PICTURES & EXTRACT TEXT FROM WRITING • Note-Taking Scanner: Scan documents, pictures, or files to extract writing • Capture images to extract text from documents & more • Apply different filters to change colors, add ink, crop images & more SMART NOTES & AUDIO TRANSCRIPTION • Voice smart notes: Take accurate notes with voice dictation • Click the Mic button to record, then click it again to end recording & save the file • Dictate smart notes in 27 languages (note some languages are in preview) & use Auto-Punctutation to format NOTE-TAKING THAT HELPS YOU ACHIEVE MORE • Organize writing using to-do lists, follow-up items, marks for what’s important & custom labels • Use OneNote as a notebook, journal or a notepad for work or AI studying • Notepad badge hovers on screen & lets you quickly write your thoughts down any time • NEW Sticky notes - Make quick memos & note-taking COLLABORATE WRITING & SHARE SMART NOTES • Write meeting notes, brainstorm projects, & draw attention to important points • Take notes & save ideas across your favorite devices, no matter what device your team likes to use BETTER TOGETHER WITH MICROSOFT OFFICE • OneNote is part of the Office family & works great with your favorite apps, such as Excel or Word, to help you do more Write notes, save ideas & keep up with your to-do list with Microsoft OneNote. APP REQUIREMENTS: OneNote is free on iPhone and many other devices. Get started today! Download OneNote and sign in with your Microsoft Account or the account assigned to you by your work or school. Monthly Microsoft 365 subscriptions purchased from the app will be charged to your App Store account and will automatically renew within 24 hours prior to the end of the current subscription period unless auto-renewal is disabled beforehand. You can manage your subscriptions in your App Store account settings. This app is provided by either Microsoft or a third-party app publisher and is subject to a separate privacy statement and terms and conditions. Data provided through the use of this store and this app may be accessible to Microsoft or the third-party app publisher, as applicable, and transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States or any other country where Microsoft or the app publisher and their affiliates or service providers maintain facilities. Please refer to the Microsoft Software License Terms for Microsoft 365. See “License Agreement” link under Information. By installing the app, you agree to these terms and conditions.

About

Simple Notepad

This app offers a unique note-taking experience with a three-tab system for memos, remarks, and history. Attach photos to your notes and secure them with a password. Organize your thoughts with folder division for efficient management.

Highlights
  • Three-tab note structure (Memo, Remarks, History)
  • Attach images to notes
  • Password security lock
  • Folder division for organization
  • Revision history tracking
  • Additional remarks field
Read full description

"BestNote" is a memo pad application aimed at the highest. As a characteristic feature of "BestNote", the memo creation page is divided into three tabs. It is "memo" "remarks" "history". "Memo" tab is the same function as normal memo pad. "Remarks" "History" is a feature of this application's commitment. In the "Remarks" tab, there is another character input field in addition to the memo, so you can use it in various ways, such as writing a simple draft when writing a note or using it as a remarks column. In addition, it is also possible to attach images on the "Remarks" tab, and it is possible to use it beyond the frame of Notepad depending on the ingenuity. Although it is the "history" tab, contents written in the "memo" tab are accumulated in the history as the name does. (It will be written to the history when you press save button on memo page) With this function, it is possible to recover promptly even in unforeseen circumstances such as mistakenly editing important information accidentally. In addition to the security lock password function. Various functions such as folder division function to make memo easier to manage are carried. Please try downloading it once by all means. ・Terms of Use https://eeggs.jp/terms-of-use-en

Screenshots

Microsoft OneNote4 screens
Simple Notepad4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Microsoft OneNote at none against Simple Notepad's shown. Microsoft OneNote also leads on ratings volume (1.1M vs 2.8K) and update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). Simple Notepad's advantage is review sentiment (68% vs 45%). On price, rating, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Microsoft OneNote sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and Simple Notepad sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Microsoft OneNote against 4.6 for Simple Notepad. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Microsoft OneNote has 1.1M ratings behind it against 2.8K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 45% of Microsoft OneNote's written reviews are positive against 68% of Simple Notepad's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Microsoft OneNote ships an update weekly, Simple Notepad every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Microsoft OneNote versus Simple Notepad: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMicrosoft OneNoteSimple Notepad
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (1.1M ratings) — better4.6 (2.8K ratings)
Positive reviews44.8% of reviews68.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.1M — better2.8K
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#79 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.018.0
Further details — not scored
Size406 MB32 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMicrosoft CorporationEasterEggs

Customer experience

Microsoft OneNote

All ratings1,065,464 ratings
Positive93.5%
Neutral2.7%
Negative3.7%
Written reviews2,678 reviews
Positive44.8%
Neutral12.1%
Negative43.1%

Simple Notepad

All ratings2,818 ratings
Positive91.4%
Neutral4.3%
Negative4.3%
Written reviews168 reviews
Positive68.5%
Neutral10.1%
Negative21.4%

User reviews

Microsoft OneNote

From 1.1M App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Simple, works well
  • 👍 Great for planning
  • 👍 Powerful note-taking app
  • 👍 Invaluable tool for note taking
  • 👍 Used for years, couldn't be without this app

Room to improve

  • 🔨 Could be better
  • 🔨 Formatting issues on mobile app
  • 🔨 Buggy widget, no dark app icon
  • 🐛 Glitchy, crashes often
  • 🐛 Terrible sync speeds

Simple Notepad

From 2.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Simple and easy to use
  • 🎨 Customizable colors and themes
  • 🗂️ Folder organization
  • 🔒 Secure with password protection
  • 📝 Good for note-taking and journaling

Room to improve

  • 🙄 Intrusive ads
  • 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
  • 📱 Not optimized for iPad
  • 🖋️ No handwriting support
  • 💾 No backup/sync options

Bugs and requests

Microsoft OneNote

Reported bugs

9 issues
  • Cursor positioning is erratic
  • Search function does not work well
  • Ink to text conversion missing on iPad
  • Syncing issues, notes not syncing properly across devices
  • Crashing, freezing, and performance issues
Show 4 more
  • Scrolling issues, page jumping to top unexpectedly
  • Eraser tool deletes more than intended
  • Formatting issues when importing/exporting
  • Inconsistent behavior between desktop and mobile versions

Requested features

11 requests
  • Native Markdown support and merged cell support
  • Ruler, ability to choose or create notebook covers
  • Ability to password protect app or individual notebooks
  • Option to open on last opened page instead of Home
  • Ability to turn note into task that appears on To Do and Planner
Show 6 more
  • Search for tags, more Evernote-like search features
  • Ability to select text using 3D Touch
  • Option to limit page to A4 size with framing
  • Pencil feature like Notes app for drawing
  • Ability to delete notebooks
  • Ability to delete notes from Apple devices

Simple Notepad

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashes on launch
  • Notes disappearing after updates
  • Vertical orientation not working
  • Unable to recover lost notes

Requested features

5 requests
  • Option to remove ads
  • Ability to sync notes across devices
  • More font and formatting options
  • Print functionality
  • Improved iPad support

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Microsoft OneNote

Subscriptions3
  • Microsoft 365 Personal1 Month trial$9.991 Month
  • Microsoft 365 Personal$11.991 Month
  • Microsoft 365 Family$12.991 Month
1 purchases

Simple Notepad

Subscriptions1
  • Premium Plan$3.991 Month

Questions

Is Microsoft OneNote free?
Microsoft OneNote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Simple Notepad free?
Simple Notepad is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Microsoft OneNote or Simple Notepad?
Microsoft OneNote is rated higher. Microsoft OneNote averages 4.7 out of 5 from 1.1M ratings, while Simple Notepad averages 4.6 from 2.8K ratings.
Do Microsoft OneNote or Simple Notepad have ads?
Simple Notepad shows ads; Microsoft OneNote does not.
Which is updated more often, Microsoft OneNote or Simple Notepad?
Microsoft OneNote ships an update weekly, and Simple Notepad every 3 weeks. Most recently, Microsoft OneNote was updated on September 30, 2026 and Simple Notepad on September 28, 2026.

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