Comparison

Microsoft OneNote vs Stylus Labs Write Pro

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
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

Stylus Labs Write Pro

This app offers advanced tools for editing and navigating handwritten documents, combining note-taking and vector drawing capabilities. It supports flexible file organization, cloud services, and a non-proprietary SVG format for easy sharing.

Highlights
  • Intelligent handwriting selection and editing tools
  • Reflow handwritten text with insert space tool
  • Create handwritten links and bookmarks
  • Non-proprietary SVG file format export
  • Apple Pencil support
  • Split view for multi-document work
  • PDF export
Features
Read full description

Write is an open-source application with a unique set of tools for editing and navigating handwritten documents, plus all the usual features of a vector drawing application. Write is perfect for note-taking, brainstorming, and sketching. MODERN DOCUMENT HANDLING * uses standard Apple document browser for completely flexible file organization * supports iCloud and all other cloud services that integrate with the Files app * non-proprietary SVG file format can be opened in other vector graphics apps and web browsers UNIQUE TOOLS FOR HANDWRITTEN DOCUMENTS * intelligent tools to select, erase, and move writing * reflow handwritten text with the insert space tool * create bookmarks labeled with handwriting * create handwritten links to bookmarks and websites * save clippings for easy pasting into any document * unlimited undo/redo jog dial * split view: work on two documents or two parts of the same document STANDARD NOTE-TAKING AND DRAWING TOOLS * Apple Pencil support * insert images (and vector content as SVG) * cut, copy, paste, move, scale, and rotate selections * cut, copy, and paste pages within and between documents * customize and save pens * customize page size, color, and ruling * pages can grow automatically when writing nears edge * PDF export Website: https://www.styluslabs.com Source: https://github.com/styluslabs/Write FAQ: https://www.styluslabs.com/faq Support: support@styluslabs.com

Screenshots

Microsoft OneNote4 screens
Stylus Labs Write Pro4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Microsoft OneNote at Free against Stylus Labs Write Pro's $8.99. Microsoft OneNote also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 4 months) and ratings volume (1.1M vs 40). Stylus Labs Write Pro's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and review sentiment (77% vs 45%). On ads 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

Microsoft OneNote is free to download; Stylus Labs Write Pro costs $8.99 up front. Microsoft OneNote sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Stylus Labs Write Pro asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Microsoft OneNote holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Microsoft OneNote has 1.1M ratings behind it against 40, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 45% of Microsoft OneNote's written reviews are positive against 77% of Stylus Labs Write Pro's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Microsoft OneNote ships an update weekly, Stylus Labs Write Pro every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
Microsoft OneNote versus Stylus Labs Write Pro: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMicrosoft OneNoteStylus Labs Write Pro
PriceFree — better$8.99
Rating4.7 (1.1M ratings) — better4.5 (40 ratings)
Positive reviews44.8% of reviews76.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.1M — better40
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank#113 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS18.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size404 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMicrosoft CorporationMatthew White

Customer experience

Microsoft OneNote

All ratings1,064,189 ratings
Positive93.5%
Neutral2.7%
Negative3.7%
Written reviews2,678 reviews
Positive44.8%
Neutral12.1%
Negative43.1%

Stylus Labs Write Pro

All ratings40 ratings
Positive87.5%
Neutral2.5%
Negative10.0%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive76.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative23.1%

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

Stylus Labs Write Pro

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

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
None

Stylus Labs Write Pro

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Microsoft OneNote free?
Microsoft OneNote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Stylus Labs Write Pro free?
Stylus Labs Write Pro costs $8.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Microsoft OneNote or Stylus Labs Write Pro?
Microsoft OneNote is rated higher. Microsoft OneNote averages 4.7 out of 5 from 1.1M ratings, while Stylus Labs Write Pro averages 4.5 from 40 ratings.
Do Microsoft OneNote or Stylus Labs Write Pro have ads?
Neither Microsoft OneNote nor Stylus Labs Write Pro shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Microsoft OneNote or Stylus Labs Write Pro?
Microsoft OneNote ships an update weekly, and Stylus Labs Write Pro every 4 months. Most recently, Microsoft OneNote was updated on September 27, 2026 and Stylus Labs Write Pro on September 24, 2026.

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