Microsoft OneNote vs Memo Widget
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Capture thoughts and ideas
- Digital sketchbook
- Organize and search notes
- Sync notes via OneDrive
- Collaborate on shared notepads
- Handwritten notes and drawings
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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.
Memo Widget
This app provides a simple notepad experience with home screen widgets for quick access. It offers features like PDF output, iCloud backup, and customization options for text and background. Easily attach photos, search notes, and protect them with a passcode lock.
- Home screen widgets
- PDF, HTML & PNG output
- iCloud backup and sync
- Passcode lock
- Attach photos
- Customizable text/background
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"Smart Notepad" is a simple notepad app that you can put on your home screen! Useful features such as PDF output and iCloud backup. It's easy for anyone to use, and it's perfect for quick notes! [Functions] * Text size * Background color * Text color * PDF, HTML & PNG output * Passcode lock * Attach photos * Search * Character count * Undo, Redo * Dark mode * iCloud backup You can sync with iPad app and Mac app! * Ad removal (paid) The ads are just a banner at the bottom of the screen, but this banner can be removed with a one-time purchase charge, not subscription. [How to set the widget] 1. Press and hold the home screen, and tap the plus button in the upper left corner. 2. Select this app. 3. Select the size you want (3 types) and place it. [How to change the memo to be displayed in the widget] 1. Set the widget. 2. Long press the widget and tap "Edit Widget". 3. Tap "Memo" and select the memo you want to display. [Contact Us] If you have any questions about the app, please contact us from "Help" -> "Contact Us" in the app settings screen.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Microsoft OneNote at none against Memo Widget's shown. Microsoft OneNote also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (1.1M vs 65). Memo Widget's advantage is review sentiment (78% vs 45%) and rating (4.9 vs 4.7). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Microsoft OneNote sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and Memo Widget sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Memo Widget holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Microsoft OneNote has 1.1M ratings behind it against 65, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 45% of Microsoft OneNote's written reviews are positive against 78% of Memo Widget's.
Microsoft OneNote ships an update weekly, Memo Widget every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Microsoft OneNote | Memo Widget |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (1.1M ratings) | 4.9 (65 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 44.8% of reviews | 77.6% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1.1M — better | 65 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #77 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 14.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 404 MB | 37 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Microsoft Corporation | Komorebi Inc. |
Customer experience
Microsoft OneNote
Memo Widget
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
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- 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
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- 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
Memo Widget
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Microsoft OneNote
- Microsoft 365 Personal1 Month trial$9.991 Month
- Microsoft 365 Personal$11.991 Month
- Microsoft 365 Family$12.991 Month
Memo Widget
- Remove Ads$7.99
Questions
Is Microsoft OneNote free?
Is Memo Widget free?
Which has better reviews, Microsoft OneNote or Memo Widget?
Do Microsoft OneNote or Memo Widget have ads?
Which is updated more often, Microsoft OneNote or Memo Widget?
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