Comparison

Microsoft OneNote vs Notes

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

Notes

Capture ideas, plan events, and manage tasks with this versatile note-taking app. Organize notes with custom views, filters, and priority pinning. Enjoy voice notes, file attachments, and secure local accounts.

Highlights
  • Voice notes
  • Checklist creation
  • File attachments
  • Drag and drop organization
  • Board and list views
  • Local accounts
  • Day/night modes
Features
Read full description

Notes — simple notes, reminders and ideas in one app Capture ideas, plan events and keep important lists in one place. Notes helps you stay organized — from quick thoughts to important tasks with reminders. Write, draw and organize everything your way. At home, at work or on the go — your notes are always with you. Main features: • Notes with reminders • Drawing and sketch notes • Easy organization with lists • Board and list views • Filters and pinning • Simple drag-and-drop controls • Local accounts without restrictions • Light and dark modes Pro features: • Voice notes • Unlimited file attachments • Checklists inside notes • Full backup and restore • App lock • Note forwarding and sharing • Printing No ads or annoying pop-ups — just a clean and intuitive interface. Works offline for better privacy, security and stability. Download Notes and manage your ideas, plans and daily tasks with ease. Terms of Use: https://calenhub.com/note_terms_of_use.html

Screenshots

Microsoft OneNote4 screens
Notes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Notes at 100% against Microsoft OneNote's 45%. Notes also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.7) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 18.0). Microsoft OneNote's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (1.1M vs 8). On price, ads, 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 Notes sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Notes 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 8, 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 100% of Notes's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Microsoft OneNote ships an update weekly, Notes every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Microsoft OneNote versus Notes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMicrosoft OneNoteNotes
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (1.1M ratings)4.9 (8 ratings) — better
Positive reviews44.9% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.1M — better8
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
Best chart rank#73 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS18.015.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size404 MB155 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMicrosoft CorporationPlanning Technologies LLC

Customer experience

Microsoft OneNote

All ratings1,064,189 ratings
Positive93.5%
Neutral2.7%
Negative3.7%
Written reviews2,663 reviews
Positive44.9%
Neutral12.1%
Negative43.0%

Notes

All ratings8 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

Notes

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
3 purchases

Notes

Subscriptions2
  • Full Access for a Month$1.491 Month
  • Full Access for a Year7 Days trial$11.991 Year
One-time1
  • Full Access Forever$24.99

Questions

Is Microsoft OneNote free?
Microsoft OneNote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Notes free?
Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Microsoft OneNote or Notes?
Notes is rated higher. Microsoft OneNote averages 4.7 out of 5 from 1.1M ratings, while Notes averages 4.9 from 8 ratings.
Do Microsoft OneNote or Notes have ads?
Neither Microsoft OneNote nor Notes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Microsoft OneNote or Notes?
Microsoft OneNote ships an update weekly, and Notes every 3 months. Most recently, Microsoft OneNote was updated on September 24, 2026 and Notes on September 21, 2026.

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