iNaturalist Classic vs Nature Notes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
iNaturalist Classic
Record and identify species encounters with a simple interface. Contribute to scientific research and learn about biodiversity. Connect with other nature enthusiasts and explore the natural world.
- Identify species globally
- Record species sightings
- Contribute observations to science
- Add observations to projects
- Learn about biodiversity
- Connect with nature enthusiasts
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iNaturalist Classic is the original version of our app. For the best experience, including many new features and ongoing updates, we recommend using the new, redesigned iNaturalist app. iNaturalist Classic offers a simple interface to record encounters with biodiversity for people who are already familiar with iNaturalist. KEY FEATURES • Identify species from anywhere in the world (while online) • Keep a record of species you see • Contribute to science by sharing your observations • Add your observations manually to projects • Learn about biodiversity • Connect with and learn from other nature enthusiasts iNaturalist’s nonprofit mission is to connect people to nature and advance science and conservation. iNaturalist is freely available thanks to generous support from our community of donors. Explore and learn even more at https://www.inaturalist.org.
Nature Notes
Record and share notes, photos, and audio from your outdoor adventures. Advanced tools allow for photo merging from other cameras and interactive map integration. Organize trips into multiple hikes and share them via email, web pages, or custom files.
- Record notes, photos, and audio
- Merge photos from other cameras
- Interactive Apple Maps integration
- Organize trips into multiple hikes
- Share via email, web pages, or files
- GPS tracking and export (KML/GPX)
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NatureNotes allows you to record and share notes, photos, and audio recordings on any walk, tour, hike, or just a stroll around your neighborhood. If you are a serious photographer, advanced tools allow you to load pictures from another camera into the walk record. There are several options for sharing walks with friends or other NatureNotes users, including email, Web page creation, or sending a NatureNotes file to another user. Easy sharing: Take photos, save notes, and record audio on your Apple iPhone or iPad. The app offers powerful editing features to create a slideshow or Web folder that you can email to your friends or upload to a server. Interactive maps: Apple maps embedded in NatureNotes shows where you are at all times, as well as where you've been on your hike. Satellite view can show you the terrain with a data connection. If you repeat a hike you've taken before, you can use the interactive map to see where you are relative to your last hike. Organization: Divide your trip into multiple hikes, then put them under a single header. Combine the subsumed hikes into a single slideshow, email, or web folder for sharing. Creating multiple databases offers a system for organizing larger groups of walk records. Records can be copied directly to other databases for easy sorting and reorganization. Photo merging: Take photos with another camera and merge them directly into your NatureNotes recordings. A smart system using dates and timestamps places photos into their correct positions within previously-recorded records. Even without a recorded hike, create a new record from a set of location-encoded photographs, and see exactly where you took the photos, using the embedded Apple Maps features. If the photos contain captions from another photo-editing program, the captions will be copied into NatureNotes titles for immediate labelling within NatureNotes. All slideshow features and email or Web sharing features can then be used with the new records. Create a kml file for viewing the track in another tracking application, or a gpx file for loading a track with GPS data into photo editing applications. GPS tracking: NatureNotes provides detailed tracking data for your walks, regardless of whether you are in cellular range or not. Tracks can be exported as KML or GPX files for use in other applications. Duplication and backups: Take a complete set of records and copy them to another device, with a cable and computer, regardless of record sizes. In this way complete records can be shared or backed-up without loss of information or photographic resolution.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: iNaturalist Classic at 4.6 against Nature Notes's 1.0. iNaturalist Classic also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ratings volume (4.7K vs 1). On price, update cadence, 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
Both are free to download. Nature Notes sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. iNaturalist Classic asks for nothing beyond the download.
iNaturalist Classic holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: iNaturalist Classic has 4.7K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
iNaturalist Classic ships an update every 5 weeks, Nature Notes every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | iNaturalist Classic | Nature Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (4.7K ratings) — better | 1.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 81.6% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 4.7K — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks | Every 4 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 44 MB | 172 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | iNaturalist | Kenneth Wahl |
Customer experience
iNaturalist Classic
Nature Notes
Bugs and requests
iNaturalist Classic
Reported bugs
3 issues- Login issues or inability to create account
- Slow upload speeds or observation syncing
- Inconsistent performance between mobile and web versions
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to follow other users and see their observations
- More filtering and sorting options for observations
- Offline mode for taking photos and uploading later
- Easier location input for observations
- Private/personal project functionality
Nature Notes
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
iNaturalist Classic
No in-app purchases
Nature Notes
- English$4.99
Questions
Is iNaturalist Classic free?
Is Nature Notes free?
Which has better reviews, iNaturalist Classic or Nature Notes?
Do iNaturalist Classic or Nature Notes have ads?
Which is updated more often, iNaturalist Classic or Nature Notes?
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