Absolute Board vs Element Note
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Absolute Board
This free drawing and handwriting app allows users to sketch and take notes with unlimited board size and color options. Save and share your ideas easily, with features like a traceable eraser, photo import, and printing capabilities.
- Unlimited board size
- Unlimited color choice
- Path traceable eraser
- Email snapshot of drawing
- Zooming and panning
- Undo/Redo functions
- Import photos
- Print snapshot
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* April 2011 - "New & Noteworthy" (Productivity) application on the American App Store * * April 2011 - "What's Hot" (Productivity) application on the American App Store * * April 2011 - "Staff Favorites" (All) application on the Korean App Store * * April 2011 - "No. 1 Free App" (Productivity) application on the Korean App Store * Best quality FREE drawing & handwriting app for iPad It's so simple & convenient - just sketch & take notes about anything in your mind. Save and share your novel ideas in the school, cafeteria, office or even on the bed. ▶ Unlimited board size ▶ Unlimited color choice for pen & background ▶ Path traceable eraser ▶ Ability to email snapshot of your drawing ▶ Zooming in/out & moving with two fingers ▶ Undo/Redo functions ▶ Import a Photo ▶ Print Snapshot (Air Print)
Element Note
This app offers a distraction-free digital notebook experience with advanced handwriting, PDF annotation, and sketching capabilities. It features unique brushes, a powerful rendering engine, and smart organization tools. Sync your notes across devices and collaborate with others seamlessly.
- Unique handwriting brushes
- Smooth drawing engine
- PDF annotation
- Text, shape, and image attachments
- On-device OCR search
- Smart dark mode
- iCloud sync and collaboration
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Element Note is the next-gen note taking, PDF annotation, and light sketching app. We stripped down the unnecessaries and carefully polished the elemental functions for a digital notebook. With a modern look and powerful features, Element Note strives to provide an elegant writing space free of distractions. Features: Unique brushes - Pencil (HB Pencil, Mechanical Pencil) - Pen (Pen, Line Pen, Fountain Pen) - Brush (Art Brush, Round Brush) - Marker (Marker, Round Marker) Best-in-class note rendering engine - Smooth and fluid drawing powered by Metal technology - Support gradient ink for more expressive notes Powerful attachments - Text - Shape - Sticker - Image Universal Search - Search through your PDF & Handwritting using on device OCR Smart Darkmode - Smartly adapts all of your notes to the system darkmode without changing the paper or stroke colors. iCloud Sync & Collaboration - Sync via your personal iCloud (No data is passed to our server) - Collaborate through iCloud collaboration for up to 100 users. Desktop class organization - Intuitive multi-select drag and drop gesture to organize your notes or pages Element Note is free to try for up to 3 notes. Unlock the full app with an in app purchase to create unlimited notes. Terms and Conditions https://elementnote.app/terms Privacy Policy https://elementnote.app/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Element Note at 4.6 against Absolute Board's 3.6. Element Note also leads on ratings volume (2.6K vs 12) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). Absolute Board's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 5) and review sentiment (90% vs 69%). On price and ads 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. Element Note sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $3.49 per year. Absolute Board asks for nothing beyond the download.
Element Note holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Element Note has 2.6K ratings behind it against 12, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 90% of Absolute Board's written reviews are positive against 69% of Element Note's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Absolute Board ships an update every 2 months, Element Note fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Absolute Board | Element Note |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.6 (12 ratings) | 4.6 (2.6K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 89.7% of reviews — better | 68.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 12 | 2.6K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 129 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Hyeoseong Hwang | Soysauce Lab |
Customer experience
Absolute Board
Element Note
Bugs and requests
Absolute Board
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Element Note
Reported bugs
4 issues- Notes and files randomly disappearing
- Inconsistent behavior when using the floating keyboard
- Handwriting recognition not working as expected
- Exported PDFs losing formatting and background colors
Requested features
6 requests- Ruler tool
- Ability to resize/rotate selections
- Improved text editing and formatting
- Presentation mode for connecting to displays
- Ability to import/export multiple files at once
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- Seasonal or custom sticker packs
In-app purchases
Absolute Board
No in-app purchases
Element Note
- Element Note Yearly$3.491 Year
- Element Note Yearly$4.991 Year
- Lifetime Launch Special$4.99
- Lifetime$9.99
- Lifetime$14.99
Questions
Is Absolute Board free?
Is Element Note free?
Which has better reviews, Absolute Board or Element Note?
Do Absolute Board or Element Note have ads?
Which is updated more often, Absolute Board or Element Note?
Other comparisons
