Comparison

Paper vs Element Note

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Paper

This app offers an immersive sketching experience with intuitive tools and gesture-based controls. Easily create collages, paintings, and drawings without distracting menus. Organize your creations into journals and sync them across devices.

Highlights
  • Intuitive sketching tools
  • Gesture-based controls
  • Photo collage creation
  • Layer-free editing
  • Journal organization
  • Cross-device syncing
Features
Read full description

Over 30 million people set their ideas free with Paper®, the award-winning immersive sketching app. SKETCH WITH CONFIDENCE Paper’s perfectly-tuned tools make it easy to sketch, collage, paint, draw—wherever your thoughts take you. Wave goodbye to distracting menus and let natural gestures guide you, keeping you in your creative flow. GET CREATIVE (WITHOUT THE MESS) Add multiple photos to a single page and cut, stick, move, and fix without the fuss of complex layers. From mood boards to storyboards, pull in inspiration from anywhere and get your ideas moving. YOUR IDEAS, YOUR WAY Wherever and however you get your ideas, it’s never been easier to put them on Paper. Organize pages into beautiful journals and sync them across your devices, ready to pick up where you left off. CREATE LIKE A PRO Take creativity to the next level and subscribe to Paper Pro for more tools, features, and journals. Subscription is optional and you can cancel anytime. To upgrade, simply visit the Paper Pro section in your Settings menu. * Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account once you confirm the purchase. * Your subscription will automatically renew at the end of your subscription period. To opt out, you must turn off auto-renew at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. * Manage changes to your subscription in the iTunes Account Settings. * Any unused portion of a free trial will be forfeited when you purchase a Paper Pro subscription. Love Paper? Leave us a review! Thanks to your comments, reviews, and tweets we can continue to evolve Paper with you in mind. Questions? Shoot us an email at support@wetransfer.com. Terms of Service: https://paper.bywetransfer.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://paper.bywetransfer.com/privacy Patents: https://paper.bywetransfer.com/legal/patents

About

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.

Highlights
  • Unique handwriting brushes
  • Smooth drawing engine
  • PDF annotation
  • Text, shape, and image attachments
  • On-device OCR search
  • Smart dark mode
  • iCloud sync and collaboration
Features
Read full description

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

Paper4 screens
Element Note4 screens

Verdict

The call

Paper and Element Note both sit at 4.6 stars, but that hides the real split: 70% of Element Note's written reviews are positive against 44% of Paper's. Element Note also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). Paper's advantage is ratings volume (73K vs 2.6K) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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. Paper sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days and Element Note sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $3.49 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Paper against 4.6 for Element Note. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Paper has 73K ratings behind it against 2.6K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 44% of Paper's written reviews are positive against 70% of Element Note's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Paper ships an update every 2 months, Element Note fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Paper versus Element Note: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPaperElement Note
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (73K ratings)4.6 (2.6K ratings) — better
Positive reviews43.7% of reviews69.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings73K — better2.6K
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS13.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size168 MB129 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEvernote CorporationSoysauce Lab

Customer experience

Paper

All ratings72,370 ratings
Positive89.2%
Neutral4.7%
Negative6.2%
Written reviews1,025 reviews
Positive43.7%
Neutral11.1%
Negative45.2%

Element Note

All ratings2,625 ratings
Positive90.5%
Neutral4.1%
Negative5.4%
Written reviews361 reviews
Positive69.8%
Neutral11.4%
Negative18.8%

User reviews

Paper

From 73K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fantastic drawing experience
  • 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly
  • 💡 Unique journal-like format
  • 🎨 Great for sketching and doodling
  • 📚 Useful for note-taking and organization

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Subscription model for basic features
  • 🐛 Bugs and glitches after updates
  • 📥 Limited image import/export options
  • 🎨 Lack of advanced drawing tools
  • 🔀 Frustrating navigation changes

Element Note

From 2.6K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Smooth handwriting experience
  • 💡 Customizable pens and colors
  • 👍 Clean and intuitive interface
  • 🎨 Gradient and gradient brush tools
  • 📚 Great for journaling and note-taking

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
  • 🔍 Search function not working
  • 🖼️ Issues with image handling and export
  • 🔀 Difficulty switching between pen and eraser
  • 🔑 Lack of password/locking feature for notes

Bugs and requests

Paper

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Pages disappearing or getting corrupted
  • Unreliable cloud sync and data loss
  • Erratic scrolling and navigation issues
  • Inconsistent behavior of drawing tools
  • Compatibility problems with Apple Pencil

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add text editing and formatting options
  • Improve palm rejection and precision
  • Implement layers and advanced compositing
  • Allow more customization of journal pages
  • Bring back popular features from older versions
Show 1 more
  • Provide a one-time purchase option

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
Show 1 more
  • Seasonal or custom sticker packs

In-app purchases

13 purchases

Paper

Subscriptions10
  • Paper Pro$4.997 Days
  • Paper Pro7 Days trial$4.997 Days
  • Paper Pro$7.996 Months
Show 7 more
  • Paper Pro$9.997 Days
  • Paper Pro7 Days trial$9.997 Days
  • Paper Pro$11.991 Year
  • Paper Pro$69.991 Year
  • Paper Pro7 Days trial$69.991 Year
  • Paper Pro$99.991 Year
  • Paper Pro7 Days trial$99.991 Year
One-time3
  • Paper Credit$1.99
  • Paper Credit Bundle$7.99
  • Paper Credit Bundle$12.99
5 purchases

Element Note

Subscriptions2
  • Element Note Yearly$3.491 Year
  • Element Note Yearly$4.991 Year
One-time3
  • Lifetime Launch Special$4.99
  • Lifetime$9.99
  • Lifetime$14.99

Questions

Is Paper free?
Paper is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Element Note free?
Element Note is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Paper or Element Note?
Element Note is rated higher. Paper averages 4.6 out of 5 from 73K ratings, while Element Note averages 4.6 from 2.6K ratings.
Do Paper or Element Note have ads?
Neither Paper nor Element Note shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Paper or Element Note?
Paper ships an update every 2 months, and Element Note fortnightly. Most recently, Paper was updated on November 3, 2026 and Element Note on October 30, 2026.

Other comparisons