Comparison

Inkflow Visual Notebook vs Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing

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

Head to head
About

Inkflow Visual Notebook

This app offers a fluid digital writing and sketching experience, allowing users to easily capture, resize, and reorganize ideas. It supports high-resolution zooming for detailed work and integrates text, photos, and custom paper backgrounds. Users can share their creations in various formats.

Highlights
  • Fluid digital ink for writing and sketching
  • Resize and reorganize content with touch gestures
  • High-resolution zoom for precision detail
  • Insert text, photos, and custom paper backgrounds
  • Export to PDF, JPEG, and PNG
  • Inkport for scanning real-world notes
Features
Read full description

Inkflow is a note-taking and brainstorming experience unlike any other! Capture your ideas as easily as with pen and paper, then resize and reorganize them with your fingers. DIGITAL WRITING DONE RIGHT Inkflow's ink feels like a really smooth fountain pen. Great for expressive writing or sketching. Effortlessly scale or move anything you select. This will change the way you think about ink: Jot down a list of concepts then rearrange them to fit into the bigger picture. literally move your thoughts around the page, and assemble big ideas with your fingers. This works great for brainstorming and planning. It's also perfect for prototyping layouts, sketching, and drawing. FULL RESOLUTION ZOOM Zoom and pan with two fingers. Inkflow's ink stays sharp no matter how much you zoom in, so you can add fine details at full quality. It's also lightning fast and lag free. This allows writing and drawing with incredible precision, with or without a stylus. TEXT, PHOTOS, and PAPER BACKGROUNDS TOO Insert text boxes and photos anywhere on the page and resize them seamlessly with the ink. You can also choose from a selection of different stationery. EASILY CREATE and SHARE Inkflow let's you export your books to PDF, high-resolution JPEG, and share them via Twitter, Email, or with other Apps. TRY INKFLOW FOR FREE Rather than just read about Inkflow, go ahead and try it out: We've decided to make the Basic Edition of Inkflow completely FREE. The Basic Edition is a full featured note-taking and sketching app. It comes with the Fountain Pen with black ink, photos, and a standard set of 5 popular fonts for text. Books max out at 20 pages each, but you can create as many as you like. If you're looking for more, there is... INKFLOW PLUS Upgrade instantly at any time to the Plus Edition to get: - Inkport - Dozens of premium stationery designs - iCloud sync - A customizable, full color palette, - Pencil, Eraser, and Paint Brush tools, - The Write-Behind Highlighter tool, - Rotate, Cut, Copy, Paste Ink, and Page Management, - Export as PNG with transparent backgrounds, - Notebooks with unlimited pages, - Custom paper backgrounds, - An additional 50+ fonts, - And more! The Plus Edition lets you do even more things such as: Painting, cartooning, page layouts, and brainstorming in full color. Learn more in the in-App Quickstart Guide. INKPORT: COPY AND PASTE FROM THE REAL WORLD Only Inkflow Plus includes the revolutionary Inkport tool. Inkport uses your iPad's camera to instantly convert your written notes and sketches into Inkflow's native vector ink. Easily pull in materials from multiple sources and go from paper to iPad without missing a beat. Inkport is going to change the way you use paper in your workflow. Universal App for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch: Upgrade once and get Inkflow Plus on all your compatible devices connected to your iTunes account! EDUCATORS: Inkflow Plus is also available as a standalone App, and qualifies for Apple's Volume Purchase Program. A PLATFORM FOR CREATIVITY We strongly believe that the iPad is not just a consumption device. It's a creativity device. Check out our whole range of creativity Apps on our website. Keep on creating! Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy policy: https://www.qrayon.com/home/privacy/

About

Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing

Capture and organize handwritten notes and sketches digitally. This app preserves the expressiveness of your original drawings with innovative visualization technology. Tag, annotate, and store your creations in the cloud for easy retrieval and sharing.

Highlights
  • Hybrid visualization technology
  • Image-based input options
  • Natural sketching with Apple Pencil support
  • Editable notes and drawings
  • Tagging and annotation for search
  • Cloud storage integration
  • Customizable export styles
Features
Read full description

Carbo lets you capture and organize handwritten notes and sketches, bringing handwriting in the digital age, right on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Carbo's innovative visualization technology sets you free from pixel artefacts, while preserving all expressiveness of your original drawings. Collect notes, design sketches, or whiteboard drawings. Tag and annotate your notes for easy retrieval. Store them either on the device itself or in the cloud, with native support for iCloud, Evernote, and Dropbox. Finally, turn your notes and drawings into beautiful creations using a variety of handcrafted export styles and share them with the world. KEY FEATURES • Hybrid visualization technology: note picture is cleaned up and turned into a highly accurate monochrome representation. Carbo’s innovative rendering technology offers both the advantages of vector (sharpness) and bitmap (easy editing) techniques. • Image-based input options: take a new picture, import from camera roll, or import an image from iCloud Drive. • Drawing support: highly accurate and natural sketching capabilities. Full support for Apple Pencil & 3D Touch pressure sensitivity. • Note editing: edit any part of your note, i.e. select, resize, relocate, or remove any element. Make strokes thinner or thicker. • Annotations: add descriptive text to your note. These annotations are archived along with the image, and are globally searchable. • Tag your notes. Tags are colored for easier detection, and will help you classify notes. • Notes can be stored either on your device, or in the cloud using Evernote, Dropbox, and iCloud. • Efficient file-based storage: typical note is 400KB instead of the usual 3MB JPEG of a photo. • Export styles (iOS): choose among 7 beautifully handcrafted styles and their variants to customize your notes (Blackboard/chalks combos, Blueprint, Paper with several pen styles…). • Up to 1200-dpi black-and-white high-fidelity exports for print. • Many sharing options: Twitter, Facebook, AirDrop, Mail, Messages, iCloud Drive, Open in (another app)... • Latest iOS Support: App Search, iPad multitasking, Siri 'Remind Me', 3D Touch shortcuts, modern iOS 14 photo access (browsing & searching). • macOS 11 Big Sur / Mac Catalyst (Optimized for Mac). • Universal app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. • Pro Pack 2 or Pro Plan: one-off purchase to remove the 10-note limit. PRICING You can unlock all features either through Pro Pack 2, a one-time purchase, or through Pro Plan, an affordable subscription. Pro Pack upgrade pricing is also available if you own a previous version. HELP & FEEDBACK Visit creaceed.com/carbo for more information. Send your questions and feedback to carbo@creaceed.com Terms of Use: https://creaceed.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://creaceed.com/privacy

Screenshots

Inkflow Visual Notebook4 screens
Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing at none against Inkflow Visual Notebook's shown. Inkflow Visual Notebook's advantage is ratings volume (1.9K vs 51) and rating (4.6 vs 4.3). On price, update cadence, 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. Inkflow Visual Notebook sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Inkflow Visual Notebook holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Inkflow Visual Notebook has 1.9K ratings behind it against 51, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of Inkflow Visual Notebook's written reviews are positive against 55% of Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Inkflow Visual Notebook ships an update every 5 months, Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Inkflow Visual Notebook versus Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterInkflow Visual NotebookCarbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (1.9K ratings) — better4.3 (51 ratings)
Positive reviews71.0% of reviews — better54.8% of reviews
Number of ratings1.9K — better51
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 4 months — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS15.6 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size58 MB36 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperQrayon, LLCCreaceed SRL

Customer experience

Inkflow Visual Notebook

All ratings1,868 ratings
Positive88.9%
Neutral5.1%
Negative5.9%
Written reviews379 reviews
Positive71.0%
Neutral8.4%
Negative20.6%

Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing

All ratings51 ratings
Positive82.4%
Neutral3.9%
Negative13.7%
Written reviews146 reviews
Positive54.8%
Neutral13.7%
Negative31.5%

User reviews

Inkflow Visual Notebook

From 1.9K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Intuitive interface
  • 💡 Great for brainstorming and sketching
  • 👍 Useful for note-taking and journaling
  • 👍 Versatile for various purposes (work, school, art)

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Limited features in free version
  • 💰 Paid upgrade is expensive for some users
  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and data loss issues
  • 🔒 Lack of cloud sync and cross-device access
  • 🔒 Difficult to organize and manage notebooks/pages

Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing

From 51 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great for sketching ideas
  • 👍 Pleasantly surprised by subscription plan
  • 👍 Laser-focused on B&W scanning
  • 👍 Excellent for capturing notes
  • 👍 Manipulate scans easily

Room to improve

  • 👎 Lacking features for daily use
  • 👎 Difficult for diagrams and notes
  • 👎 Rudimentary editing tools
  • 👎 Lacks color
  • 👎 Crippled by lack of export options

Bugs and requests

Inkflow Visual Notebook

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Frequent crashes and data loss
  • Unreliable auto-save and syncing
  • Compatibility issues with newer devices/OS
  • Pen/input lag and inconsistent responsiveness

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more pen/brush options and customization
  • Implement layers and advanced drawing tools
  • Improve page management (insert, delete, reorder)
  • Integrate cloud sync and cross-device access
  • Add password protection and locking features

Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing

Reported bugs

13 issues
  • Keeps crashing on iPad
  • Update bricks app (crashes on launch)
  • Carbo keeps crashing
  • Sync problem with Evernote
  • Exporting pages (archiving) doesn't work
Show 8 more
  • Buggy on iOS 9.01 and iPhone 6S
  • iPhone keeps switching off sync with Evernote
  • App crashes frequently
  • File import from iCloud shows files but can't be opened
  • Beta Evernote sync does not work
  • Randomly selects other bits on the page
  • Clunky or doesn't quite work
  • Sync with Evernote was easy, but iPhone keeps switching off attempt to sync

Requested features

58 requests
  • Adding colors
  • More pencil sizes
  • Ability to handle multi-page docs
  • Viable export options (PDF, etc.)
  • Ability to bundle pages into PDF
Show 53 more
  • Put a title on scans
  • Copy and paste selected objects
  • Export an entire notebook as PDF
  • Desktop client for reassociating tags/annotations
  • Save notes as pictures to Photos
  • Select multiple vectors and change color/thickness
  • iCloud Drive support
  • Invert image
  • Copy/cut/paste selections
  • Export svg file
  • OneDrive cloud option
  • Scan a whole page of doodles and separate them
  • Improve paper edge detection
  • Multi-page option
  • Text box or drawing function
  • Improve captured image quality
  • Edge-detection feature
  • Better handling of lined paper
  • Sync with Evernote
  • Choice of line sizes for annotations
  • Color picker and highlighter pen
  • Support for different writing utensils on one surface
  • Multiple page support
  • Different sized pens
  • More customization for page size
  • PDF vector export
  • Filter multiple tags
  • Re-editing scanned documents
  • Cloud sync for notes
  • Copy feature for local and cloud storage
  • Save to Photos app
  • Ability to use notes as pictures
  • Select multiple vectors and change color or thickness
  • Scan entire page of doodles and separate them
  • More cloud options (OneDrive)
  • Text box or drawing function
  • Better paper edge detection
  • Multi-page option
  • Improve captured image quality
  • Edge-detection
  • Better handling of lined paper
  • Sync with Evernote
  • Choice of line sizes for annotations
  • Color picker and highlighter pen
  • Support for different writing utensils on one surface
  • Multiple page support
  • Different sized pens
  • More customization for page size
  • PDF vector export
  • Filter multiple tags
  • Re-editing scanned documents
  • Cloud sync for notes
  • Copy feature for local and cloud storage

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Inkflow Visual Notebook

Subscriptions2
  • Inkflow Plus Monthly Subscription7 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Inkflow Plus Annual Subscription7 Days trial$12.991 Year
One-time1
  • Inkflow Plus$19.99
3 purchases

Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing

Subscriptions2
  • Pro Plan (Monthly)7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Pro Plan (Yearly)7 Days trial$9.991 Year
One-time1
  • Pro Pack 2$23.99

Questions

Is Inkflow Visual Notebook free?
Inkflow Visual Notebook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing free?
Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Inkflow Visual Notebook or Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing?
Inkflow Visual Notebook is rated higher. Inkflow Visual Notebook averages 4.6 out of 5 from 1.9K ratings, while Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing averages 4.3 from 51 ratings.
Do Inkflow Visual Notebook or Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing have ads?
Inkflow Visual Notebook shows ads; Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing does not.
Which is updated more often, Inkflow Visual Notebook or Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing?
Inkflow Visual Notebook ships an update every 5 months, and Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing every 4 months. Most recently, Inkflow Visual Notebook was updated on October 21, 2026 and Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing on October 20, 2026.

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