Comparison

MetaMoJi Note vs Notes Writer

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

Head to head
About

MetaMoJi Note

This app serves as a versatile note-taking and digital sketchbook, allowing users to capture ideas through writing, drawing, and voice memos. It also functions as a PDF annotation tool and digital scrapbook, supporting various pen styles and document import options.

Highlights
  • Advanced handwriting recognition
  • PDF and Office document annotation
  • High-resolution sketchbook with diverse pens
  • Voice memo recording and tagging
  • Cloud sync and storage
  • Password protection for notes
Read full description

MetaMoJi Note is a note and sketchbook app, PDF annotation tool, voice memo and digital scrapbook for your life. Capture your ideas anytime with quick voice recordings, advanced handwriting recognition and handwriting to text conversion(*), or annotate Office and PDF documents. (*) Requires purchase of mazec Handwriting Input Method for this functionality. Use the app as a high resolution sketchbook with a vast color wheel palette, pastel colors and advanced calligraphy pens. MetaMoJi Note is a virtual whiteboard for sketching, annotation, scrapbooking or digital mashup of notes and voice. MetaMoJi Note is the only note-taking app available across all major mobile platforms. Winner of multiple awards: Tabby Award for Best Personal Productivity App - Silver Stevie® Award for International Business - Finalist for Appy Award for Productivity - #1 Productivity App in Japan Key Features NEW – Gold Service is a premium add-on that allows you to make advanced use of the MetaMoJi Cloud and the app itself. It includes: - The Shared Drive capability allows co-editing of documents - Auto sync intervals to ensure your notes are always backed up - Additional storage for the MetaMoJi Cloud - Unlimited access to optional inks, premium items, papers and note styles - Customizing the navigation bar • Write, sketch or draw notes with a variety of pens, paper layouts and graphics, including calligraphy pens and inks • Grab your great ideas quickly with voice memos which you can tag to your visual content – convenient audio editing features allow you to index voice cues to any document or part of a document – even drawings, annotated graphics or PDF documents. • Scale your document up to a whiteboard or down to a sticky note while still maintaining 100% visual integrity • Import images, graphics and Microsoft Office files via Google Drive • Import a PDF file, mark it up as needed, and save it as another PDF file • Share creations by email or upload to Twitter, Facebook or Tumblr • Easy file storing and sharing via Google Drive, Evernote and Dropbox • Sync all folders to the MetaMoJi Cloud, a cloud service that allows you to save and manage your documents (up to 2GB for free) • Save drawings as individual JPEG graphics in the items library for later use • Interactively browse the web from within the app and mark up sites • MetaMoJi Note Lite is free to download and use. This version, MetaMoJi Note is a paid app, has the great features above, along with the following advanced capabilities: • Password protect your notes to ensure your information is kept safe • Advanced pen styles including highlighters, fountain pens and brushes • Enhanced Jump functions allow for you to assign visual points to easily navigate around complex compositions while you are presenting • Shapes tool provides editable shapes • Smart cropping tool vastly extends photo editing Here are some ways to use MetaMoJi Note for your personal and business life: • Generate quick notes and to-do lists, add voice memos and tag for easy retrieval later • Capture and markup website pages • Sketch drawings for illustrating lesson plans • Mark up and sign contracts and critical business documents in PDF form • Use as an interactive whiteboard to brainstorm and present during team meetings • PDF and photo annotation • Review/edit documents and share feedback through email • Draw a mind map or flowchart of ideas and assign audio files Learn more: More about MetaMoJi Note: http://noteanytime.com/en/quick_guide.html Support: http://noteanytime.com/en/support.html Twitter: https://twitter.com/noteanytime Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NoteAnytime

About

Notes Writer

This app is a comprehensive note-taking and PDF editing solution for mobile devices. It allows users to write, format, and organize notes, annotate PDFs, fill forms, and scan documents. The app offers advanced editing tools, powerful search, and seamless sharing and export options.

Highlights
  • Write and format notes
  • Annotate PDFs and fill forms
  • Organize with unlimited notebooks
  • Powerful full-text search
  • Document scanning
  • Sync with cloud services
  • Export to multiple formats
Features
Read full description

Every note. Every format. Unlimited Digital Notebooks. Like paper, but better. Take lecture notes, prepare for exams and develop your research. Bring the same tools to manuscripts, interviews, lesson plans, meetings and creative projects. Notes Writer keeps your work together on iPad, iPhone and compatible Apple silicon Macs. Designed for students and anyone who wants to learn, create and stay organized—including teachers, writers, journalists, doctors, architects, illustrators, mathematicians, researchers and business professionals. WRITE & CAPTURE • Handwriting, sketching & painting Take handwritten notes with Apple Pencil, type a document or explore a concept through drawing. Use dedicated sketching, watercolor and oil painting tools for illustrations and creative work. • PDF annotation Review lecture slides, medical literature and professional reports. Highlight PDFs, add comments, images and shapes, fill forms and sign documents. Keep your annotations beside the source material. • Recording & transcription Record lectures, business meetings and interviews, transcribe the audio and search the transcript for the detail you need. Add recordings to PDF notes and whiteboards, then listen back at your own pace. STUDY & RESEARCH • Courses, manuscripts & research projects Choose an optional project tree to arrange topics, sources and drafts in a Study Project. Use the Binder for structure, the Corkboard to plan sections and compilation to assemble a document or ebook. • Whiteboards, diagrams & outlines Create whiteboards with notes, images, recordings and tables. Build flowcharts and diagrams to explain a process, compare findings or plan a lesson or project. Use Outline Notes when your ideas need a hierarchy. • Flashcards & review Create flashcards with text, handwriting and images, or generate them from notes and PDFs with optional AI tools. Review with spaced repetition, answer by typing or speaking, and track your progress. MATH & SCIENCE • Calculations, Python & charts Math Notebooks combine written reasoning, symbolic calculations and Python cells. Plot results, explore a model and present your data in editable Chart documents. • LaTeX & technical PDFs Write technical papers in LaTeX and compile them to PDF with a preview of the result. For plans and technical drawings, set a scale and measure distances, perimeters and areas directly on the PDF. ORGANIZE & SHARE • Notebooks, folders & templates Create and customize folders, subfolders and notebooks. Choose names, covers and paper templates that suit each course or project. Scan handouts, search your collection and manage documents with sorting, moving and grouping tools. • Documents side by side Open documents in tabs and work with your reading and draft side by side. Create a study planner, lesson plan, research journal or manuscript within the same library. • Formats for your work Work across PDF, Microsoft Word (DOCX), EPUB, RTF, Markdown, plain text (TXT), HTML, LaTeX and OPML outlines. Edit formatted documents, read ebooks and export supported documents as PDF, DOCX, RTF, HTML or EPUB. Export options vary by document type. • Sync, backup & privacy Sync with iCloud and work with Dropbox and Google Drive files through the Files app, with changes synced by your provider. Set up automatic document backups, use autosave and recovery, and protect the app and folders with a passcode. OPTIONAL AI ASSISTANT Ask questions about your notes and documents, simplify an explanation, summarize a reading or refine your writing. Use translation, grammar and tone tools when they help. Review every suggestion and decide what belongs in your work. Start a notebook. Study, create and work your way. Privacy Policy http://www.noteswriter.com/Kairoos_Privacy_Policy.html Terms of Use https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

MetaMoJi Note4 screens
Notes Writer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Notes Writer at Free against MetaMoJi Note's $7.99. Notes Writer also leads on rating (4.5 vs 3.4) and update cadence (every 4 days vs every 2 months). MetaMoJi Note's advantage is review sentiment (78% vs 45%) and iOS requirement (7.0 vs 26.0). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Notes Writer is free to download; MetaMoJi Note costs $7.99 up front. MetaMoJi Note sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Notes Writer sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Notes Writer holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notes Writer has 7.3K ratings behind it against 32, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 78% of MetaMoJi Note's written reviews are positive against 45% of Notes Writer's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MetaMoJi Note ships an update every 2 months, Notes Writer every 4 days. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
MetaMoJi Note versus Notes Writer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMetaMoJi NoteNotes Writer
Price$7.99Free — better
Rating3.4 (32 ratings)4.5 (7.3K ratings) — better
Positive reviews78.1% of reviews — better44.8% of reviews
Number of ratings327.3K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS7.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size100 MB660 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMetaMoJi CorporationKairoos Solutions SL

Customer experience

MetaMoJi Note

All ratings31 ratings
Positive61.3%
Neutral3.2%
Negative35.5%
Written reviews708 reviews
Positive78.1%
Neutral6.6%
Negative15.3%

Notes Writer

All ratings7,332 ratings
Positive86.8%
Neutral5.1%
Negative8.1%
Written reviews966 reviews
Positive44.8%
Neutral15.1%
Negative40.1%

Bugs and requests

MetaMoJi Note

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Notes Writer

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Notes randomly disappearing or getting corrupted
  • Inability to recover deleted documents
  • Unexpected behavior when adding/deleting pages
  • Syncing issues and broken links between documents

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add more brushes and pen customization options
  • Improve the clipping/selection tool
  • Implement OCR and handwriting search
  • Provide a Mac version

In-app purchases

2 purchases

MetaMoJi Note

One-time2
  • MetaMoJi Gold Service (1 month)$4.99
  • MetaMoJi Gold Service (12 months)$29.99
4 purchases

Notes Writer

Subscriptions3
  • Weekly$1.997 Days
  • Notes Writer Unlock All and AI3 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Notes Writer Unlock All and AI3 Days trial$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Pro Full Unlock$14.99

Questions

Is MetaMoJi Note free?
MetaMoJi Note costs $7.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Notes Writer free?
Notes Writer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, MetaMoJi Note or Notes Writer?
Notes Writer is rated higher. MetaMoJi Note averages 3.4 out of 5 from 32 ratings, while Notes Writer averages 4.5 from 7.3K ratings.
Do MetaMoJi Note or Notes Writer have ads?
Neither MetaMoJi Note nor Notes Writer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MetaMoJi Note or Notes Writer?
MetaMoJi Note ships an update every 2 months, and Notes Writer every 4 days. Most recently, MetaMoJi Note was updated on November 6, 2026 and Notes Writer on November 6, 2026.

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