ZoomNotes Lite vs Wren
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ZoomNotes Lite
This app allows for handwritten notes and sketches on various digital documents, including PDFs and Office files. It offers unlimited zooming, customizable paper styles, and extensive sharing options. Additional features and pen types are available through in-app purchases.
- Unlimited zoom and panning
- Handwritten notes and sketches
- Markup PDFs and Office documents
- Customizable paper sizes and styles
- Extensive document sharing options
- Digital planning with calendar integration
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ZoomNotes Lite is an iPad/iPhone visual note-taking app. It lets you quickly make handwritten notes and sketches on virtual paper, on PDF files, on MS Word, Excel and Powerpoint docs (via GoogleDrive), and over images. Uniquely, it also lets you zoom in and out without arbitrary limits, an invaluable feature for this type of app. It has a free fully functioning pen (although you will be able to try the pens too), and more available as in-app purchases. It has unlimited paper sizes/styles, unlimited colours and line thicknesses, and a large range of ways to share its documents making ZoomNotes the most versatile handwriting/drawing app. ZoomNotes Desktop for Mac now also available. ZoomNotes is much more than a replacement for your trusted paper notebook! Compatible with any capacitive stylus pen (although fingers work well too). Here some reviews of the app store of the full version- The best note taking app available! ***** by MarkNance – Version 7.1.4 – Jul 6, 2016 Don’t be put off by all its features! ***** by Stevearcher – Version 7.1.3 – May 24, 2016 Most complete Note app I’ve tried ***** by ItsDartstx – Version 7.1.3 – Apr 20, 2016 Most effective note taking app ***** by John25642 – Version 7.1.3 – Jul 7, 2016 Full featured and innovative ***** by music-major – Version 7.1.3 – May 15, 2016 Hands(writing)-down, best notepad replacement out there. ***** by Jed123zz – Version 7.1.3 – Mar 23, 2016 Free features include: -1 Pen type - Felt tip. -Huge Zoom Range and Whiteboard page style -Rotatable views -Split screen mode (edit 2 documents at once) -Digital planning with links, which can also show events and reminders from the Calendar and Reminder apps -Write over PDF file -Write over MS Word, Powerpoint and Excel files (via GoogleDrive) -Calendar events/reminders :add events linked to your documents, possibly with alarms. The URL in the event links back to the document in ZoomNotes. -Typed text- limited to a single font, fills and borders -Regular shapes and arrows -Symbol library -Select, scale, rotate and shift -Cut, copy, paste (including between documents, pages and other apps) -Write over pdf files (markup) -Configurable paper types -Intuitive folder interface for documents -Sharing as PDF files, images, videos or ZoomNotes documents (via email, iTunes, clipboard, Dropbox, Twitter and Evernote) -In app printing -VGA compatible for use with projectors, monitors and AirPlay -Universal app - iPhone and iPad -iCloud support -Geo-located documents; documents can be optionally geo-located and viewed as pins on a map. -Layers let you control what is visible on a page, also options for 'master layers' which show on all pages. In app purchases features include: -7 extra Pen types, including Italic, Gel, Nib, Pencil and Watercolour. -Sub-pages (pages within pages within...) -Typed text- fully configurable fonts, colours, fills and borders -Unlimited colours and line styles -Bookmarks with animated playback -Insert images from camera or photo library -Insert web pages -Insert videos from camera or photo library -Edit inserted images, including masking and cropping -Record and playback sounds, including import and export of caf files - Handwriting recognition (14 different languages). Please note that the full version of ZoomNotes is equivalent to the Lite version with all the in-app purchases. There are lots more details including some videos of the app in action at www.zoom-notes.com Please remember to leave us a review. If you wish, you can send us feedback directly, we reply to every email sent to support@zoom-notes.com. If you experience any problems or bugs in the app, please email us your device information, which iOS version you are running to support@zoom-notes.com and we will fix it asap. Twitter - @zoomnotes
Wren
Transform your handwritten notes into study materials. This app uses AI to generate summaries, practice questions, flashcards, and mind maps from your lecture notes. It also includes a calendar for tracking deadlines and scheduling study sessions.
- AI-generated summaries
- Practice questions from notes
- Flashcard creation
- Mind map generation
- Specialized sticky types (code, graphs, flowcharts)
- Integrated calendar with deadline tracking
- Search by meaning, not just keywords
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Wren is the AI agent built for student life: notes that study with you, a calendar that understands your semester, a tutor that knows what you wrote, and agents that turn your own notes into study material. AI AGENTS - Your notes, turned into study material Pick a goal and an agent reads your notes, then builds what you need as real, editable notes: - Study guides drawn from your own lectures - Flashcard sets for exam week - Learning paths that sequence what to review first - Summaries and outlines across multiple notes - Mindmaps, timelines and flowcharts when a picture beats a paragraph A live progress view shows exactly which notes it read, so you can check the result. AI TUTOR - Answers grounded in your own notes Ask a question and get an answer built from what you actually wrote, with sources you can open. The tutor knows your upcoming events and pinned notes, so "what should I study tonight?" gets a real answer. It can create calendar events straight from the chat. STUDY BUDDY - A second brain while you study Open any note and start a conversation about it. Study Buddy reads the page you are on, so you can ask "explain this derivation" or "quiz me on this section" without copying anything anywhere. Answers stream in beside your note while you keep writing. RESOURCE HUB - Every document you were given Upload lecture slides, PDFs, readings and handouts. Search, filter and tag them by class, then analyze them with AI. Wren finds dates and topics inside your documents and offers to add them to your calendar, so a syllabus becomes a schedule. EXAM MODE - Practice before it counts Generate a practice exam from any note, take it, and review your results mistake by mistake. Find the gaps while there is still time to close them. AI STUDENT CALENDAR - Your academic command center See your whole semester at a glance. Track exams with countdowns, plan study sessions, manage assignment deadlines, and jump straight to the notes for any day. CLASS SPACES - One place per class Give every class its own space. Notes, documents, practice exams and events stay grouped by subject, so switching from Organic Chemistry to World History takes one tap, and everything for a class lives where you expect it. HANDWRITING THAT DOES MORE Write naturally with Apple Pencil or your finger. Your handwriting stays exactly as you wrote it, and AI adds intelligence beside it: - Instant summaries - Definitions and explanations - Practice questions for exam prep - Mindmaps connecting concepts across classes - Code snippets with syntax highlighting - Graphs, timelines, diagrams and flowcharts - Checklists that track study progress Pause your pen and Wren offers a relevant suggestion. Review every AI draft on the canvas and Keep or Discard it before anything becomes permanent ink. DOCUMENT MODE A structured editor with rich formatting, native pagination, and Document Stickies anchored beside your text. Built for essays, lecture notes, and anything where structure matters. BUILT FOR IPAD Apple Pencil pressure sensitivity. Palm rejection that actually works. An infinite canvas for big diagrams. Standard paper sizes or custom dimensions. Home screen widgets. Works offline and syncs when you are back. A WEEK WITH WREN Monday: take lecture notes with your Pencil, and a sticky suggests a definition while you pause. Wednesday: upload the professor's slides, and the syllabus dates land on your calendar. Friday: an agent turns the week's notes into a study guide. Sunday night: generate a practice exam, find the two topics you would fumble, and fix them before it counts. Perfect for high school, college, grad school, and anyone who never stopped learning. Wren is free to download. Write one note, hand it to an agent, and see what comes back. Terms of Use: https://www.getnotenest.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://www.getnotenest.com/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Wren at 5.0 against ZoomNotes Lite's 4.2. Wren also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 72%) and update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). ZoomNotes Lite's advantage is ratings volume (214 vs 22). On price, ads, 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
Both are free to download. ZoomNotes Lite sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Wren sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Wren holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ZoomNotes Lite has 214 ratings behind it against 22, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 72% of ZoomNotes Lite's written reviews are positive against 100% of Wren's.
ZoomNotes Lite ships an update every 3 weeks, Wren weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ZoomNotes Lite | Wren |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.2 (214 ratings) | 5.0 (22 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 72.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 214 — better | 22 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 16.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 151 MB | 104 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Deliverance Software Ltd | NOTENEST LLC |
Customer experience
ZoomNotes Lite
Wren
Bugs and requests
ZoomNotes Lite
Reported bugs
4 issues- Syncing issues leading to document conflicts
- Random lines and dots appearing on the page
- Disappearing handwritten notes after saving
- Inability to unlock paid features after purchase
Requested features
4 requests- Improved text editing and formatting
- Easier organization with better folder management
- More tutorials and documentation
- Ability to recover accidentally deleted notes
Wren
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
ZoomNotes Lite
- Highlighter pen$0.99
- Text$0.99
- Images$0.99
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- Bookmarks$0.99
- Sounds$0.99
- Sub-documents$0.99
- Tables$0.99
- Workspaces$1.99
- All Pens$2.99
- All features$7.99
Wren
- NoteNest Lite7 Days trial$4.991 Month
- NoteNest Founder7 Days trial$6.991 Month
- NoteNest Pro7 Days trial$9.991 Month
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- NoteNest Elite7 Days trial$14.991 Month
- NoteNest Pro Annual7 Days trial$71.991 Year
Questions
Is ZoomNotes Lite free?
Is Wren free?
Which has better reviews, ZoomNotes Lite or Wren?
Do ZoomNotes Lite or Wren have ads?
Which is updated more often, ZoomNotes Lite or Wren?
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