Comparison

BossNote vs Notebook

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

Head to head
About

BossNote

This app combines notepad, calendar, and cloud storage features to help you organize notes, events, photos, voice recordings, and more. Access your information offline and sync across devices.

Highlights
  • Integrated notepad and calendar
  • Cloud storage synchronization
  • Offline access to all services
  • Time-and-date recognition
  • Attachment support (photos, voice, sketches, files)
Features
Read full description

BossNote is your personal assistant in the Cloud available on iPhone, iPad and Web. Organize and keep your information together with BossNote - it is a simple application that combines the functions of Notepad, Calendar, and Cloud Storage. BossNote allows you to create notes, set alarms for important events, store photos, you can make sketches and drawings, voice recordings and locations, regardless of the Internet connection it can easily provide an access to your information. FEATURES: • Unique combination of Notepad and Calendar • Synchronization with Cloud Storage and Web Client • All Services are Available Offline • Time-and-Date Recognition System • Attachments: Photos, Locations, Sketches, Voice Recordings and other Files of any format. www.twitter.com/bossnote_online www.facebook.com/bossnoteonline

About

Notebook

Capture your thoughts, ideas, and tasks with a versatile digital notebook. Create rich notes with text, files, audio, and video. Organize content visually, collaborate in real-time, and access everything across your devices.

Highlights
  • Rich note creation with text, files, audio, and video
  • Checklist creation for task management
  • Bookmark collection and offline reading
  • Kanban-style note organization
  • Real-time collaboration and sharing
  • AI-powered journaling suggestions
  • Cross-device and cloud synchronization
Features
Read full description

Zoho Notebook is a free, ad-free note-taking app for students, teams and researchers: capture, find and reuse what you write down — typed notes, Apple Pencil handwriting, voice recordings with AI transcription, checklists, files and document scans in one note. Syncs across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and other devices. WHAT PEOPLE USE NOTEBOOK FOR 1. MEETING AND LECTURE NOTES Record with audio or video cards; Notebook AI turns it into searchable text with timestamps, so you jump straight to the decision instead of replaying it. Structured minutes with title, participants, decisions and action points sit in the note beside your highlights. Record screen and self at once; longer videos get chapters. 2. STUDY AND RESEARCH Record lectures and search the transcript weeks later. Scan textbooks and business cards, handwrite and sketch with Apple Pencil, use OCR to find text inside photos and handwritten notes, so nothing you captured becomes unfindable. A long note becomes an AI mind map before an exam. 3. DAILY TO-DOS AND JOURNALING Dedicated checklist cards keep tasks beside your notes, and recurring reminders keep them on schedule. Journaling prompts come from your own activity, easier to keep than a blank page. 4. FILES, SCANS, AND SAVED READING Add PDFs, Word docs and spreadsheets with file cards. Articles, videos, recipes and how-tos become Smart Cards, formatted automatically, readable offline and ad-free. Group it all into nested collections. QUESTIONS PEOPLE ASK Is it free? Yes, with 2GB of free storage and no ads. Notebook Pro adds more storage, longer notes, larger attachments, Email-In to save emails as notes, premium covers, and custom recurring reminders. Can I move my notes from Evernote, Google Keep, or OneNote? Yes, with dedicated migration tools; it arrives organized. Is my data private? Notes are encrypted in transit and at rest. We never sell your data and never show ads. Lock notes or notebooks with a password, Touch ID or Face ID; previews stay hidden until unlocked. Does it work offline? Yes. Create, edit and read offline, then pick up on another device once it syncs to the cloud. What can Notebook AI do? Transcribe audio and video, build mind maps, summarize and simplify, fix grammar, set tone (casual, professional, friendly, direct, or confident), translate into any language, draft notes, checklists, tables, code or a template from a prompt, and suggest tags. Notebook AI is a separate add-on. Does it use on-device AI and Siri? Yes. An on-device Knowledge Graph links ideas across notebooks and answers questions from your own notes. Siri creates and updates notes by voice with the app closed, and On-Screen Awareness summarizes what's on screen without switching apps. Can I share with non-users? Yes. @mention people to collaborate in real time, or publish a public note or video by link. MORE INSIDE - Search by title, content, tag, collaborator, or notebook; filter by any card type, contact, or link; search within one note; sort by date or relevance, with auto-suggestions and recent searches, offline and across languages - iPhone: text-search audio notes, share via iMessage, dictate with Siri, recent notes from the Notification Bar, SharePlay in calls - iPad: drag and drop, split view, slide over, multiple windows, Stage Manager - Apple Watch: record audio, scribble notes, check off lists, add photo notes, record in one tap from a watch face complication - VoiceOver and a dark interface - Roll back to any of a note's last 10 versions Subscriptions auto-renew unless cancelled and are charged to your Apple Account. Prices vary by location. Manage in your account settings. Privacy - https://www.zoho.com/privacy.html Terms - https://www.zoho.com/terms.html

Screenshots

BossNote4 screens
Notebook4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Notebook at 4.7 against BossNote's 4.0. Notebook also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (24K vs 16). BossNote's advantage is iOS requirement (9.0 vs 16.0). On price, review sentiment, 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. BossNote sells 5 one-off in-app purchases and Notebook sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $2.49 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Notebook holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notebook has 24K ratings behind it against 16, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 68% of BossNote's written reviews are positive against 64% of Notebook's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BossNote ships an update every 2 months, Notebook weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
BossNote versus Notebook: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBossNoteNotebook
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (16 ratings)4.7 (24K ratings) — better
Positive reviews67.6% of reviews — better64.3% of reviews
Number of ratings1624K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS9.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size64 MB220 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperRuslan ShigabutdinovZoho Corporation

Customer experience

BossNote

All ratings16 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews111 reviews
Positive67.6%
Neutral6.3%
Negative26.1%

Notebook

All ratings23,848 ratings
Positive93.2%
Neutral3.1%
Negative3.7%
Written reviews608 reviews
Positive64.3%
Neutral10.5%
Negative25.2%

Bugs and requests

BossNote

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Notebook

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Notes disappearing or getting corrupted
  • Freezing and crashing issues
  • Inconsistent behavior when editing notes
  • Syncing problems across devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved sorting and reordering options for notes
  • Enhanced search capabilities
  • Ability to export notes in various formats
  • More customization options for notebook covers
  • Integration with other productivity apps

In-app purchases

5 purchases

BossNote

One-time5
  • Improve your account$0.99
  • Advanced Attachments$0.99
  • Color notes$0.99
Show 2 more
  • Mark as "Done!"$0.99
  • Advanced Security$1.99
7 purchases

Notebook

Subscriptions7
  • Notebook Pro$2.491 Month
  • Notebook Pro Plus$3.991 Month
  • Notebook AI$4.991 Month
Show 4 more
  • Notebook Personal$14.991 Year
  • Notebook Pro2 variants$24.991 Year
  • Notebook Pro Plus$39.991 Year
  • Notebook AI$49.991 Year

Questions

Is BossNote free?
BossNote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Notebook free?
Notebook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, BossNote or Notebook?
Notebook is rated higher. BossNote averages 4.0 out of 5 from 16 ratings, while Notebook averages 4.7 from 24K ratings.
Do BossNote or Notebook have ads?
Neither BossNote nor Notebook shows ads.
Which is updated more often, BossNote or Notebook?
BossNote ships an update every 2 months, and Notebook weekly. Most recently, BossNote was updated on October 16, 2026 and Notebook on October 20, 2026.

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