Comparison

Element Note vs PottLoood

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

Head to head
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

About

PottLoood

This app offers a digital notebook experience with extensive drawing tools, including pens, markers, and erasers with customizable colors and thickness. It allows users to add images, convert handwriting to text, and choose from various paper types. Notes can be shared and backed up.

Highlights
  • Pen, marker, and eraser tools
  • 190 color options and 100 thickness levels
  • Image insertion into notes
  • Handwritten text to text conversion (paid)
  • Multiple paper types and colors
  • Cloud sync and backup (paid)
  • Note sharing functionality
Read full description

PottLoood is a simple handwriting notebook application. The easy-to-understand design allows intuitive operation. Anyone can use it easily! ◆Drawing tools ・Pen, marker, eraser You can choose from 190 colors and 100 levels of thickness! Frequently used colors can be registered as favorite colors. Straight line mode is also available. ・Image You can add images from your device to the note! ・Text recognition and text (paid feature) You can convert handwritten text into text! Keyboard text input is also available! ・Paper types and colors The following 10 types of paper are available! - Blank - Ruled (thin/thick) - Cornell Note - Graph (small/big) - Kanji Practice - 4 Line Ruled - 10/12 Staves You can also choose from white or black paper! ◆Other features ・Share You can share your notebooks with other users! ・Backup (paid feature) - Sync with iCloud. - Data can be backed up to Google Drive. ◆We recommend using it this way ・You can use PottLoood for all your class notes. You don't have to carry your notebooks with you anymore. ・Organize ideas for work. It is perfect for those times when you just want to write down whatever comes to your mind. ・For a diary or hobby notebook. You can also quickly paste your favorite photos. ・You can practice your beautiful handwriting in the Kanji Practice Book, which is easy to keep up because you can do it anywhere! ◆Help and Inquiries Please refer to the "FAQ" in the app if you have any problems such as "I don't know how to use this app" or "There might be a bug." If the problem persists, please contact us using the "Contact Us" link in the app. If you have any questions that require a reply, please use Contact Us instead of Review. ◇ PottLoood Home Page ◇ https://pottloood.com/ ◇ Development company's homepage ◇ https://www.aevic.co.jp/

Screenshots

Element Note4 screens
PottLoood4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Element Note at 69% against PottLoood's 36%. PottLoood's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, update cadence, 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. Element Note sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $3.49 per year and PottLoood sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Element Note ships an update fortnightly, PottLoood every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Element Note versus PottLoood: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterElement NotePottLoood
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (2.6K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews68.5% of reviews — better36.4% of reviews
Number of ratings2.6K — better—
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 8 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size129 MB79 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSoysauce LabAEVIC CO., LTD.

Customer experience

Element Note

All ratings2,591 ratings
Positive90.5%
Neutral4.1%
Negative5.4%
Written reviews340 reviews
Positive68.5%
Neutral11.8%
Negative19.7%

PottLoood

Written reviews11 reviews
Positive36.4%
Neutral27.3%
Negative36.4%

Bugs and requests

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

PottLoood

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

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
5 purchases

PottLoood

One-time5
  • OCR / Text2 variants$1.99
  • Backup$1.99
  • Release Celebration Pack$1.99
Show 2 more
  • Unlimited Notes$1.99
  • Complete Pack$4.99

Questions

Is Element Note free?
Element Note is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PottLoood free?
PottLoood is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Element Note or PottLoood have ads?
Neither Element Note nor PottLoood shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Element Note or PottLoood?
Element Note ships an update fortnightly, and PottLoood every 8 days. Most recently, Element Note was updated on October 13, 2026 and PottLoood on October 5, 2026.

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