Comparison

Element Note vs Notewise

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

Notewise

This app offers a versatile digital canvas for note-taking, PDF annotation, and sketching. It leverages AI to summarize content, generate quizzes, and transcribe audio. Designed for students, professionals, and creators, it provides tools for organization, collaboration, and enhanced productivity.

Highlights
  • AI-powered note summarization and quizzing
  • Handwritten notes and PDF annotation
  • Audio recording with synced transcripts
  • OCR for searchable handwriting
  • Real-time collaboration
  • Infinite freeform canvas
Features
Read full description

Apple Design Awards Nominee, 6M+ users worldwide. Notewise is the future of note-taking on iPhone and iPad. Whether you’re recording meetings, sketching diagrams, annotating PDFs, or writing ideas, Notewise gives you a personalized workspace that feels like your second brain — supercharged by AI. With Notewise, you don’t just take notes. You create good notes — searchable, personalized, and interactive. Write Your First AI Note Meet your first AI Note, shaped by your context across audio, text, handwriting and docs. • Capture Anything: Start with audio, text, handwriting, docs or images. • Note: A living AI note that writes itself from everything you capture. • AI Chat: Chat with the note you're in or across every note and the web. • Search: Find details in handwriting, text, audio, files and even images. With Notewise, you always start with what matters. Personalization That Feels Like Magic Designed to take good notes for iPhone and iPad note-takers • Multiple sources, one note: Capture in any order your thoughts arrive, it stays together. • Auto-updates: Your Note grows every time new information arrives. • Suggest changes: Approve changes before your Note is edited. • Custom Tabs: Every note, your format. Choose from 20+ templates or create one. • Profile Building: Define your preferences, get customized notes. Whether you want class notes in Cornell format or meeting notes as action items, it just works. Canvas Tools Built for Power Users Use the full toolbox to create your own system of thinking and learning: Pen, Highlighter, Eraser, Lasso, Tape, Shape, Textbox, Image, Audio Recorder, Table, Zoombox, Ruler, Laser Pointer, Sticky Notes, Creative Brushes, Stickers, Background Removal, Videos Create good notes freely. Every tool is fast, fluid, and purpose-built. Stay Present in Every Meeting • Record meetings, coffee chats, classes and voice memos. • Notewise transcribes every recording. Available across 20+ languages. • Each meeting builds on the last. Yesterday's meetings informs today's decisions. • Chat with all your meetings at once. Bring context across files and texts as well. Leave Lectures with Confidence • One note for school: record lectures, annotate slides, take class notes, draw diagrams. • View class notes in Cornell or Outline format, or create one of your own. • Generate podcasts for audio visual learning and test your knowledge with quizzes. • Chat with everything you save: textbooks, notes, recordings, whiteboard images. Annotate, Edit, Chat • Upload PDFs, docs, slides, textbooks and more. • Bring PDF knowledge in the same place as recordings, typed notes and handwriting. • Chat with your files, ask questions within and beyond them. Privacy-First by Design We’re a small, independent team. We don’t sell your data. We don’t show ads. Your notes are encrypted, secure, and under your control. Try For Free • Start with 10 free canvas notes, upload slides and docs • Experience AI powered thinking. Start with a 7 day free trial of Notewise 4.0 • Use core features for free—forever Always Getting Better Canvas updates, recent additions include: • Customized Toolbar: Keep tools you like, hide the ones you don't use • Connector: Link any two elements to connect ideas, draw diagrams and map workflows • Font Selection: Choose from 2000+ Google Fonts And we're just getting started. Take Good Notes Only Notewise is built for professionals, students and knowledge workers around the world. Whether you’re working on your next start-up idea, making decisions in a meeting or simply taking class notes, design your own productivity system in Notewise, a notes app that thinks as human, works like AI. — Build your notes your way with a tool that respects your privacy. Download Notewise for free today and experience the future of note-taking: contextual, personal, powerful. Privacy Policy: https://www.notewise.dev/privacy-policy Terms & Conditions: https://www.notewise.dev/terms-conditions

Screenshots

Element Note4 screens
Notewise4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Notewise at every 2 days against Element Note's fortnightly. Element Note's advantage is review sentiment (68% vs 55%) and ratings volume (2.6K vs 271). On price, rating, 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 Notewise sells 16 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Element Note against 4.6 for Notewise. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Element Note has 2.6K ratings behind it against 271, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 68% of Element Note's written reviews are positive against 55% of Notewise's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Element Note ships an update fortnightly, Notewise every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Element Note versus Notewise: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterElement NoteNotewise
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (2.6K ratings)4.6 (271 ratings)
Positive reviews68.1% of reviews — better54.7% of reviews
Number of ratings2.6K — better271
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size129 MB427 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSoysauce LabZIIKR

Customer experience

Element Note

All ratings2,564 ratings
Positive90.5%
Neutral4.1%
Negative5.4%
Written reviews335 reviews
Positive68.1%
Neutral11.6%
Negative20.3%

Notewise

All ratings271 ratings
Positive90.8%
Neutral2.6%
Negative6.6%
Written reviews137 reviews
Positive54.7%
Neutral12.4%
Negative32.8%

User reviews

Element Note

From 2.6K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Smooth handwriting experience
  • 💡 Customizable pens and colors
  • 👍 Clean and intuitive interface
  • 🎨 Gradient and gradient brush tools
  • 📚 Great for journaling and note-taking

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
  • 🔍 Search function not working
  • 🖼️ Issues with image handling and export
  • 🔀 Difficulty switching between pen and eraser
  • 🔑 Lack of password/locking feature for notes

Notewise

From 271 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly interface
  • 🔄 Excellent cross-platform synchronization (Android, iOS, Mac, PC)
  • ✨ Comprehensive feature set with tables, shapes, and drawing tools
  • 🎨 High-quality dark mode implementation
  • 📱 Works seamlessly across multiple devices

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent app crashes after updates
  • 🐛 Handwriting and annotations disappearing randomly
  • 🐛 Lasso selection tool includes unwanted background
  • 🐛 App freezes and lags when highlighting large areas
  • 🐛 Text input fields not functioning properly

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

Notewise

Reported bugs

18 issues
  • App crashes on every update
  • Handwritten content randomly disappears
  • Annotations vanishing intermittently
  • Lasso selection tool malfunctions
  • Text input fields not responding
Show 13 more
  • App freezes when highlighting large areas with markers
  • Handwriting input not registering
  • Palm rejection issues causing unwanted marks
  • Shape recognition failures
  • Scribble-to-erase function unreliable
  • PDF export causing app crashes
  • Notes auto-deleting or getting corrupted
  • Sync getting stuck mid-process
  • Slow and delayed cross-device synchronization
  • UI elements obscuring page content after 20+ minutes of use
  • Copy-paste functionality limited and unreliable
  • App performance degradation over time
  • Glitchy behavior with shape drawing mode

Requested features

20 requests
  • Add layers feature for advanced editing
  • Implement automatic zoom box that follows writing
  • Add pencil, waterbrush, and crayon drawing tools
  • Sticker marketplace or sticker customization
  • Horizontal page flipping/swiping navigation
Show 15 more
  • Ability to pause real-time syncing
  • MacBook native app with full feature parity
  • More shape customization (arcs for graphing)
  • Improved text formatting and customization options
  • Single page view mode (vertical and horizontal)
  • Notebook organization beyond just pages
  • Magnifying glass tool like GoodNotes
  • More pen and pencil style options
  • Line spacing customization for text
  • PDF import from web/internet
  • Printing functionality
  • Audio recording and sharing capabilities
  • Hyperlink support on desktop version
  • Scroll locking to prevent accidental page movement
  • Better shape recognition (arrows, parentheses)

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
16 purchases

Notewise

Subscriptions6
  • Notewise Cloud Basic Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Notewise Cloud Starter Monthly$6.991 Month
  • Notewise Cloud Pro Monthly$15.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • Notewise Cloud Basic Yearly$28.991 Year
  • Notewise Cloud Starter Yearly7 Days trial$36.991 Year
  • Notewise Cloud Pro Yearly$129.991 Year
One-time10
  • Notewise Marketplace Content$1.99
  • Notewise Marketplace Content$2.99
  • Notewise Marketplace Content$3.99
Show 7 more
  • Notewise Marketplace Content$4.99
  • Notewise Marketplace Content$5.99
  • Notewise Marketplace Content$6.99
  • Notewise Marketplace Content$7.99
  • Notewise Marketplace Content$8.99
  • Notewise Marketplace Content$9.99
  • Notewise Unlimited$19.99

Questions

Is Element Note free?
Element Note is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Notewise free?
Notewise is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Element Note or Notewise?
Element Note and Notewise are both rated 4.6 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2.6K and 271 ratings respectively.
Do Element Note or Notewise have ads?
Neither Element Note nor Notewise shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Element Note or Notewise?
Element Note ships an update fortnightly, and Notewise every 2 days. Most recently, Element Note was updated on September 24, 2026 and Notewise on September 22, 2026.

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