Comparison

OrigNotes vs UltraNotes

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

Head to head
About

OrigNotes

Capture, organize, and develop your thoughts with a free digital note-taking app. It offers handwritten notes, PDF annotation, mind mapping, and multimedia integration, all optimized for a natural writing experience.

Highlights
  • Handwriting & Drawing with Apple Pencil
  • PDF Reading & Annotation
  • Mind Map creation
  • Handwriting to Text conversion
  • Powerful Search
  • Multimedia integration (images, audio, video)
  • Customizable workspace
Features
Read full description

OrigNotes is a powerful, free digital note-taking app built for iPad and iPhone. Whether you're taking handwritten notes, annotating PDFs, organizing ideas with mind maps, or capturing inspiration with images, audio, and video, OrigNotes gives you the tools to keep everything in one place. Write naturally with Apple Pencil, convert handwriting into editable text, search through your notes, and customize your workspace to fit the way you think and work. OrigNotes is free to use, and we're committed to keeping it that way. If you're enjoying OrigNotes, we'd greatly appreciate a 5-star review. Your support helps us continue improving the app and building new features for everyone. Have an idea or feature request? Leave us a review or contact us directly through the app. You can also check our Future Plans inside OrigNotes to see what we're working on and follow the progress of upcoming features. KEY FEATURES • Handwriting & Drawing Enjoy a natural writing experience with a variety of pens, brushes, and creative tools designed for Apple Pencil. • PDF Reading & Annotation Import PDFs to read, highlight, annotate, draw, and take notes directly on your documents. • Mind Maps Create mind maps to organize ideas, study topics, and brainstorm visually. Add topics and subtopics, drag and rearrange nodes, and customize your mind map to fit your ideas. • Handwriting to Text Turn handwritten notes into editable text for easier editing, organizing, and reuse. • Powerful Search Find information faster by searching handwritten notes and text inside PDFs. • Images, GIFs, Audio & Video Bring your notes to life with images, animated GIFs, audio, and video—all within your notebook. • Personalized Notebooks Customize covers, paper templates, and themes to create a workspace that feels like your own. • Custom Toolbar & Tool Box Arrange your favorite tools around the way you work and keep the ones you use most within easy reach. • Smooth Writing Experience Optimized handwriting, palm rejection, and Apple Pencil interactions help writing feel smooth, responsive, and natural. • Easy Organization Organize and sort your documents, bookmark important pages, and quickly get back to the content you need. • Data Protection & Backup Multiple backup options and improved data protection help keep your important notes safe. • Cloud Backup Back up your notebooks to cloud storage for easier long-term storage and management. MADE FOR THE WAY YOU TAKE NOTES From class notes and study materials to work documents, PDF annotation, brainstorming, and everyday ideas, OrigNotes gives you a flexible space to capture, organize, and develop your thoughts. Simple when you need it. Powerful when you need more. Write. Think. Create. Organize. All in OrigNotes.

About

UltraNotes

This app combines powerful note-taking, handwriting, and PDF annotation features. Create rich text notes, sketch with various tools, and mark up documents. Organize, search, and sync your notes across devices.

Highlights
  • Handwritten notes with Apple Pencil
  • Rich text formatting and templates
  • PDF annotation and signing
  • Cross-device synchronization via iCloud
  • Searchable handwriting and text
  • Side-by-side multitasking on iPad/Mac
  • Audio recording with notes
Features
Read full description

UltraNotes is a powerful note-taking app and writing app that supports handwriting with Apple Pencil, typing with a keyboard, and annotating PDFs. Handwritten Notes • Create notes with covers and paper templates. Built-in 19 covers and 17 templates. And you could also import your own covers and templates. • 10+ Pens and Tools: Ball Pen, Fountain Pen, Marker, Crayon, Water Color, Laser, Scribble, Tape etc. • Adjust the thickness and color of the pen tip • Draw perfect shapes and lines. • Layers (Pro): separate content into layers, show or hide them anytime. • Lasso: Convert handwriting to text, Take screenshot, Change color of handwriting. • Scribble to erase handwriting. • Write with scribble tool by using Apple Pencil, and it will convert to text instantly. • Squeeze Apple Pencil Pro to show contextual palette. • Add text box, stickers and images to make your note more beautiful. • Export note to PDF and image Text Notes • Set headings to make TOC(Table of Contents). • Format text with bold, italics, strikethrough, underline • Highlight text with colors • Bullet List, Numbered List and To-Do List. • Set your own font, font size, line spacing, paragraph spacing, and more • Attach files and images on note. • Templates: Resume, Essay, Shopping List, To-Do List, Weekly Planner etc. • Export note to PDF, RTF, HTML, Markdown and Plain TXT Annotation • Mark up PDFs. • Sign documents Search • Search text and handwritting in notes and PDFs. Multi-task • Work with two notes side-by-side on iPad. • Drag & Drop handwriting, typed text, and images between notes. Presentation • Present your notes on TV screen via AirPlay or HDMI cable. • 3 Presentation Modes: Entire Screen, Current Page and All Pages. • Use laser tool to point out the content what you’re presenting. More • Record audio while you’re taking note. • Set reminder on note. • Organize notes into categories and folders. • Move, copy and delete notes and folders. • Show notes in grid view and list view. • Sort notes by name, date etc. • Scan physical documents and import to UltraNotes. • Import PDFs and images. • Lock app with password or Face ID. Synchronization & Backup (Pro) • Synchronize notes among your iPhone, iPad, and Mac via iCloud. • Backup notes to Google Drive. ===== CONTACT US ===== Email: support@skyjos.com Twitter: @SkyjosApps Facebook: @SkyjosApp

Screenshots

OrigNotes4 screens
UltraNotes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: OrigNotes at none against UltraNotes's 1. On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. UltraNotes sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. OrigNotes asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for OrigNotes against 4.6 for UltraNotes. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 382 and 190 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 85% of OrigNotes's written reviews are positive against 82% of UltraNotes's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

OrigNotes ships an update every 2 weeks, UltraNotes every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on November 7, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
OrigNotes versus UltraNotes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOrigNotesUltraNotes
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (382 ratings) — better4.6 (190 ratings)
Positive reviews84.7% of reviews — better81.6% of reviews
Number of ratings382 — better190
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size97 MB39 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHangzhou Future Writing Technology Co.,LTD.Skyjos Co., Ltd.

Customer experience

OrigNotes

All ratings371 ratings
Positive93.3%
Neutral2.7%
Negative4.0%
Written reviews72 reviews
Positive84.7%
Neutral2.8%
Negative12.5%

UltraNotes

All ratings190 ratings
Positive88.4%
Neutral3.7%
Negative7.9%
Written reviews87 reviews
Positive81.6%
Neutral9.2%
Negative9.2%

Bugs and requests

OrigNotes

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

UltraNotes

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • Writing and drawing input not working
  • Page scrolling interferes with writing
  • iCloud sync not functioning
  • Export to other apps failing
  • Hand gestures changing page zoom during writing
Show 7 more
  • Shape resizing not working after cutting
  • Search functionality crashes app
  • Added pages not saving when importing PDFs
  • PDF import quirks related to iCloud sync
  • App crashes causing data loss
  • Pro version access lost unexpectedly
  • Audio recording cannot be exported

Requested features

21 requests
  • Ability to lock zoom while writing with Apple Pencil
  • Resize shapes after cutting/moving them
  • Export notes to PDF and other apps
  • Dark/light theme toggle for pages
  • Nested list item support
Show 16 more
  • Additional font options
  • More sticker varieties
  • Infinite canvas on all sides
  • Password protection for individual notes
  • Straightened highlighter tool
  • Zoom video with auto-advance feature
  • LaTeX conversion support
  • Hierarchical folder navigation panel
  • Left-right page swiping navigation
  • Borderless canvas option
  • Selection tool with resize capability
  • One-click PDF annotation save option
  • Category deletion/renaming without cloud deletion
  • Audio recording export
  • UI language selection independent of system settings
  • Finger tap to undo functionality

In-app purchases

None

OrigNotes

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

UltraNotes

One-time1
  • UltraNotes Pro Lifetime$9.99

Questions

Is OrigNotes free?
OrigNotes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is UltraNotes free?
UltraNotes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, OrigNotes or UltraNotes?
OrigNotes is rated higher. OrigNotes averages 4.7 out of 5 from 382 ratings, while UltraNotes averages 4.6 from 190 ratings.
Do OrigNotes or UltraNotes have ads?
Neither OrigNotes nor UltraNotes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, OrigNotes or UltraNotes?
OrigNotes ships an update every 2 weeks, and UltraNotes every 3 weeks. Most recently, OrigNotes was updated on November 7, 2026 and UltraNotes on November 7, 2026.

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