OrigNotes vs Notewise
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
OrigNotes
Create, organize, and manage high-quality handwritten notes with ease. Supports handwriting, drawing, image insertion, and PDF annotation. Stay organized and productive for study, work, or daily ideas.
- Handwritten notes and drawing
- Image insertion and PDF annotation
- Organize and search documents
- Customizable note covers and paper styles
- Palm rejection and writing settings
- Variety of brushes and tools
- Cloud sync support
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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.
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.
- 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
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Featured on the App Store. 8M+ downloads. Trusted by millions worldwide. Your meetings, lectures, ideas, and research don’t arrive in one format. Your notes shouldn’t have to either. Notewise brings together what you write, record, draw, read, and save. Capture it once, then find it again, ask about it, learn from it, and build on it. Notewise is an AI note-taking app for iPhone and iPad with handwritten notes, audio recording and transcription, PDF annotation, documents, web sources, and AI search and chat. ■ CAPTURE EVERYTHING IN ONE NOTE • Write, type, or handwrite notes • Sketch ideas and diagrams on a freeform canvas • Record meetings, lectures, conversations, and voice notes • Import 25+ file formats, including PDFs, documents, slides, images, and more • Add website links and bring web research into your notes • Scan paper notes and whiteboards Start with whatever is in front of you. Add things in any order, and keep related notes, recordings, files, and ideas together as you go. ■ SEARCH & ASK ACROSS YOUR NOTES Search handwritten notes, typed text, audio transcripts, PDFs, documents, and images. Ask Notewise AI about the note you’re in or across all your notes. Search the web when you need more context. Answers can cite the notes, recordings, files, and sources behind them, so you can always see where the information came from. Search less. Pick up where you left off and keep thinking. ■ RECORD, TRANSCRIBE & ASK IN REAL TIME Stay focused on the meeting, lecture, or conversation instead of trying to write down every word. • Automatic transcription in 20+ languages • Key points, decisions, and next steps • Ask questions while a meeting or lecture is still happening • Ask across past recordings later • Keep audio, meeting notes, PDFs, and related documents together Meeting notes become more than transcripts. Class notes stay useful long after the lecture ends. ■ WRITE, DRAW & ANNOTATE FREELY Handwrite a page. Draw a diagram. Work through a problem. Mark up a PDF. Move things around until the idea makes sense. Choose from 30+ brushes and tools — including pencil, oil paint, watercolor, highlighter, lasso, tape, shapes, tables, rulers, sticky notes, and more. Start from 20+ templates or create your own, from Cornell notes to meeting notes and custom workflows. ■ TURN NOTES INTO FLASHCARDS, QUIZZES & PODCASTS Good notes don’t all look the same. Turn study notes, meeting notes, or research into AI notes, summaries, flashcards, quizzes, podcasts, and more — using the same material in the format that helps you most. Summarize a recording. Ask questions about a PDF. Search handwritten notes. Find connections across different notes. Sometimes you want AI. Sometimes you just want a blank page. Notewise gives you both. ■ FOR WORK, STUDY & RESEARCH Use Notewise for meeting notes, lecture recording, handwritten and digital notes, voice notes, PDF annotation, research papers, brainstorming, and search across everything you save. On iOS 27, use Siri AI to create, edit, and find information in your notes, or Visual Intelligence to surface related content from what you see. Whether you’re building a company, studying for an exam, researching your next idea, or simply trying to remember what matters, Notewise gives your thinking one place to grow. ■ PRIVACY FIRST Notewise is built by a small, independent team. We don’t sell your data or show ads. Your notes are encrypted, secure, and under your control. ■ TRY NOTEWISE FREE Start with 10 free canvas notes and import your own slides and documents. Explore Notewise with a 7-day free trial, while core features remain free to use. Write. Record. Draw. Remember. Privacy Policy: https://www.notewise.dev/privacy-policy Terms & Conditions: https://www.notewise.dev/terms-conditions
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: OrigNotes at none against Notewise's 16. OrigNotes also leads on review sentiment (83% vs 54%) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 26.0). Notewise's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 11 days). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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. Notewise sells 16 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. OrigNotes asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for OrigNotes against 4.6 for Notewise. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 336 and 282 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 83% of OrigNotes's written reviews are positive against 54% of Notewise's.
OrigNotes ships an update every 11 days, Notewise every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | OrigNotes | Notewise |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (336 ratings) — better | 4.6 (282 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 82.8% of reviews — better | 54.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 336 — better | 282 |
| Update frequency | Every 11 days | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 96 MB | 435 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Hangzhou Future Writing Technology Co.,LTD. | ZIIKR |
Customer experience
OrigNotes
Notewise
Bugs and requests
OrigNotes
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
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
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- 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
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- 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
OrigNotes
No in-app purchases
Notewise
- Notewise Cloud Basic Monthly$4.991 Month
- Notewise Cloud Starter Monthly$6.991 Month
- Notewise Cloud Pro Monthly$15.991 Month
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- Notewise Cloud Basic Yearly$28.991 Year
- Notewise Cloud Starter Yearly7 Days trial$36.991 Year
- Notewise Cloud Pro Yearly$129.991 Year
- Notewise Marketplace Content$1.99
- Notewise Marketplace Content$2.99
- Notewise Marketplace Content$3.99
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- 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








