Comparison

Whisper Notes vs Notedrafts

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

Head to head
About

Whisper Notes

This app provides accurate, on-device transcription of audio and video files in over 100 languages. It offers a secure, offline experience with no subscriptions or cloud uploads. Easily record or import files and export transcripts with timestamps.

Highlights
  • 100% offline transcription
  • Record voice or import audio/video
  • Supports 100+ languages
  • Export transcripts with timestamps
  • Lock screen widget for quick capture
  • Secure, on-device data storage
Features
Read full description

Maybe the best offline transcription app — 70,000+ journalists, researchers, and professionals seem to think so. Turn meetings, lectures, and voice memos into accurate text with speaker labels — fast, 100% offline, on your device. No subscription. One purchase, yours forever. ■ Core Features - Record voice memos and capture ideas instantly—from the Lock Screen, widgets, Action Button, or just say "Hey Siri" - Import audio and video from any app (WhatsApp, Photos, Voice Memos, etc.)—even extract subtitles - Turn meetings, lectures, and interviews into transcripts with speaker labels—see who said what, rename speakers, no length limits - 101 languages, auto-detected (optimized for English)—three models (Parakeet, Whisper, SenseVoice), switch freely - Export as SRT, VTT, or TXT—timestamps and speaker labels included ■ Privacy & Speed Because everything runs on your device, there is nothing to upload—and nothing to leak. Turn on airplane mode before you record and leave it on: Whisper Notes works exactly the same. That matters when the recording is an interview, a client meeting, or something you would never put on someone else's server. Transcribing 5 minutes of audio on iPhone 15: ~18 seconds with Parakeet, ~1 minute with Whisper. SenseVoice is much faster than Whisper and strongest for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Each model has its strengths—choose freely based on language and use case. Older devices are slower but work fine. ■ Honest Pricing Because transcription runs on your device, we have no server costs—so there is nothing to charge you monthly for. Most similar apps charge $100+/year; we charge once. No subscriptions, no in-app purchases, no ads. Not satisfied? Tap Settings → Request Refund. ■ Common Questions Does it work completely offline? Yes. Your audio never leaves your device. Works on flights, in remote areas, anywhere. Can I transcribe WhatsApp voice messages or videos? Yes. Share or save audio/video from WhatsApp to Whisper Notes and transcribe offline. Perfect for extracting subtitles without uploading to cloud services. Is there a recording time limit? No limit. Record for hours if you want. Longer recordings just take more time to transcribe on your device. Does it support real-time transcription while recording? Not during recording, but yes during transcription—after you finish recording, you'll see the transcript appear in real-time as it's being generated. Do you support speaker labels (diarization)? Yes—fully offline. Tap the speaker icon on any transcript to see who said what, right on your device. We keep improving accuracy and speed. Where is my data stored? Only on your device. We have zero access. Note: If you delete the app, your recordings are deleted too (because we don't keep secret backups). Please export important files regularly. Can I summarize a transcript? Yes — copy it into whichever AI tool you prefer. Whisper Notes itself never uploads anything; your audio and text stay on your device. Why does transcription stop when I switch apps? iOS limits background GPU usage for third-party apps. Just return to the app and tap "Re-transcribe"—it will restart. Which devices are recommended? iPhone 12 and newer. Older devices (iPhone 11, iPhone SE 2nd gen) are not recommended—the app will not function properly on these devices. What languages are supported? English, Español, Français, Deutsch, Português, Italiano, Nederlands, 简体中文, 繁體中文, 日本語, 한국어, Hindi, Arabic, Русский, Türkçe, Polski, Українська, Tiếng Việt, Thai, Tagalog, Bahasa Indonesia, Svenska, Norsk, Dansk, Suomi, Čeština, Greek, Hebrew, Română, Magyar, Persian, Urdu, and 65+ more languages. ■ Contact Questions? Email support@whispernotes.app Learn more: whispernotes.app

About

Notedrafts

This app allows you to write, organize, and mark up documents with various tools. It supports PDF annotation, freeform sketching on a large canvas, and vertically extended pages for continuous writing. Customize templates, import various file types, and organize notes with folders and icons.

Highlights
  • Write on PDFs
  • Freeform canvas sketching
  • Vertically extended pages
  • Customizable templates
  • Import PDFs and images
  • Organize with folders and icons
Features
Read full description

Notedrafts is a note taking app that lets you write and organize your thoughts across different types of documents. Whether you're marking up a PDF, writing on a large canvas, or taking notes in a long vertical layout, Notedrafts adapts to your workflow. Note taking: - Write on PDF - Create notebooks with customizable templates - Sketch and note taking on a large freeform canvas - Take notes on vertically extended pages for long lists or continuous writing Customizable templates - Choose from daily planners, monthly calendars, habit trackers, and more - Adjust start times, set the current month, and choose how many habits to track - Change page size and background color Import and export - Import PDFs, images, or scan paper documents - Export your notes and share them easily Organize with ease - Create folders with custom icons and colors - Pin important documents and folders to the sidebar for quick access - perfect for study notes and school notes Advanced writing and drawing tools - Pens - Regular Pen, Monoline, Fountain Pen, Pencil, Watercolor, Highlighter - Tools - Ruler, Stroke Eraser, Pixel Eraser, Lasso - Insert images and text into your notes

Screenshots

Whisper Notes4 screens
Notedrafts4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Notedrafts at Free against Whisper Notes's $7.99. Notedrafts also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs every 2 weeks) and review sentiment (82% vs 66%). Whisper Notes's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 11) and chart position (#17 vs unranked). On rating, ratings volume, ads and device support 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

Notedrafts is free to download; Whisper Notes costs $7.99 up front. Notedrafts sells 11 one-off in-app purchases. Whisper Notes 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 Whisper Notes against 4.8 for Notedrafts. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 661 and 761 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 66% of Whisper Notes's written reviews are positive against 82% of Notedrafts's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Whisper Notes ships an update every 2 weeks, Notedrafts every 3 days. Both last shipped on October 21, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Whisper Notes versus Notedrafts: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWhisper NotesNotedrafts
Price$7.99Free — better
Rating4.7 (661 ratings)4.8 (761 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.3% of reviews81.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings661761 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#17 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.017.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size508 MB13 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSmashMelon LLCAppycron Interactive e.K.

Customer experience

Whisper Notes

All ratings618 ratings
Positive91.1%
Neutral3.7%
Negative5.2%
Written reviews326 reviews
Positive66.3%
Neutral9.5%
Negative24.2%

Notedrafts

All ratings753 ratings
Positive96.3%
Neutral2.0%
Negative1.7%
Written reviews191 reviews
Positive81.7%
Neutral9.4%
Negative8.9%

User reviews

Whisper Notes

From 661 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fast and accurate transcription
  • 🔒 Offline, private processing
  • 👍 Simple and intuitive interface
  • 💡 Affordable one-time purchase
  • 🚀 Impressive speech recognition accuracy

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes or freezes with longer recordings
  • 🐛 Inconsistent performance on older devices
  • 🐛 Transcription errors or missing punctuation
  • 🐛 Inability to edit transcribed text
  • 🐛 Lack of batch export/import functionality

Notedrafts

From 761 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Smooth writing experience
  • 👍 Clean and polished UI
  • 🚀 Responsive and fast
  • 👍 Elegant note-taking experience
  • 👍 Plentiful templates and notebook covers

Room to improve

  • 🔧 Missing features like search, audio recording, and undo
  • 🔧 Limited customization options for toolbar and pencil settings

Bugs and requests

Whisper Notes

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Recordings disappearing after transcription
  • Transcription process getting stuck at 1%
  • Crashes on certain iOS/iPadOS versions
  • Inability to import audio files consistently

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add support for speaker diarization
  • Implement real-time transcription mode
  • Allow customization of hotkey/shortcut
  • Improve integration with Apple Shortcuts
  • Provide option to choose transcription model size

Notedrafts

Reported bugs

1 issue
  • No issues reported

Requested features

7 requests
  • Add support for scribble to erase
  • Implement custom notebook covers
  • Add pure text writing mode
  • Ability to customize toolbar
  • Embed URL links with web preview
Show 2 more
  • Add page tags and linking between pages
  • Introduce light mode app icon

In-app purchases

None

Whisper Notes

No in-app purchases

11 purchases

Notedrafts

One-time11
  • Bronze Tip$0.99
  • Silver Tip$1.99
  • Gold Tip$4.99
Show 8 more
  • PRO Version$5.99
  • Platinum Tip$9.99
  • Unlimited Notes$14.99
  • Diamond Tip$19.99
  • Unlimited Notes$24.99
  • Unlimited Notes$39.99
  • Unlimited Notes$49.99
  • Unlimited Notes$69.99

Questions

Is Whisper Notes free?
Whisper Notes costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Notedrafts free?
Notedrafts is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Whisper Notes or Notedrafts?
Notedrafts is rated higher. Whisper Notes averages 4.7 out of 5 from 661 ratings, while Notedrafts averages 4.8 from 761 ratings.
Do Whisper Notes or Notedrafts have ads?
Neither Whisper Notes nor Notedrafts shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Whisper Notes or Notedrafts?
Whisper Notes ships an update every 2 weeks, and Notedrafts every 3 days. Most recently, Whisper Notes was updated on October 21, 2026 and Notedrafts on October 21, 2026.

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