BoardNotes vs Nota
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
BoardNotes
This app combines whiteboard, notebook, PDF management, mind mapping, and flashcard creation into a single, versatile handwriting note-taking tool. It offers a wide array of pen types, organizational features, and study aids to enhance productivity and learning.
- Handwriting note-taking
- Integrated whiteboard
- PDF import and editing
- Mind mapping functionality
- Spaced repetition flashcards
- Multiple pen and brush types
- Layer management
Read full descriptionHide full description
Feature Introduction: BoardNotes is a versatile handwriting note-taking app that integrates five major functions—whiteboard, notebook, PDF, mind map, and flashcards—covering most note-taking scenarios. It serves as your All-In-One App. Handwriting Pen: 1. BoardNotes utilizes Apple's native pen technology and has developed additional pens tailored for Chinese writing, including a fountain pen, a laser pointer for presentations, and a tape pen for masking notes. 2. Choose from a variety of brushes (laser pen, tape pen, ballpoint pen, straight-line pen, wavy-line pen, custom fountain pen, quill pen, pencil, marker, watercolor pen, fill pen, single-line pen, crayon, freehand pen) to unleash your creativity. 3. Lasso tool (extremely powerful). 4. Eraser (pixel eraser and object eraser). Whiteboard: 1. The whiteboard is ideal for organizing fragmented knowledge, brainstorming, and boosting creativity. 2. Write and draw freely without worrying about boundaries. 3. Customize background colors and grid templates. 4. Add various card types (text, image, video, audio, webpage, file, handwriting). 5. Multiple auxiliary tools: background board, pins, link navigation (supports bidirectional links), connectors, timer (countdown supported), calculator. 6. Quickly locate notes using the search function. Notebook & PDF: 1. Create notebooks and PDFs with multiple paper templates and cover options. Import images from Photos or PDFs from the Files app as pages or covers. 2. Add text, images, stickers, videos, webpage snapshots, audio recordings, links (bidirectional links supported), timers, calculators, and floating PDF windows. 3. Layer functionality—show or hide layers as needed. 4. Insert new pages via blank sheets, images, scanned documents, or files. 5. Cut, copy, and paste pages into other notebooks or PDFs. 6. Duplicate, rotate, or delete pages. 7. Reorder pages via long-press and drag in thumbnail view. 8. Create outlines and add bookmarks. 9. Search (text, handwritten notes, etc.). 10. Import e-books (epub, mobi, azw, etc.). Mind Map: 1. Mind mapping is a key feature within the whiteboard. 2. Nodes support multiple formats (text, image, handwriting, video, audio, webpage snapshot, file). 3. Offers 3 structures and 18 color schemes. 4. Add summaries (brackets). 5. Handwritten mind maps (using handwritten cards). 6. Long-press and drag selected cards into the mind map. 7. Reorder nodes or adjust hierarchy via long-press and drag. Flashcard: 1. Flashcards use the SuperMemo algorithm to automatically schedule optimal review intervals, reminding you before forgetting to maximize memory efficiency. 2. Flashcards support text, images, and handwriting. 3. Quickly create cards from notes in whiteboards, notebooks, or PDFs using the rectangular lasso tool. Download BoardNotes for free on iPad, iPhone, and Mac. For suggestions, please contact us via the in-app feedback feature.
Nota
Read full descriptionHide full description
Nota is a canvas notebook. Write by hand, type, draw diagrams and annotate PDFs — all on the same page, all saved to your device as you go. HANDWRITING THAT BECOMES TEXT Ink with a pen or your finger. Pause, and what you just wrote turns into an editable text box. Recognition runs entirely on your device, so your writing never leaves it. English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil. A CANVAS, NOT A PAGE OF LINES • Pen, highlighter and eraser, with a press-and-hold straight-line snap • An endless canvas, or real pages: Letter and A4 through A7, portrait or landscape • Blank, ruled or grid paper in six colours • Pinch to zoom, drag to pan, undo and redo across everything TEXT THAT THINKS IN MARKDOWN Type # for a heading, - for a bullet, [] for a checkbox, > for a quote. Bold, italic, size, colour, alignment, font and rotation, all from one ribbon. DIAGRAMS, NOT DOODLES More than 80 shapes across Standard, Flowchart, Containers and UML — class, use case, state and sequence. Connectors snap to ports and keep following a shape when you move or rotate it, with arrowheads, labels and UML relationship presets. PDFs IN, PDFs OUT Import a PDF and every page becomes a page you can write on. Reorder, duplicate, insert or delete pages. Export the whole note, the current page or a range as a PDF or as PNG images, then share it or save it to Files. ORGANISED, AND OFFLINE Nested folders with cover images and a breadcrumb browser. Everything works with no connection at all — notes are written to your device the moment you stop typing. No analytics, no ads. NOTA PRO • Google Drive backup and sync — every note, folder, image and PDF page, in a folder you own • Automatic background sync, or Sync now on any single note • Your whole library back on any device you sign in on • Signatures — draw or type one, style its ink, rule and footer, then place it on any page • A library of up to three saved signatures, ready on every device Everything else is free, with no time limit. Terms of Use: https://nota-solution.quantyr.co/terms Privacy Policy: https://nota-solution.quantyr.co/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Nota at none against BoardNotes's shown. On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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. BoardNotes sells 23 one-off in-app purchases and Nota sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
| Parameter | BoardNotes | Nota |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (115 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 80.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 115 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days | — |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 15.5 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 342 MB | 74 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Chongqing Ouluowa Technology Co., Ltd. | NANDAPRIAN RAJASEKARAN |
Bugs and requests
BoardNotes
Reported bugs
16 issues- Whiteboards erasing automatically
- No automatic backup leading to data loss
- Syncing issues between iPad and Mac
- Pencil tip not appearing on PDF annotations
- App crashes frequently
Show 11 moreShow fewer
- Recording data is lost
- Cannot create new notebooks
- Gear icon for settings missing in dark mode
- Issue with eraser and color selection logic
- Lasso tool missing cut button after cropping
- PDF embeds appear blurry
- Handwriting search not implemented
- Accidental touches/palm rejection issues
- Chinese font display issues in markdown
- App freezes when using search function
- Software flashes back (crashes)
Requested features
24 requests- Sync to Google Drive/other cloud services
- Faster 'add to cards' function
- View carded items in sidebar
- Color coding for pins
- Image opacity adjustment
Show 19 moreShow fewer
- Faster image copy from whiteboard
- Android app version
- WebDAV function
- Markdown editing/viewing function
- Handwriting recognition and search
- Improve palm rejection/anti-touch
- Add more brush types (with stroke variation)
- Search for handwritten text
- Dark Mode UI
- More calculator functions (square root, trig identities)
- In-app browser (ChatGPT, YouTube integration)
- Easier UI navigation of notebook pages
- Ability to change existing page formats
- More in-depth pen fine-tuning
- Optimize UI, move undo/redo to top right
- Adjust pressure sensitivity
- Customizable top toolbar icons
- Add college rule paper
- Translate function for papers
Nota
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
BoardNotes
- 7 days membership$0.99
- 5 days membership$0.99
- Math Formula Recognition$1.99
Show 20 moreShow fewer
- 1 month membership$1.99
- Annual Membership$3.99
- Permanent Unlock All$3.99
- 6 months membership$3.99
- 6 months membership (discount)$3.99
- Permanent Unlock All$4.99
- Annual Membership$4.99
- 6 months membership2 variants$4.99
- Full version Unlock$5.99
- Annual Membership (discount)$5.99
- 6 months membership$6.99
- Permanent Unlock All$6.99
- Annual Membership2 variants$6.99
- Spring Festival Discount$6.99
- Annual Membership$7.99
- Permanent Unlock All$7.99
- Permanent Unlock All(discount)$7.99
- Permanent Unlock All$8.99
- Permanent Unlock All$9.99
- Permanent Unlock All$19.99
Nota
- Nota Pro Monthly$0.991 Month
- Nota Pro Monthly$9.991 Year









