Comparison

Noteshelf vs Handwriting Scan

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

Head to head
About

Noteshelf

Create handwritten notes, annotate PDFs, and record audio with this app. It offers extensive customization for notebooks, a variety of writing tools, and AI-powered features for summarization and translation. Organize your thoughts and documents seamlessly.

Highlights
  • Handwritten note creation
  • PDF annotation and markup
  • Audio recording with notes
  • AI-powered summarization and translation
  • Customizable notebooks and templates
  • Handwriting to text conversion
  • Document scanning and import
Features
Read full description

Write. Plan. Study. Work. Create. Noteshelf 3 brings natural handwriting, powerful AI, PDF annotation, audio recording and planning together in one beautiful app for iPad, iPhone and Mac. Free to start. FOR STUDENTS • Take lecture and class notes with lifelike pens, pencils and highlighters • Annotate textbooks, worksheets, slides and PDFs • Record audio while you write, so you never miss a word • Use Noteshelf AI to summarize and explain what you've learned FOR PROFESSIONALS • Capture meeting notes and record important discussions • Mark up contracts, reports and presentations • Present your notes on an external display with a laser pointer • Export and share notes as PDFs or images in one tap FOR PLANNERS & JOURNALERS • 200+ templates for digital planners, journals, diaries and trackers • Plan your days, track goals and keep a personal journal • Decorate pages with stickers, photos and custom covers WRITE NATURALLY • A smooth, natural handwriting experience built for Apple Pencil • Write, type, draw and sketch on the same page • Turn handwriting into text and search your notes in 65 languages • Choose lined, dotted or grid paper in any color WORK WITH PDFs & DOCUMENTS • Import and annotate PDFs, Word documents, PowerPoint files and images • Highlight, mark up, write and draw directly on your documents • Scan paper documents with the built-in scanner NOTESHELF AI • Summarize handwritten pages in seconds • Explain difficult terms and concepts • Translate text into other languages • Generate notes on any topic RECORD & REMEMBER • Record lectures, meetings and ideas alongside your handwritten notes STAY ORGANIZED & SECURE • Folders, subfolders, tags, bookmarks and a table of contents • Link notebooks together to connect ideas • Lock notes with a password, Face ID or Touch ID • Sync across iPad, iPhone and Mac with iCloud • Automatic backup to Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox or WebDAV YOUR NOTES, YOUR WAY • Custom notebook covers and a toolbar you can rearrange • Presentation mode, dark mode and flexible page layouts FREE TO START Create up to 3 notebooks with core pens and paper for free. Upgrade to Noteshelf Premium for unlimited notebooks, all templates, handwriting recognition, auto-backup and 100 monthly AI credits. Write beautifully. Work smarter. Stay organized. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula

About

Handwriting Scan

Digitize handwritten notes and paper memos, converting them into searchable text. Organize, review, and share your captured information easily. Extract to-do lists and sync them with your reminders.

Highlights
  • OCR for handwritten notes
  • Searchable text notes
  • Markdown export
  • iCloud support
  • Task extraction and management
  • Sync with Apple Reminders
Features
Read full description

WriteScan helps you capture handwritten notes and paper memos, turn them into searchable text, and keep them organized. It keeps the freedom of writing on paper while making your notes easier to find, review, and share later. Main Features - Capture notebooks and journals with your camera and convert them to text with OCR - Save each page with both the original image and recognized text - Search past notes by keyword - Copy and share notes in Markdown format - iCloud support: data is stored on your device and in iCloud - Scan multiple pages in a single flow - Extract handwritten TODO lists and manage them as tasks - Organize detected tasks by parent groups - Sync tasks with Apple Reminders - Optionally save captured images to your photo library Perfect for - Digitally managing notebooks and journals - Quickly capturing shopping lists and ideas - Reviewing meeting notes or study notes later - Turning paper TODO lists into a task list - Archiving past notebooks for future reference Privacy & Security Your data is stored on your device and in iCloud. Text recognition uses an external AI service, but submitted data is never used for training. Terms of Use & Privacy Policy Terms of Use: https://writescan.app/en/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://writescan.app/en/privacy/

Screenshots

Noteshelf4 screens
Handwriting Scan4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Handwriting Scan at 100% against Noteshelf's 57%. Handwriting Scan also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6). Noteshelf's advantage is ratings volume (7.2K vs 1) and device support (4 vs 2). On price, update cadence, 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. Noteshelf sells 17 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days and Handwriting Scan sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Handwriting Scan holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Noteshelf has 7.2K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 57% of Noteshelf's written reviews are positive against 100% of Handwriting Scan's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Noteshelf ships an update every 4 days, Handwriting Scan every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Noteshelf versus Handwriting Scan: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNoteshelfHandwriting Scan
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (7.2K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews57.2% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings7.2K — better1
Update frequencyEvery 4 daysEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size558 MB71 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFluid Touch Pte. Ltd.Kodai Hiradate

Customer experience

Noteshelf

All ratings7,165 ratings
Positive88.6%
Neutral3.3%
Negative8.1%
Written reviews1,059 reviews
Positive57.2%
Neutral10.4%
Negative32.4%

Handwriting Scan

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Noteshelf

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Notebooks failing to open or sync correctly
  • Handwriting recognition not working as expected
  • Imported PDFs losing formatting or functionality
  • Unexpected loss of data or notes
  • Compatibility issues with older devices or operating systems

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add ability to create folders within notebooks
  • Improve page organization and navigation
  • Implement a more intuitive color picker and pen customization
  • Introduce a history/undo feature for linked pages
  • Add support for custom stickers and templates
Show 1 more
  • Optimize performance and reduce loading times

Handwriting Scan

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

17 purchases

Noteshelf

Subscriptions15
  • Noteshelf 3 Weekly Premium$4.997 Days
  • Noteshelf 3 Weekly Premium3 Days trial$4.997 Days
  • Noteshelf 3 Weekly Premium$7.997 Days
Show 12 more
  • Noteshelf3 Weekly Premium3 Days trial$7.997 Days
  • Noteshelf3 Monthly Premium$9.991 Month
  • Noteshelf3 Monthly Premium$19.991 Month
  • Noteshelf 3 Yearly Premium3 Days trial$19.991 Year
  • Noteshelf3 Yearly Premium3 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Noteshelf3 Yearly Premium$39.991 Year
  • Noteshelf 3 Yearly Premium3 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • Noteshelf Premium Yearly$49.991 Year
  • Noteshelf3 Yearly Premium3 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • Noteshelf 3 Yearly Premium1 Month trial$69.991 Year
  • Noteshelf3 Yearly Premium$79.991 Year
  • Premium3 Days trial$99.991 Year
One-time2
  • Premium for Noteshelf 2 users$9.99
  • Noteshelf 3 Premium - Lifetime$14.99
3 purchases

Handwriting Scan

Subscriptions2
  • Pro plan(monthly)$3.991 Month
  • Pro plan (Annual)1 Year trial$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • 20-Scan Add-on Pack$0.49

Questions

Is Noteshelf free?
Noteshelf is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Handwriting Scan free?
Handwriting Scan is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Noteshelf or Handwriting Scan?
Handwriting Scan is rated higher. Noteshelf averages 4.6 out of 5 from 7.2K ratings, while Handwriting Scan averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Noteshelf or Handwriting Scan have ads?
Neither Noteshelf nor Handwriting Scan shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Noteshelf or Handwriting Scan?
Noteshelf ships an update every 4 days, and Handwriting Scan every 3 days. Most recently, Noteshelf was updated on October 29, 2026 and Handwriting Scan on October 25, 2026.

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