Comparison

UltraNotes vs Notely

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

Head to head
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 Brushes: 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. • Write with scribble tool by using Apple Pencil, and it will convert to text instantly. • Use tape tool to help you memorize learning content. • 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 and Mac. • 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 • 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

About

Notely

This app offers a private and flexible digital notebook for handwriting, typed notes, and PDF annotation. Convert handwriting to editable text, draw with precision tools, and organize your work with folders and backups. Keep ideas accessible without an account or internet connection.

Highlights
  • Handwriting to editable text conversion
  • Precision drawing tools
  • PDF annotation and markup
  • Organized library with folders
  • On-device search
  • Portable backups
Features
Read full description

Notely is a notebook for iPad and iPhone that feels like paper and keeps everything on your device. Write by hand, mark up PDFs, record a lecture while you take notes, then study from what you wrote. There's no account and no cloud. Your notes stay where you wrote them. New in 1.4 Notely has a hand-drawn look now, with drawn icons and handwritten headings. I also rebuilt the pencil from scratch. It picks up the grain of the paper and responds to pressure, and if you tilt Apple Pencil on its side it shades like a real one. Record the lecture with your notes Press record and keep writing. Notely transcribes on your device as you go and remembers when each stroke was written. Later, tap a line of ink and the audio jumps to what was being said at that moment. Tapping a line in the transcript works too. Transcription depends on on-device speech support for your language and device. If it isn't available, Notely still saves the audio. Study from your own notes Make flashcards yourself, or lay tape over part of a page and quiz yourself on what's underneath. Cards come back on a spaced review schedule, and you can turn on reminders for when they're due. On devices with Apple Intelligence, Notely can also draft cards from a note and answer questions about it, with a link back to the page each answer came from. You review every draft before it's saved. Handwriting that turns into text Tap the handwriting button and Notely turns your writing into typed text, on the device. Anything it can't read confidently stays as ink. Search also looks inside your handwriting, typed text and PDFs. Pages or open space Use Letter or A4 pages, or switch a note to an infinite canvas when you need room to think. There's always a blank page waiting at the end, and if you don't use it, it's left out when you export. Templates include Cornell notes, dot grid, lab reports, math and physics pages, and music staff. Import PDFs and write on them, or scan paper pages with the camera. Private by default Notely works offline, with no analytics and no ads. Lock any note with Face ID or a password. Locked notes are kept out of Spotlight search and the widget. A few more things - Export pages as PDF or PNG - Back up notes to a .vectora archive and restore them without overwriting anything - Bring notebooks over from Goodnotes or Notability (PDF exports work best; native import is experimental) - A home screen widget with recent notes and a New note button - Shortcuts actions to create a quick note or open recent notes - Folders, tags and smart collections Notely is made by one person. If something bugs you, the support page reaches me directly.

Screenshots

UltraNotes4 screens
Notely4 screens

Verdict

The call

UltraNotes and Notely both sit at 4.6 stars, but that hides the real split: 81% of UltraNotes's written reviews are positive against 33% of Notely's. UltraNotes also leads on ratings volume (181 vs 8). Notely's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (every 4 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, rating, 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

Both are free to download. UltraNotes sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Notely asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

UltraNotes holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: UltraNotes has 181 ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 81% of UltraNotes's written reviews are positive against 33% of Notely's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

UltraNotes ships an update every 3 weeks, Notely every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
UltraNotes versus Notely: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUltraNotesNotely
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (181 ratings) — better4.4 (8 ratings)
Positive reviews81.2% of reviews — better33.3% of reviews
Number of ratings181 — better8
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size30 MB23 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSkyjos Co., Ltd.JUSTIN WEI SUN

Customer experience

UltraNotes

All ratings181 ratings
Positive88.4%
Neutral3.9%
Negative7.7%
Written reviews85 reviews
Positive81.2%
Neutral9.4%
Negative9.4%

Notely

All ratings8 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral12.5%
Negative12.5%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral33.3%
Negative33.3%

Bugs and 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

Notely

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

UltraNotes

One-time1
  • UltraNotes Pro Lifetime$4.99
None

Notely

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is UltraNotes free?
UltraNotes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Notely free?
Notely is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, UltraNotes or Notely?
UltraNotes is rated higher. UltraNotes averages 4.6 out of 5 from 181 ratings, while Notely averages 4.4 from 8 ratings.
Do UltraNotes or Notely have ads?
Neither UltraNotes nor Notely shows ads.
Which is updated more often, UltraNotes or Notely?
UltraNotes ships an update every 3 weeks, and Notely every 4 days. Most recently, UltraNotes was updated on October 16, 2026 and Notely on October 13, 2026.

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