Comparison

UltraNotes vs Better Notes

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

Better Notes

Features
Read full description

Better Notes is a focused idea studio for handwriting, sketching, typed notes and PDF annotation. It combines the freedom of paper with the organisation and editing tools of a modern native app. WRITE NATURALLY Capture smooth, pressure-aware ink with fountain pen, ballpoint, fineliner, pencil, calligraphy, brush, reed pen, marker and highlighter tools. Adjust colour, width and stabilisation, then erase by stroke or precisely through ink. BUILD PAGES YOUR WAY Choose blank, ruled, dotted, grid, Cornell and margin paper. Mix A4, A5, Letter and Legal pages in portrait or landscape—even inside the same notebook. Add, duplicate, bookmark and reorder your thinking page by page. MORE THAN HANDWRITING Add editable styled text, shapes and images. Move, rotate, recolour and organise content across independent layers with visibility, locking and opacity controls. ANNOTATE PDFs Import a PDF, write directly over it and keep its links intact. Export finished work as PDF, PNG, JPEG, Markdown or plain text whenever you need to share or continue elsewhere. RECORD THE MOMENT Attach audio to a page during a lecture, meeting or brainstorming session. Rename recordings and jump back to the page where each recording began. FIND AND ORGANISE IDEAS Create spaces and nested folders, add tags, mark favourites, revisit recent notes and recover items from Trash. Search notebook titles, tags and typed page content from one fast local library. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Better Notes works locally and offline. Your notebooks and recordings stay on your device unless you choose to export or share them. There is no required account, advertising or behavioural tracking. BUILT FOR APPLE DEVICES Enjoy a responsive light interface designed for touch, Apple Pencil, pointer and keyboard. Better Notes supports keyboard shortcuts, accessibility labels and Reduce Motion. Make space for your next thought—and keep every stroke editable.

Screenshots

UltraNotes4 screens
Better Notes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Better Notes at none against UltraNotes's 1. UltraNotes's advantage is iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). On price, 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. Better Notes asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
UltraNotes versus Better Notes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUltraNotesBetter Notes
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (187 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews81.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings187 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, Vision Pro
Requires iOS16.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size30 MB11 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSkyjos Co., Ltd.Luke Mclaughlin

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

Better Notes

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

UltraNotes

One-time1
  • UltraNotes Pro Lifetime$4.99
None

Better Notes

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is UltraNotes free?
UltraNotes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Better Notes free?
Better Notes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do UltraNotes or Better Notes have ads?
Neither UltraNotes nor Better Notes shows ads.

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