Notewise vs StarNote
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Notewise
This app offers a versatile digital canvas for note-taking, PDF annotation, and sketching. It leverages AI to summarize content, generate quizzes, and transcribe audio. Designed for students, professionals, and creators, it provides tools for organization, collaboration, and enhanced productivity.
- AI-powered note summarization and quizzing
- Handwritten notes and PDF annotation
- Audio recording with synced transcripts
- OCR for searchable handwriting
- Real-time collaboration
- Infinite freeform canvas
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Featured on the App Store. 8M+ downloads. Trusted by millions worldwide. Your meetings, lectures, ideas, and research don’t arrive in one format. Your notes shouldn’t have to either. Notewise brings together what you write, record, draw, read, and save. Capture it once, then find it again, ask about it, learn from it, and build on it. Notewise is an AI note-taking app for iPhone and iPad with handwritten notes, audio recording and transcription, PDF annotation, documents, web sources, and AI search and chat. ■ CAPTURE EVERYTHING IN ONE NOTE • Write, type, or handwrite notes • Sketch ideas and diagrams on a freeform canvas • Record meetings, lectures, conversations, and voice notes • Import 25+ file formats, including PDFs, documents, slides, images, and more • Add website links and bring web research into your notes • Scan paper notes and whiteboards Start with whatever is in front of you. Add things in any order, and keep related notes, recordings, files, and ideas together as you go. ■ SEARCH & ASK ACROSS YOUR NOTES Search handwritten notes, typed text, audio transcripts, PDFs, documents, and images. Ask Notewise AI about the note you’re in or across all your notes. Search the web when you need more context. Answers can cite the notes, recordings, files, and sources behind them, so you can always see where the information came from. Search less. Pick up where you left off and keep thinking. ■ RECORD, TRANSCRIBE & ASK IN REAL TIME Stay focused on the meeting, lecture, or conversation instead of trying to write down every word. • Automatic transcription in 20+ languages • Key points, decisions, and next steps • Ask questions while a meeting or lecture is still happening • Ask across past recordings later • Keep audio, meeting notes, PDFs, and related documents together Meeting notes become more than transcripts. Class notes stay useful long after the lecture ends. ■ WRITE, DRAW & ANNOTATE FREELY Handwrite a page. Draw a diagram. Work through a problem. Mark up a PDF. Move things around until the idea makes sense. Choose from 30+ brushes and tools — including pencil, oil paint, watercolor, highlighter, lasso, tape, shapes, tables, rulers, sticky notes, and more. Start from 20+ templates or create your own, from Cornell notes to meeting notes and custom workflows. ■ TURN NOTES INTO FLASHCARDS, QUIZZES & PODCASTS Good notes don’t all look the same. Turn study notes, meeting notes, or research into AI notes, summaries, flashcards, quizzes, podcasts, and more — using the same material in the format that helps you most. Summarize a recording. Ask questions about a PDF. Search handwritten notes. Find connections across different notes. Sometimes you want AI. Sometimes you just want a blank page. Notewise gives you both. ■ FOR WORK, STUDY & RESEARCH Use Notewise for meeting notes, lecture recording, handwritten and digital notes, voice notes, PDF annotation, research papers, brainstorming, and search across everything you save. On iOS 27, use Siri AI to create, edit, and find information in your notes, or Visual Intelligence to surface related content from what you see. Whether you’re building a company, studying for an exam, researching your next idea, or simply trying to remember what matters, Notewise gives your thinking one place to grow. ■ PRIVACY FIRST Notewise is built by a small, independent team. We don’t sell your data or show ads. Your notes are encrypted, secure, and under your control. ■ TRY NOTEWISE FREE Start with 10 free canvas notes and import your own slides and documents. Explore Notewise with a 7-day free trial, while core features remain free to use. Write. Record. Draw. Remember. Privacy Policy: https://www.notewise.dev/privacy-policy Terms & Conditions: https://www.notewise.dev/terms-conditions
StarNote
This app offers a realistic pen-on-paper handwriting experience on tablets with an infinite canvas for notes and sketches. It includes advanced layering, PDF annotation, and a robust organizer for efficient digital note-taking and planning.
- Realistic low-latency handwriting
- Infinite canvas for unlimited space
- Layered design for complex projects
- Deep PDF annotation and markup
- Robust file management and search
- Lifetime access with one-time purchase
- Free templates and digital assets
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StarNote is a clean and powerful note-taking app for handwriting, PDF annotation, study, work, and everyday planning. Write naturally with your stylus, organize notebooks, mark up PDFs, and keep all your ideas in one simple workspace. Built for students, professionals, and tablet users, StarNote helps you take class notes, review lecture slides, annotate documents, plan your day, and build a paperless study or work system. With smooth handwriting, flexible notebooks, PDF markup, and digital planning tools, StarNote makes it easy to capture ideas and stay organized. No monthly subscription. Choose a one-time purchase and enjoy a long-term note-taking tool without ongoing fees. Download StarNote and start building your digital notebook today.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Notewise at every 2 days against StarNote's every 2 weeks. Notewise also leads on monetization model (free with in-app purchases vs paid) and ratings volume (282 vs 94). StarNote's advantage is review sentiment (74% vs 53%) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). On price, rating, 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
Both are free to download. Notewise sells 16 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and StarNote sells 21 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Notewise against 4.6 for StarNote. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 282 and 94 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 53% of Notewise's written reviews are positive against 74% of StarNote's.
Notewise ships an update every 2 days, StarNote every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Notewise | StarNote |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (282 ratings) | 4.6 (94 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 53.3% of reviews | 74.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 282 — better | 94 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 days — better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 431 MB | 422 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ZIIKR | Onyx International Inc. |
Customer experience
Notewise
StarNote
Bugs and requests
Notewise
Reported bugs
18 issues- App crashes on every update
- Handwritten content randomly disappears
- Annotations vanishing intermittently
- Lasso selection tool malfunctions
- Text input fields not responding
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- App freezes when highlighting large areas with markers
- Handwriting input not registering
- Palm rejection issues causing unwanted marks
- Shape recognition failures
- Scribble-to-erase function unreliable
- PDF export causing app crashes
- Notes auto-deleting or getting corrupted
- Sync getting stuck mid-process
- Slow and delayed cross-device synchronization
- UI elements obscuring page content after 20+ minutes of use
- Copy-paste functionality limited and unreliable
- App performance degradation over time
- Glitchy behavior with shape drawing mode
Requested features
20 requests- Add layers feature for advanced editing
- Implement automatic zoom box that follows writing
- Add pencil, waterbrush, and crayon drawing tools
- Sticker marketplace or sticker customization
- Horizontal page flipping/swiping navigation
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- Ability to pause real-time syncing
- MacBook native app with full feature parity
- More shape customization (arcs for graphing)
- Improved text formatting and customization options
- Single page view mode (vertical and horizontal)
- Notebook organization beyond just pages
- Magnifying glass tool like GoodNotes
- More pen and pencil style options
- Line spacing customization for text
- PDF import from web/internet
- Printing functionality
- Audio recording and sharing capabilities
- Hyperlink support on desktop version
- Scroll locking to prevent accidental page movement
- Better shape recognition (arrows, parentheses)
StarNote
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Notewise
- Notewise Cloud Basic Monthly$4.991 Month
- Notewise Cloud Starter Monthly$6.991 Month
- Notewise Cloud Pro Monthly$15.991 Month
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- Notewise Cloud Basic Yearly$28.991 Year
- Notewise Cloud Starter Yearly7 Days trial$36.991 Year
- Notewise Cloud Pro Yearly7 Days trial$129.991 Year
- Notewise Marketplace Content$1.99
- Notewise Marketplace Content$2.99
- Notewise Marketplace Content$3.99
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- Notewise Marketplace Content$4.99
- Notewise Marketplace Content$5.99
- Notewise Marketplace Content$6.99
- Notewise Marketplace Content$7.99
- Notewise Marketplace Content$8.99
- Notewise Marketplace Content$9.99
- Notewise Unlimited$19.99
StarNote
- StarNote AI Trial$0.99
- Templates\Stickers$3.90
- Templates\Stickers$4.49
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- Templates\Stickers$4.79
- Templates\Stickers$5.00
- Templates\Stickers$5.79
- StarNote Lifetime PRO$5.99
- Templates\Stickers$6.69
- Templates\Stickers$6.79
- StarNote AI Plus$6.99
- Templates\Stickers$7.79
- Templates\Stickers$8.99
- Templates\Stickers$9.79
- Templates\Stickers$9.99
- Templates\Stickers$10.99
- Templates\Stickers$11.49
- Templates\Stickers$11.90
- Templates\Stickers$12.99
- StarNote AI Pro$22.99
- Templates\Stickers$38.90
- Templates\Stickers$42.90








