# AI Notebook vs FocusModes

The clearest difference is ads: FocusModes at none against AI Notebook's shown. AI Notebook's advantage is update cadence (every 9 days vs every 3 weeks) and device support (5 vs 1). On price and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. AI Notebook sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per 7 days and FocusModes sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

AI Notebook ships an update every 9 days, FocusModes every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | AI Notebook | FocusModes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.6 (193 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ai-notebook-smart-note-taker/id6737346766/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **193** | — |
| Positive reviews | 45.6% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | **Every 9 days** | Every 3 weeks |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Size | 127 MB | 3 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.0** | 26.4 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple Watch** | iPhone |
| Age rating | +4 | 4+ |
| Developer | [APTE Ltd](https://appshunter.io/developer/1675202009) | [Scott Munning](https://appshunter.io/developer/1887664914) |

## What reviewers say

### AI Notebook

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ai-notebook-smart-note-taker/id6737346766)

Transform your notes into actionable content. Record lectures, upload documents, or link web content to generate summaries, quizzes, and even podcasts. Ask AI questions about your materials to deepen understanding and create study guides or meeting minutes.

**Highlights:** Summarize documents, PDFs, videos, and web pages, Chat with your content to clarify concepts, Record and transcribe audio with speaker identification, Generate podcasts, infographics, and slides, Create study guides, quizzes, and flashcards, Organize notes with folders and search functionality

**Features:** Apple Watch app, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (10)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Weekly | $9.99 | per 7 days |
| Yearly | $39.99 | per year |
| Yearly | $69.99 | per year |
| Yearly Premium | $89.99 | per year |
| Yearly | $119.99 | per year |
| 10 Credits | $4.99 | one-time |
| 25 Credits | $9.99 | one-time |
| 55 Credits | $19.99 | one-time |
| 150 Credits | $49.99 | one-time |
| Lifetime Premium | $99.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Good
- 👍 Effectively helped with course notes transcription
- 👍 Provides good summarization function
- 👍 Useful software
- 👍 Great note-taking tool

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 AI unable to align with real-time
- 🐛 Generates nonsensical content
- 🐛 Recording and analysis not working
- 🐛 Sync issues between devices
- 🐛 Paid version has less functionality than free version

**Reported bugs**

- Recording not working
- Summarization not working
- Frequent crashes
- Incompatible with older devices

**Requested features**

- Ability to load files and images
- Cross-platform support (Mac, Web)
- Improved language support (multilingual)


### FocusModes

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/focusmodes/id6761077977)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 7-day Trial | Free | one-time |
| Unlock FocusModes | $9.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is AI Notebook free?

AI Notebook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is FocusModes free?

FocusModes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Do AI Notebook or FocusModes have ads?

AI Notebook shows ads; FocusModes does not.

### Which is updated more often, AI Notebook or FocusModes?

AI Notebook ships an update every 9 days, and FocusModes every 3 weeks. Most recently, AI Notebook was updated on November 5, 2026 and FocusModes on October 31, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*