Comparison

Gemini Notebook 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

Gemini Notebook

Transform complex information into clear insights with this AI-powered notebook. Upload documents, websites, or videos to generate summaries, ask questions, and listen to audio overviews on the go. Ideal for students, professionals, and creators seeking efficient learning and productivity.

Highlights
  • Upload PDFs, websites, and videos
  • AI-powered summarization and insights
  • Ask questions about uploaded content
  • Podcast-style audio overviews
  • Offline access for audio
  • Background playback for audio
Read full description

Turn complexity into clarity with Gemini Notebook, your brain’s new best friend. Join the millions of students, creators, researchers, professionals, CEOs, and more who are saving time, getting stuff done, and learning in new ways. “One of the most compelling and completely flabbergasting demonstrations of AI’s potential yet.” – The Wall Street Journal Now, with the Gemini Notebook app, you can create and access notebooks, ask questions whenever you think of them, and listen to your podcast-style Audio Overviews on the go with background playback and offline support. UPLOAD SOURCES Upload all your long and complex PDFs, websites, YouTube videos, or text into a notebook. INSIGHTS YOU CAN TRUST Gemini Notebook becomes an expert on your sources, summarizing them and making interesting connections. Then, you can ask it questions about, well, anything — and you can trust the answers, since your sources are cited in-line. LEARN YOUR OWN WAY Long blocks of text not your preferred way to learn? Transform what you uploaded into something more your speed, like a podcast-style audio discussion with two engaging AI hosts. You can even join the show to ask questions or steer the conversation in a different direction.

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

Gemini Notebook4 screens
Handwriting Scan4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Gemini Notebook at 65K against Handwriting Scan's 1. Gemini Notebook also leads on chart position (#47 vs unranked). Handwriting Scan's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 78%) and update cadence (every 3 days vs weekly). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Gemini Notebook sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month 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

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Gemini Notebook against 5.0 for Handwriting Scan. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Gemini Notebook has 65K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 78% of Gemini Notebook's written reviews are positive against 100% of Handwriting Scan's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Gemini Notebook ships an update weekly, Handwriting Scan every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 15, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Gemini Notebook versus Handwriting Scan: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGemini NotebookHandwriting Scan
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (65K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews77.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings65K — better1
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
Best chart rank#47 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size216 MB71 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperGoogleKodai Hiradate

Customer experience

Gemini Notebook

All ratings65,100 ratings
Positive96.9%
Neutral1.2%
Negative1.9%
Written reviews2,569 reviews
Positive77.7%
Neutral6.3%
Negative15.9%

Handwriting Scan

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

Bugs and requests

Gemini Notebook

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Audio coming through earpiece instead of speaker
  • Interactive features not working properly

Requested features

3 requests
  • Ability to curate audio summaries
  • Sync saved notes from web version
  • Add mind maps, study guides, and other advanced features

Handwriting Scan

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Gemini Notebook

Subscriptions7
  • 100 GB$1.991 Month
  • Google AI Plus (400 GB)2 variants$4.991 Month
  • Google AI Plus (400 GB)1 Month trial$4.991 Month
Show 4 more
  • Google AI Plus (2 TB)$9.991 Month
  • Google AI Pro (5 TB)2 variants$19.991 Month
  • Google AI Pro (5 TB)1 Month trial2 variants$19.991 Month
  • Google AI Plus (400 GB)$49.991 Year
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 Gemini Notebook free?
Gemini Notebook 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, Gemini Notebook or Handwriting Scan?
Handwriting Scan is rated higher. Gemini Notebook averages 4.9 out of 5 from 65K ratings, while Handwriting Scan averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Gemini Notebook or Handwriting Scan have ads?
Neither Gemini Notebook nor Handwriting Scan shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Gemini Notebook or Handwriting Scan?
Gemini Notebook ships an update weekly, and Handwriting Scan every 3 days. Most recently, Gemini Notebook was updated on November 15, 2026 and Handwriting Scan on October 30, 2026.

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