Comparison

ForNote vs Noteleaf

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

Head to head
About

ForNote

Features
Read full description

The notebook that turns Apple Pencil strokes into searchable, organized handwritten notes. ForNote is a native iPad and iPhone notes app for handwriting, sketching, and annotating PDFs. Draw with Apple Pencil, organize notebooks in nested folders, drop a photo or PDF as a page background, and find any handwritten word from Spotlight. HAND-DRAWN PAGES โ€ข Draw with Apple Pencil on iPad, or with your finger on iPhone โ€ข Pen, marker, eraser, and lasso with a full color picker โ€ข Native page-curl animation between pages โ€ข Pinch to zoom up to 5ร— โ€ข Floating tool palette you can drag anywhere on screen FOLDERS & ORGANIZATION โ€ข Nest folders inside folders โ€” Files-style hierarchy โ€ข Drag and drop notebooks and folders between locations โ€ข Spring-load on the back arrow to navigate while dragging โ€ข Select multiple items at once โ€ข Bulk export, move, or delete in a single action PAGE BACKGROUNDS โ€ข Drop a photo as a background and annotate over it โ€ข Import a PDF โ€” every page becomes a notebook page you can write on โ€ข Scan a document with the camera and turn it into pages instantly โ€ข Annotate every imported page with Apple Pencil SPOTLIGHT SEARCH โ€ข Vision OCR runs in the background on every page you draw on โ€ข Search for any handwritten word from Spotlight on your device โ€ข Tap a result to jump straight to the exact page โ€ข Turkish and English recognition out of the box STATISTICS โ€ข Track your writing streak across notebooks, pages, and folders โ€ข Library overview with item counts โ€ข Content breakdown of OCR-indexed and image-backed pages โ€ข Everything stays on-device LIQUID GLASS DESIGN Every card, sheet, and toolbar uses iOS 26's stunning Liquid Glass material. The whole app is built with native SwiftUI โ€” no custom chrome, just the system you already know from Notes, Files, and Reminders. FORNOTE PLUS โ€” TRY FREE โ€ข Unlimited notebooks โ€ข Unlimited PDF imports โ€ข Photos, PDF, and document scanner page backgrounds inside the editor โ€ข Detailed writing statistics Start a free trial today. Cancel anytime. Built for students, researchers, planners, and anyone who thinks better with a pen. Available in 3 languages: English, Turkish, and Simplified Chinese. โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€” Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://cagandurgun.com/fornoteprivacy

About

Noteleaf

Features
Read full description

Noteleaf is a handwriting notebook that feels like real looseleaf paper. Write freely with Apple Pencil, rearrange pages, choose from templates, and make it your own. โ–  Key Features Looseleaf Feel Pages can be reordered freely, just like real looseleaf paper. Move, insert, or remove pages to organize your notes the way you want. Handwriting with Apple Pencil Write naturally with Apple Pencil. Supports Scribble. Turn on Apple Pencil-Only Mode in Settings to prevent accidental palm touches. Ruler Tool Draw perfectly straight lines at any angle using the on-screen ruler โ€” no physical ruler needed. 10 Page Templates Choose from blank, lined, wide-ruled, grid, dot grid, Cornell, and more. Mix templates freely within a single notebook. 16 Leather Cover Colors Personalize each notebook with a color that suits you โ€” 16 rich leather-style covers to choose from. PDF Export Export any notebook as a PDF to share or archive your notes. Notebook Sharing Share notebooks with others in the app's native format. โ–  One-Time Purchase Noteleaf is free to download. One in-app purchase unlocks: ใƒป Unlimited notebooks (free tier: 1 notebook) ใƒป PDF export ใƒป Notebook sharing All handwriting features are available for free. No subscription. No account required.

Screenshots

ForNote4 screens
Noteleaf4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Noteleaf at every 6 days against ForNote's every 11 months. Noteleaf also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. ForNote sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and Noteleaf sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ForNote ships an update every 11 months, Noteleaf every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences ยท 4 level
ForNote versus Noteleaf: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterForNoteNoteleaf
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 11 monthsEvery 6 days โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.017.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size2 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCAGAN DURGUNmasafumi matsumoto

In-app purchases

2 purchases

ForNote

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$0.991 Month
  • Yearly$9.991 Year
1 purchases

Noteleaf

One-time1
  • Premium Unlock$9.99

Questions

Is ForNote free?
ForNote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Noteleaf free?
Noteleaf is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do ForNote or Noteleaf have ads?
Neither ForNote nor Noteleaf shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ForNote or Noteleaf?
ForNote ships an update every 11 months, and Noteleaf every 6 days. Most recently, ForNote was updated on September 19, 2026 and Noteleaf on October 5, 2026.

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