Comparison

Notebook vs Notes

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

Head to head
About

Notebook

Create, organize, and manage text notes with a rich editor and powerful search. Capture ideas, scan documents, and attach files. Features include AI content generation and Face ID protected content.

Highlights
  • Rich text editing
  • Folder organization
  • Customizable tags
  • Powerful search
  • Document scanning (OCR)
  • AI chatbot for content generation
  • Face ID protected content
Read full description

Our app is your all-in-one solution for creating, organizing, and managing text notes with ease. Effortlessly create and edit notes, organize them into folders, and sort everything using customizable tags. Favorite your most-used folders for instant access right from the main screen. Find any note quickly with powerful search by title or content. Capture ideas on the go or scan documents using built-in OCR technology. Edit your notes with a rich text editor supporting bold, italics, headings, lists, and quotes. Easily move, delete, or create new text blocks for flexible note structuring. Attach images, links, files, and scanned text directly into your notes. Enjoy privacy features like hidden content protected by Face ID.Our app also features an integrated AI chatbot to help generate content based on your notes. Access to all features requires a subscription, which you can cancel anytime via your device's subscription settings. This application contains auto-renewable subscriptions and In-App Purchases. 1 week, Weekly: $4.99 1 month, Monthly: $12.99 1 year, Yearly: $39.99 Lifetime: $59.99 Privacy Policy Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15nvT5fRS7fD0jBpBiiDUw7_AAUvIinyR3Gd3h54Wb2w/edit?tab=t.0 Terms of Use Link: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Notes

Capture thoughts, reminders, and ideas in a secure, private space. Notes save automatically as you type, with fast search and optional biometric locking for your peace of mind. Organize with color-coding and choose from classic or modern themes.

Highlights
  • Automatic saving as you type
  • Biometric note locking (Face ID/fingerprint)
  • Fast search across all notes
  • Color-coded organization
  • Lined paper mode
  • Modern and classic themes
Features
Read full description

Stop losing your notes. Simple Notepad gives you a reliable place to write thoughts, reminders, and ideas that save automatically and stay completely private. • One-tap note creation - Open the app and start typing immediately • Auto-save as you type - Never lose a single word, even if your phone dies • Fast search across all notes - Find anything by typing a few words • Lock notes with Face ID or fingerprint - Keep private thoughts secure • Color-coded organization - Pick from 12 colors to sort your notes • Lined paper mode - Write on ruled lines with a classic red margin Perfect for busy parents tracking kids' schedules, students organizing study notes, or anyone who needs to capture thoughts quickly. Whether you're jotting down a grocery list during lunch or writing meeting notes between calls, this notepad works the way paper should work - except you can search it later. Choose between Modern theme for a clean look or Classic theme for a warm, paper-like feel. View notes as colorful cards or a simple list. Drag to reorder, long-press to delete, or share text through your phone's built-in share menu. Your notes live only on your device. No accounts, no syncing, no cloud storage. Just a simple, private notebook that saves everything automatically and finds it instantly when you need it. The app gets out of your way so you can focus on what matters - getting thoughts out of your head and onto the page. No complicated features, no learning curve, no subscription fees. Download Simple Notepad and start writing notes that actually stick around. Your thoughts deserve a safe place to live.

Screenshots

Notebook4 screens
Notes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Notes at none against Notebook's 5. Notes also leads on rating (4.6 vs 4.1) and update cadence (weekly vs every 2 weeks). Notebook's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, ratings volume, device support and iOS requirement 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. Notebook sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days. Notes asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Notes holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 16 and 9 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Notebook ships an update every 2 weeks, Notes weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Notebook versus Notes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotebookNotes
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (16 ratings)4.6 (9 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings16 — better9
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationSubscriptionFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size91 MB31 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChristopher MartinStijn Aa

Customer experience

Notebook

All ratings11 ratings
Positive81.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative18.2%

Notes

All ratings9 ratings
Positive88.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative11.1%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Notebook

Subscriptions4
  • Weekly$4.997 Days
  • Weekly3 Days trial$4.997 Days
  • Monthly$12.991 Month
Show 1 more
  • Yearly$39.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$59.99
None

Notes

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Notebook free?
Notebook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Notes free?
Notes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Notebook or Notes?
Notes is rated higher. Notebook averages 4.1 out of 5 from 16 ratings, while Notes averages 4.6 from 9 ratings.
Do Notebook or Notes have ads?
Notes shows ads; Notebook does not.
Which is updated more often, Notebook or Notes?
Notebook ships an update every 2 weeks, and Notes weekly. Most recently, Notebook was updated on October 7, 2026 and Notes on October 3, 2026.

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