Comparison

Lecture Note Taker vs School Notes

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

Head to head
About

Lecture Note Taker

Transform audio, video, text, and images into organized notes with AI. Transcribe lectures, summarize videos, create flashcards, and generate essays. Streamline your study or work process for enhanced efficiency and productivity.

Highlights
  • AI-powered transcription
  • Video to text summarization
  • Flashcard generation
  • Quiz creation from notes
  • AI Chat for note comprehension
  • To-do list integration
  • Essay and outline generation
Features
Read full description

Note Genie is a note-taking app for students that turns lectures, recordings, PDFs, photos, and YouTube videos into organized, searchable notes. Record a class, meeting, or podcast and get an accurate transcript in minutes. Import a PDF, a photo of a whiteboard, or a YouTube link, and Note Genie turns it into clean, structured notes you can read, search, and edit. Study smarter with your notes - Ask questions in AI Chat and get answers pulled from your own notes - Generate flashcards from any note to review key facts before an exam - Build a quiz from your notes to test what you actually remember - Turn a note into an essay draft or outline when it's time to write Stay organized all term - Keep notes by class or subject and search across everything you've captured - Turn action items from a lecture into a to-do list with deadlines and reminders Getting started Record your first lecture or import a document, and Note Genie builds your notes right away. Core note-taking and transcription are available to try before you subscribe; a Pro plan with weekly, monthly, and yearly options unlocks unlimited AI chat, quizzes, flashcards, and essay generation. Privacy Policy: https://sites.google.com/view/notegenieai/privacy-policy Terms of Use (EULA): https://sites.google.com/view/notegenieai/eula

About

School Notes

This app offers a versatile note-taking experience for students and educators. It supports handwriting with Apple Pencil, PDF annotation, and typed text notes, all organized within color-coded classes. Notes can be synced via iCloud and exported in various formats.

Highlights
  • Handwrite with Apple Pencil
  • Annotate PDFs
  • Type text notes
  • Color-coded class organization
  • iCloud sync
  • Export notes as PDF or image
  • Batch export
Features
Read full description

School Notes was born in the classroom. As a teacher, I needed a simple, reliable way for staff and students in my district to take notes, annotate handouts, and stay organized — without the complexity (or cost) of apps that try to do everything. I built SchoolNotes to solve that problem, and now I'm sharing it with educators and students everywhere. Three ways to take notes, one place to keep them: • Handwrite with Apple Pencil — A full drawing canvas with multi-page support, zoom, and all the tools you'd expect from PencilKit. Great for math, science diagrams, or just jotting things down. • Annotate PDFs — Import worksheets, handouts, or articles and draw right on top of them. Grab PDFs from Files, Safari, or any app using the built-in Share Extension. • Type text notes — For outlines, study guides, or anything that's faster on a keyboard. Stay organized with Classes: Create color-coded classes that match your schedule. Assign notes to one or more classes, drag to reorder, and find what you need fast with search and flexible sorting. Switch between list and grid views to browse your notes the way you prefer. Sync across your iPads with iCloud: Turn on iCloud sync and your notes follow you between devices. Works with personal Apple IDs — and if your school uses managed Apple IDs, SchoolNotes works great offline too. Share your work: Export any note as a PDF or image. Need everything at once? Batch-export your entire notebook with a single tap. Features at a glance: ◦ Apple Pencil drawing with full tool picker ◦ Multi-page drawing notes ◦ PDF import and annotation ◦ Text notes ◦ Color-coded class organization ◦ Assign notes to multiple classes ◦ Favorites for quick access ◦ Search across all notes ◦ Sort by date modified, date created, or title ◦ List and grid views ◦ Export as PDF or image ◦ Batch export all notes ◦ Share Extension for quick PDF import ◦ Optional iCloud sync ◦ No account required — your data stays on your device ◦ No ads. No subscriptions. Just notes. School Notes is free to use with all features included. If you find it helpful, there's an optional tip jar in Settings to support continued development. I'd love to hear how you're using School Notes in your classroom. Feedback and feature requests are always welcome!

Screenshots

Lecture Note Taker4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Lecture Note Taker at 5.0 against School Notes's 1.0. Lecture Note Taker also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.6). School Notes's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 3 weeks) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). On price, ratings volume, 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. Lecture Note Taker sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days and School Notes sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Lecture Note Taker holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 1.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Lecture Note Taker ships an update every 3 weeks, School Notes every 2 days. Both last shipped on October 28, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 4 level
Lecture Note Taker versus School Notes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLecture Note TakerSchool Notes
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better1.0 (1 ratings)
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size66 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlgoSoft Technologies LimitedBrian Foutty

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Lecture Note Taker

Subscriptions3
  • Weekly Subscription$4.997 Days
  • Pro Monthly$9.991 Month
  • Pro Yearly3 Days trial$39.991 Year
4 purchases

School Notes

One-time4
  • Small Cup of Coffee$0.99
  • Medium Cup of Coffee$1.99
  • Large Cup of Coffee$3.99
Show 1 more
  • Bag of Coffee$19.99

Questions

Is Lecture Note Taker free?
Lecture Note Taker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is School Notes free?
School Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Lecture Note Taker or School Notes?
Lecture Note Taker is rated higher. Lecture Note Taker averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while School Notes averages 1.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Lecture Note Taker or School Notes have ads?
Neither Lecture Note Taker nor School Notes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Lecture Note Taker or School Notes?
Lecture Note Taker ships an update every 3 weeks, and School Notes every 2 days. Most recently, Lecture Note Taker was updated on October 28, 2026 and School Notes on October 28, 2026.

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