Comparison

StarNote vs BindNotes

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

Head to head
About

StarNote

This app offers a realistic pen-on-paper handwriting experience on tablets with an infinite canvas for notes and sketches. It includes advanced layering, PDF annotation, and a robust organizer for efficient digital note-taking and planning.

Highlights
  • Realistic low-latency handwriting
  • Infinite canvas for unlimited space
  • Layered design for complex projects
  • Deep PDF annotation and markup
  • Robust file management and search
  • Lifetime access with one-time purchase
  • Free templates and digital assets
Read full description

StarNote is a clean and powerful note-taking app for handwriting, PDF annotation, study, work, and everyday planning. Write naturally with your stylus, organize notebooks, mark up PDFs, and keep all your ideas in one simple workspace. Built for students, professionals, and tablet users, StarNote helps you take class notes, review lecture slides, annotate documents, plan your day, and build a paperless study or work system. With smooth handwriting, flexible notebooks, PDF markup, and digital planning tools, StarNote makes it easy to capture ideas and stay organized. No monthly subscription. Choose a one-time purchase and enjoy a long-term note-taking tool without ongoing fees. Download StarNote and start building your digital notebook today.

About

BindNotes

Features
Read full description

Your notes. Linked. Notes shouldn't be limited by the size of a page. But linear pages and infinite canvas aren't the answer — you just get lost. BindNotes takes a different approach: go infinitely deep, not infinitely long. Lasso any handwriting with Apple Pencil, link it to another page, and tap to jump. Pages give you focus. Links give you depth. Your notes become a connected network of ideas — not a stack of dead-end pages. BindNotes is a notebook app built for Apple Pencil. Write, sketch, and draw like any notebook — then connect your pages. Headers & Outline Assign header levels (H1–H5) to any page. Headers build a navigable outline for your notebook — tap to see the full structure, drill into sections, jump to any page. Color-coded by level so you can see hierarchy at a glance. Links let you follow a thought. Headers let you see the shape of your notebook. Together, they turn a stack of pages into a system. Page Overview See every page connection in your notebook as a visual graph. Arrows show which pages link where. Spot structure, find orphaned pages, navigate by tapping. PDF Annotation (Pro) Import any PDF into a notebook. Annotate with pen, highlighter, and lasso. The highlighter lifts actual pixels from the PDF — highlighted content becomes a visual element you can work with. Add headers to organize the PDF. Create links between pages. Turn a static document into something navigable. PDF Export (Pro) Export your notebook as a PDF. Links become clickable cross-references. An outline page is auto-generated. Your handwritten notebook exports like a professional document. Sync with iCloud Drive Notebooks sync across iPhone, iPad, and Mac via iCloud Drive. No account. No server. You control where your data lives. Free — No Limits on Note-Taking Everything you need to write, draw, and link is free: • Unlimited notebooks and pages • All drawing tools — pen, highlighter, eraser, lasso • Page-to-page linking • Headers and outline navigation • Page overview (link graph) • iCloud Drive sync • 5 page templates (blank, ruled, graph, dots) BindNotes Pro — One-Time Purchase Unlock tools for serious workflows. No subscription. Buy once, own forever. • PDF import and annotation • PDF export with clickable links and bookmarks • Tags for notebook organization • Dark page templates • Full link and header color palettes Your notes stay on your device. We collect no data. No analytics. No tracking. No server. Your notebooks are stored locally or in your iCloud Drive — nowhere else. See our privacy policy at bindnotes.com/privacy.

Screenshots

StarNote4 screens
BindNotes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: StarNote at 15.0 against BindNotes's 26.0. On price, update cadence, 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. StarNote sells 21 one-off in-app purchases and BindNotes sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

StarNote ships an update every 2 weeks, BindNotes every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on October 25, 2026.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
StarNote versus BindNotes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStarNoteBindNotes
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (117 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews74.4% of reviews—
Number of ratings117 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size422 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperOnyx International Inc.Evgenii Eremeev

In-app purchases

21 purchases

StarNote

One-time21
  • StarNote AI Trial$0.99
  • Templates\Stickers$3.90
  • Templates\Stickers$4.49
Show 18 more
  • Templates\Stickers$4.79
  • Templates\Stickers$5.00
  • Templates\Stickers$5.79
  • StarNote Lifetime PRO$5.99
  • Templates\Stickers$6.69
  • Templates\Stickers$6.79
  • StarNote AI Plus$6.99
  • Templates\Stickers$7.79
  • Templates\Stickers$8.99
  • Templates\Stickers$9.79
  • Templates\Stickers$9.99
  • Templates\Stickers$10.99
  • Templates\Stickers$11.49
  • Templates\Stickers$11.90
  • Templates\Stickers$12.99
  • StarNote AI Pro$22.99
  • Templates\Stickers$38.90
  • Templates\Stickers$42.90
1 purchases

BindNotes

One-time1
  • BindNotes Pro$2.99

Questions

Is StarNote free?
StarNote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is BindNotes free?
BindNotes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do StarNote or BindNotes have ads?
Neither StarNote nor BindNotes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, StarNote or BindNotes?
StarNote ships an update every 2 weeks, and BindNotes every 3 weeks. Most recently, StarNote was updated on October 25, 2026 and BindNotes on October 25, 2026.

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