Comparison

StarNote vs Paws & Beans

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

Paws & Beans

Features
Read full description

Some timers shout at you. This one pours you a coffee. Paws & Beans is a Pomodoro focus timer wrapped in a tiny pixel cafe. You order a brew, the timer starts, and your dog settles down beside you until it is done. No streaks lost to a missed day, no red badges, nobody telling you that you are behind. Just a warm room, a lo-fi station, and something small to look after. HOW IT WORKS Pick a brew and start working. Espresso is 15 minutes, Cappuccino 25, Nitro 50, or set your own. Prefer to work until you stop? Bottomless counts up instead of down. Finish a brew and you earn coffee beans; spend them on decor, new breeds and treats for the dog. A CAFE THAT KEEPS YOUR HOURS The room follows your clock and your weather. Morning light, afternoon sun, lamps after dark. If it is raining where you are, it rains outside the window too. Snow, storms and clear skies all find their way in. SOUND TO WORK TO Six house tracks written for the app, plus a shelf of hand-picked lo-fi radio stations. All free, all licence-paying, and no ads anywhere. A small mixer lets you balance the music against the room. YOUR DOG Taco keeps you company while you work, naps through the long sessions, and looks pleased with himself when you finish. Feed him treats you have earned. Change his breed. He is not a productivity metric; he is a dog. WHAT YOU KEEP A coffee journal of every session, one day per page 35 badges for turning up, not for grinding Eight postcards from the dog's days off Rooms and decor you buy with focus, not money PRO, IF YOU WANT IT Everything above is free. Pro adds extra rooms, a second dog, and a wardrobe, as a monthly or lifetime purchase. The timer, the music, the journal and the badges are not behind it and never will be. SIGN IN IS OPTIONAL Play without an account for as long as you like. Sign in with Apple and your cafe backs up, so a new phone gets your cafe back exactly as you left it. Made by one person. No ads, no tracking, no streak guilt. — Paws & Beans Pro is available as a monthly auto-renewing subscription (US$1.99 per month) or as Lifetime, a single one-time purchase. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. The monthly subscription renews automatically unless it is cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period; your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours of the end of that period. You can manage or cancel it any time in your Apple Account settings. Lifetime is charged once and never renews. Terms of Use (EULA): https://pawsandbeans.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://pawsandbeans.app/privacy

Screenshots

StarNote4 screens
Paws & Beans4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Paws & Beans at every 4 days against StarNote's every 2 weeks. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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 Paws & Beans sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

StarNote ships an update every 2 weeks, Paws & Beans every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
StarNote versus Paws & Beans: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStarNotePaws & Beans
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (117 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews74.4% of reviews—
Number of ratings117 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size422 MB136 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperOnyx International Inc.Pharos Company

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
2 purchases

Paws & Beans

Subscriptions1
  • Paws Pro Monthly$1.991 Month
One-time1
  • Pro Lifetime$19.99

Questions

Is StarNote free?
StarNote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Paws & Beans free?
Paws & Beans is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do StarNote or Paws & Beans have ads?
Neither StarNote nor Paws & Beans shows ads.
Which is updated more often, StarNote or Paws & Beans?
StarNote ships an update every 2 weeks, and Paws & Beans every 4 days. Most recently, StarNote was updated on October 24, 2026 and Paws & Beans on October 14, 2026.

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