StarNote vs MathWrite Notes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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.
MathWrite Notes
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MathWrite Notes turns your handwritten maths into LaTeX. Write on the page as you always do, with Apple Pencil on iPad or on iPhone, and MathWrite converts each page into clean, structured LaTeX and compiles it into a typeset PDF. HOW IT WORKS • Write a page by hand. • At the end of the page, pull down and hold to add a new one. The page you leave behind turns into LaTeX on its own. • Open the LaTeX tab to see the source, or the PDF to see it typeset. On iPad in landscape, the source and the PDF sit side by side, and you can put your handwriting next to the PDF to compare them. A NOTEBOOK BUILT FOR MATHS • Blank, ruled, grid or dotted pages, in portrait or landscape. • Draw and hold: a stroke held still at its end becomes a perfect line, circle, rectangle, triangle or arrow. • The shapes tool places lines, arrows, axes and polygons with a single drag. • The graph pencil: write a function such as y = sin x and get its graph, drawn in ink you can move, resize and adjust. • Insert photos on the page. • Apple Pencil only mode, so your hand can rest on the screen, and a read-only mode for reviewing. • Folders, favourites, search and dark mode. LATEX THE WAY YOU WANT IT • Three styles: Classic, Tagged and Boxed. • Conversion settings: page layout, font size, margins, title and table of contents, equation numbering, what to do with diagrams, crossed-out work and margin notes, and whether photos are converted or inserted as images. • Your notes keep their own language, and theorem and proof headings follow it. • Every page is checked before it reaches you, and if a page would break your document, MathWrite repairs it so the PDF keeps compiling. YOUR PAPERS AND PDFS TOO • Scan pages with the camera, choose photos or import a PDF, and convert them to LaTeX. • Import a PDF from another notes app as a notebook and keep writing on top of it. SHARE AND EXPORT • Copy the LaTeX, share the .tex file, or open it in Overleaf in one tap. • Export the typeset PDF, or your handwriting as a PDF. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Your notebooks are stored on your device. Pages leave it only to be converted, and our server does not keep them. MATHWRITE PRO MathWrite Notes is free to download. Using it in full requires MathWrite Pro, an auto-renewable monthly or yearly subscription. Prices and terms are shown in the app before you buy. Payment is charged to your Apple Account. The subscription renews automatically unless it is cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel it in your Apple Account settings. Terms of Use: https://math-write-notes-backend.vercel.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://math-write-notes-backend.vercel.app/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: StarNote at 15.0 against MathWrite Notes's 18.6. 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
Both are free to download. StarNote sells 21 one-off in-app purchases and MathWrite Notes sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
StarNote ships an update every 2 weeks, MathWrite Notes monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | StarNote | MathWrite Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (94 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 74.4% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 94 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 422 MB | 45 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Onyx International Inc. | Andres Osorio Leyenda |
In-app purchases
StarNote
- StarNote AI Trial$0.99
- Templates\Stickers$3.90
- Templates\Stickers$4.49
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- 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
MathWrite Notes
- MathWriteNotes Monthly Subscription$9.991 Month
- MathWriteNotes Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$39.991 Year
Questions
Is StarNote free?
Is MathWrite Notes free?
Do StarNote or MathWrite Notes have ads?
Which is updated more often, StarNote or MathWrite Notes?
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