# JustNotes vs Notely

The clearest difference is rating: JustNotes at 5.0 against Notely's 4.4. Notely's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs monthly) and ratings volume (8 vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

JustNotes holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notely has 8 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

JustNotes ships an update monthly, Notely every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and November 9, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | JustNotes | Notely |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/justnotes-notetakingmarkup/id6751740392/reviews)** | [4.4 (8 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/notely-notes-and-pdf-app/id6760985471/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 1 | **8** |
| Positive reviews | — | 33.3% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Monthly | **Every 5 days** |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Size | 5 MB | 22 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18.5 | **17.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Neel Roy](https://appshunter.io/developer/1834533455) | [JUSTIN WEI SUN](https://appshunter.io/developer/1874016949) |

## What reviewers say

### JustNotes

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/justnotes-notetakingmarkup/id6751740392)

Create handwritten notes and annotate PDFs on your iPad with Apple Pencil. Organize your thoughts with folders and export them as PDFs or images. Enjoy a full-featured, offline notebook experience without ads or tracking.

**Highlights:** Handwritten notes with Apple Pencil, PDF import and annotation, Folder organization, Export as PDF or PNG, Offline functionality with autosave, Pinch-to-zoom and pan

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


### Notely

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/notely-notes-and-pdf-app/id6760985471)

This app offers a private and flexible digital notebook for handwriting, typed notes, and PDF annotation. Convert handwriting to editable text, draw with precision tools, and organize your work with folders and backups. Keep ideas accessible without an account or internet connection.

**Highlights:** Handwriting to editable text conversion, Precision drawing tools, PDF annotation and markup, Organized library with folders, On-device search, Portable backups

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is JustNotes free?

JustNotes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Notely free?

Notely is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, JustNotes or Notely?

JustNotes is rated higher. JustNotes averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Notely averages 4.4 from 8 ratings.

### Do JustNotes or Notely have ads?

Neither JustNotes nor Notely shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, JustNotes or Notely?

JustNotes ships an update monthly, and Notely every 5 days. Most recently, JustNotes was updated on October 30, 2026 and Notely on November 9, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*