Comparison

Handwriting Scan vs HandNote

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

Head to head
About

Handwriting Scan

Digitize handwritten notes and paper memos, converting them into searchable text. Organize, review, and share your captured information easily. Extract to-do lists and sync them with your reminders.

Highlights
  • OCR for handwritten notes
  • Searchable text notes
  • Markdown export
  • iCloud support
  • Task extraction and management
  • Sync with Apple Reminders
Features
Read full description

WriteScan helps you capture handwritten notes and paper memos, turn them into searchable text, and keep them organized. It keeps the freedom of writing on paper while making your notes easier to find, review, and share later. Main Features - Capture notebooks and journals with your camera and convert them to text with OCR - Save each page with both the original image and recognized text - Search past notes by keyword - Copy and share notes in Markdown format - iCloud support: data is stored on your device and in iCloud - Scan multiple pages in a single flow - Extract handwritten TODO lists and manage them as tasks - Organize detected tasks by parent groups - Sync tasks with Apple Reminders - Optionally save captured images to your photo library Perfect for - Digitally managing notebooks and journals - Quickly capturing shopping lists and ideas - Reviewing meeting notes or study notes later - Turning paper TODO lists into a task list - Archiving past notebooks for future reference Privacy & Security Your data is stored on your device and in iCloud. Text recognition uses an external AI service, but submitted data is never used for training. Terms of Use & Privacy Policy Terms of Use: https://writescan.app/en/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://writescan.app/en/privacy/

About

HandNote

Features
Read full description

Turn photos of your handwritten pages into clear, editable notes. HandNote keeps each original page next to its text on your device, so you can check the handwriting at any time instead of typing everything again. • Current recognition supports handwriting written with the Latin alphabet. • Recognize a handwritten page for free and add up to 10 pages to one note. • While you review, words that may need checking are highlighted. • Corrections you make are remembered and applied automatically next time. • Saved notes keep the original photo next to the text, stored on your device. • Notes are grouped by date — today, this week, earlier — and you can sort them into notebooks. • Copy or share the text, share a designed image card with or without the original page, or save the card to Photos. • Export all your notes at once as a zip with text files and the original photos. • Your first AI organization is free: see the outline, key points, summary and study cards for one of your own notes. • Premium keeps organizing every page after that and adds PDF, Markdown or plain-text file export. How it works: 1. Photograph a handwritten page or choose one from your photo library, then add more pages if you need them. 2. Check the highlighted words and correct anything the recognition got wrong. 3. Save the note with its original page, share it as text or an image card, and organize it with AI — the first time is free. The app is free to download. Recognition, review, editing, saving with the original photo, multi-page notes, correction memory, notebooks, copying, sharing text and image cards, and exporting all notes as a zip are available without upgrading, and your first AI organization is free. HandNote Premium only adds AI organization after that (outline, key points, summary and study cards) and PDF, Markdown or plain-text file export, through an auto-renewing weekly subscription or a permanent purchase. Important: Handwriting recognition and AI-organized content may contain errors. Always check important information against the original page. Apple Standard Terms: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://handnote.skybringup.com/privacy/

Screenshots

Handwriting Scan4 screens
HandNote4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Handwriting Scan at every 3 days against HandNote's monthly. HandNote's advantage is iOS requirement (15.5 vs 17.0). 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. Handwriting Scan sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and HandNote sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Handwriting Scan ships an update every 3 days, HandNote monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and November 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Handwriting Scan versus HandNote: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHandwriting ScanHandNote
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.5 — better
Further details — not scored
Size71 MB72 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKodai Hiradateskybringup

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Handwriting Scan

Subscriptions2
  • Pro plan(monthly)$3.991 Month
  • Pro plan (Annual)1 Year trial$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • 20-Scan Add-on Pack$0.49
2 purchases

HandNote

Subscriptions1
  • Weekly Premium$1.997 Days
One-time1
  • Lifetime Premium$6.99

Questions

Is Handwriting Scan free?
Handwriting Scan is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is HandNote free?
HandNote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Handwriting Scan or HandNote have ads?
Neither Handwriting Scan nor HandNote shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Handwriting Scan or HandNote?
Handwriting Scan ships an update every 3 days, and HandNote monthly. Most recently, Handwriting Scan was updated on October 30, 2026 and HandNote on November 9, 2026.

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