Comparison

Notal Pro vs PlainPDF

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

Head to head
About

Notal Pro

Features
Read full description

Notal Pro is a fast and elegant note-taking app designed for writing, organization, and powerful tables. Capture ideas quickly, structure your notes with rich text, and work with smart tables that feel natural inside your documents. Write without distractions, organize everything in one place, and turn simple notes into more useful workspaces with formulas, autosums, and integrated tables. Main Features: • Rich text notes with clean formatting • Integrated tables inside your notes • Automatic lists using ā€œ-ā€, ā€œ*ā€, ā€œ1.ā€ and ā€œ@ā€ • Pin notes instantly and keep them organized • Light and dark mode • Automatic iCloud sync • Minimal and modern interface • iPhone and iPad support Pro Features: • Advanced formulas in tables • Autosums and extra table operations • Enhanced formatting tools • Improved table workflows on iPad • Additional Pro improvements over time Notal Pro is a clean space to think, write, calculate, and stay organized. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

PlainPDF

Features
Read full description

Scan, fill in, sign, annotate and compress PDFs. Every tool is free, with no watermarks, no account and no subscription. Your files are processed on your device and never uploaded. SCAN • Scan documents with automatic edge detection • Crisp black & white mode for text, plus colour and greyscale • ID cards: put the front and back on one page at real card size • Get a file name suggested from the page, like "Electricity Bill Oct 2026" • Make scans searchable with on-device text recognition FILL, SIGN & ANNOTATE • Fill in PDF forms: type straight into the fields, or fill them in one tap from My details • Sign PDFs: draw or type your signature, add the date, text and ticks • Highlight, underline and strike out text, draw with a pen or marker, and add notes • Organize pages: reorder, rotate, delete, duplicate, insert and extract • Add watermarks like CONFIDENTIAL or COPY, and page numbers CONVERT • Merge PDFs and photos into one file • Split PDFs by page, by range or every few pages • Compress PDFs for email and upload limits, or set a target size like "under 2 MB" • Turn photos into PDFs with A4, Letter or fit-to-photo pages • Copy text from any scan or photo PDF • Extract images from PDFs, or save pages as images PRIVACY & SECURITY • Redact: find emails, phone numbers, card, bank and ID numbers, and black them out for good before you share • Add a password to a PDF, or remove a password you know QR CODES THAT NEVER EXPIRE • Create QR codes for links, Wi-Fi, contacts, email, phone, SMS, UPI payments and locations • The information is stored in the code itself, so it keeps working without any server • Every code is tested before you save it • Scan QR codes and see where a link really goes before opening it WORKS THE WAY YOU DO • Files app and "Open in PlainPDF" from Mail, Messages and other apps • Designed for iPhone and iPad, in light and dark mode • In English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Italian and Japanese FREE, HONESTLY Every tool is free with ads. PlainPDF Pro is a one-time purchase that removes ads, adds batch processing for many files at once, and unlimited text recognition on large documents. No subscription, ever. No account. Your files never leave your device. Questions or ideas: hello@smileappsstudio.com

Screenshots

Notal Pro4 screens
PlainPDF4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Notal Pro at none against PlainPDF's shown. PlainPDF's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 5 months) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. Notal Pro sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and PlainPDF sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Notal Pro ships an update every 5 months, PlainPDF every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences Ā· 3 level
Notal Pro versus PlainPDF: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotal ProPlainPDF
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSamuel MolinaSwaminathan L

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Notal Pro

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Subscription$2.991 Month
  • Yearly Subscription$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Notal Pro Lifetime$24.99
1 purchases

PlainPDF

One-time1
  • PlainPDF Pro$4.99

Questions

Is Notal Pro free?
Notal Pro is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PlainPDF free?
PlainPDF is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Notal Pro or PlainPDF have ads?
PlainPDF shows ads; Notal Pro does not.
Which is updated more often, Notal Pro or PlainPDF?
Notal Pro ships an update every 5 months, and PlainPDF every 2 months. Most recently, Notal Pro was updated on October 28, 2026 and PlainPDF on October 25, 2026.

Other comparisons