# Notes Expert vs Lumen

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Lumen at none against Notes Expert's 2. Lumen also leads on iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.1). Notes Expert's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs every 2 weeks). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Notes Expert sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days. Lumen asks for nothing beyond the download.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Notes Expert against 5.0 for Lumen. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 4 respectively.

Notes Expert ships an update every 3 days, Lumen every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 16, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Notes Expert | Lumen |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [5.0 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/notes-expert/id6757088712/reviews) | [5.0 (4 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lumen-knowledge-browser/id6762682475/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 2 | **4** |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 3 days** | Every 2 weeks |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Free** |
| Size | 28 MB | 28 MB |
| Requires iOS | 26.1 | **18.0** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad** | iPhone |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | [Via Excelsior LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1896282294) | [Daniel Kosukhin](https://appshunter.io/developer/1852657475) |

## What reviewers say

### Notes Expert

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/notes-expert/id6757088712)

Capture, organize, and enhance your ideas with AI-powered note-taking. Record voice memos, get smart summaries, and improve text clarity. Securely sync across devices with end-to-end encryption.

**Highlights:** AI-powered summarization and enhancement, Voice recording and offline transcription, Rich text editing with formatting options, Folder and tag-based organization, End-to-end encrypted iCloud sync, Action item extraction

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Weekly Base Plan | $2.99 | per 7 days |
| Monthly Base Plan | $9.99 | per month |


### Lumen

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lumen-knowledge-browser/id6762682475)

This app acts as a browser that remembers what you read, building a personal knowledge base from engaged pages. It allows you to ask questions in plain English about your reading history, with answers generated by an on-device AI. All your data remains private and offline.

**Highlights:** On-device AI knowledge base, Plain English questioning, Automatic content organization, Private and offline browsing, Tracker blocking, Source citation for answers

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Notes Expert free?

Notes Expert is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Lumen free?

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

### Which has better reviews, Notes Expert or Lumen?

Notes Expert and Lumen are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 4 ratings respectively.

### Do Notes Expert or Lumen have ads?

Neither Notes Expert nor Lumen shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Notes Expert or Lumen?

Notes Expert ships an update every 3 days, and Lumen every 2 weeks. Most recently, Notes Expert was updated on September 16, 2026 and Lumen on September 28, 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.*