Comparison

Notes for iPad vs Notely

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

Head to head
About

Notes for iPad

Transform your iPad into a digital notebook with a natural writing experience using Apple Pencil. Organize your life with over 60 templates, add stickers, and sync across devices. Perfect for students, professionals, and creatives.

Highlights
  • Natural handwriting with Apple Pencil
  • 60+ professionally designed templates
  • Extensive sticker library and import options
  • Unlimited notebooks with custom covers
  • iCloud sync across devices
  • Export notes as PDF
Features
Read full description

Your perfect digital notebook. Notes for iPad Pencil Planner is a beautifully designed note-taking app that transforms your iPad into an endless paper canvas. Write naturally with Apple Pencil, plan your life with stunning templates, and organize everything in one place. Whether you're a student capturing lectures, a professional planning projects, or a creative sketching ideas — Notes for iPad is the essential tool to capture, organize, and bring your thoughts to life. YOUR ALL-IN-ONE DIGITAL NOTEBOOK • Write, sketch, and draw with realistic Apple Pencil support • Choose from multiple pen styles, colors, and thicknesses • Add typed text with customizable fonts and formatting • Mix handwriting with images and stickers seamlessly 60+ PROFESSIONALLY DESIGNED TEMPLATES • Daily planners and to-do lists to organize your day • Weekly and monthly calendars for long-term planning • Habit trackers to build better routines • Meal planners and grocery lists for healthy eating • Workout logs and fitness trackers to reach your goals • Budget sheets and expense trackers for financial control • Meeting notes and project planning templates • And many more — new templates added regularly STICKERS & PERSONALIZATION • 1000+ beautiful stickers to decorate your notes • Categories: productivity, wellness, celebrations, seasons • Import your own photos and custom stickers • Resize, rotate, and layer elements freely STAY ORGANIZED YOUR WAY • Create unlimited notebooks for different areas of life • Convenient sidebar for quick page navigation • Custom covers and colors for each notebook • Archive completed notebooks to keep things tidy SYNC & SHARE • iCloud sync keeps your notes updated across devices • Export any page or entire notebook as PDF • Share your notes via email, AirDrop, or any app DESIGNED FOR COMFORT • Beautiful dark mode for nighttime note-taking • Clean, distraction-free interface • Optimized specifically for iPad's large display • Smooth, lag-free performance Your ideas deserve a beautiful home. Notes for iPad combines the freedom of paper with the power of digital — giving you the perfect space to plan, create, and organize your life. Support: hello@britetodo.com Terms: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ A subscription or one-time purchase is required to access premium templates and features. Weekly, Yearly, and Lifetime Access options are available.

About

Notely

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
Read full description

Notely is a private, flexible notebook for handwriting, typed notes, PDFs, and visual thinking on iPad and iPhone. Write naturally, clean up a page when you choose, and keep your work available without an account or internet connection. TURN HANDWRITING INTO EDITABLE TEXT Tap the handwriting button to convert canvas writing fully on device. Matched pen and pencil strokes become fitted, editable text immediately in one undoable step. Unmatched ink stays on the page, and unreadable handwriting is never removed. You can also scan physical pages or import photos as typed text. DRAW WITH PRECISION Use pen, pencil, highlighter, eraser, lasso, shape recognition, and a resizable ruler. Zoom from a full-page overview into extreme detail while curves and typed text stay crisp. Pan with one finger when finger drawing is off. Apple Pencil pressure, hover, double tap, and squeeze are supported on compatible hardware, and smart Pencil gestures are customizable. REAL PAGES OR AN INFINITE CANVAS Add, duplicate, reorder, name, section, bookmark, and delete pages while ink, text, images, and sticky notes move together. Intentional blank pages stay in exports. Prefer open space? Switch to a seamless whiteboard instead. Imported PDF pages remain protected and navigation-only. FIND WHAT YOU WROTE Search titles, typed text, sticky notes, handwriting, images, and PDF text with a private on-device index. Results include highlighted context and page or source details. Unlocked note titles and typed text can also appear in system Spotlight; locked and trashed notes stay excluded. TEXT THAT STAYS TIDY Place and move text boxes with a finger or Apple Pencil. Text boxes fit their contents automatically instead of stretching across the page. Use headings, bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, lists, checklists, fonts, sizes, and colors. Resize a block manually whenever you want a fixed layout. ANNOTATE PDFS AND SCANS Import PDFs from Files and mark them up with the same drawing and text tools. Add images, scan physical pages, or recognize text from Photos. Export paged notes as PDF or as individual PNG pages. ORGANIZE A LARGE LIBRARY Use color-coded folders and subfolders, favorites, templates, trash recovery, modified/created/title sorting, grid or list layouts, and multi-select actions. Move, favorite, export, trash, restore, or permanently delete several notes together. New notes open as soon as they are created while the library updates in the background. MOVE BETWEEN IDEAS Keep several notes open, switch between them, close individual notes, or open another existing note without returning to the library. Copy, cut, and paste mixed lasso selections across open notes. Focus Mode hides the interface when you want only the page. PORTABLE, VALIDATED BACKUPS Back up one note, a selection, a folder, or the full library to a portable Notely archive, then restore it additively without overwriting existing notes. Attachments and archive contents are validated before restore. Locked notes are never placed into a portable backup unless you remove their lock first. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Notely works offline and stores notes locally on your device. There is no required account, cloud sync, analytics, or personal-data collection. Lock individual notes with Face ID or a password when you want another layer of privacy. MORE TO EXPLORE - Quick Note and Recent Notes actions in Shortcuts - A configurable Study Buddy widget with quick capture and recent unlocked notes - Drawing replay with speed and timeline controls - Per-orientation toolbar placement with a visible drag handle - A consistent light interface designed around paper and ink - Letter, A4, portrait, landscape, and paper-style defaults Apple Pencil, hover, squeeze, Face ID, camera scanning, Spotlight, and Shortcuts features require compatible hardware and system support.

Screenshots

Notely4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Notely at none against Notes for iPad's 6. Notely also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and update cadence (every 2 days vs every 2 weeks). Notes for iPad's advantage is ratings volume (99 vs 2). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Notes for iPad sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per 7 days. Notely asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Notely holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notes for iPad has 99 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Notes for iPad ships an update every 2 weeks, Notely every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and September 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Notes for iPad versus Notely: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotes for iPadNotely
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (99 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews40.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings99 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBrite TechnologiesJUSTIN WEI SUN

Customer experience

Notes for iPad

All ratings15 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive40.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative60.0%

Notely

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Notes for iPad

Subscriptions5
  • Notes for iPad - weekly$5.997 Days
  • Weekly Plus$7.997 Days
  • Monthly3 Days trial$17.991 Month
Show 2 more
  • Notes for iPad for a year3 Days trial$19.991 Year
  • Yearly3 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Premium$39.99
None

Notely

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Notes for iPad free?
Notes for iPad is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Notely free?
Notely is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Notes for iPad or Notely?
Notely is rated higher. Notes for iPad averages 4.6 out of 5 from 99 ratings, while Notely averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Notes for iPad or Notely have ads?
Neither Notes for iPad nor Notely shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Notes for iPad or Notely?
Notes for iPad ships an update every 2 weeks, and Notely every 2 days. Most recently, Notes for iPad was updated on October 1, 2026 and Notely on September 27, 2026.

Other comparisons