Comparison

Simplify Notes vs BindNotes

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

Head to head
About

Simplify Notes

Capture and organize handwritten notes, notebooks, and PDFs in one place. Create unlimited notebooks, draw naturally with Apple Pencil, and import PDFs to study, plan, or research. Reduce clutter and enhance focus with a calm, organized system.

Highlights
  • Unlimited notebooks
  • Natural handwriting and drawing
  • Apple Pencil support
  • PDF import and annotation
  • Folder organization
  • Add images and tags
  • Quick search and PDF export
Features
Read full description

CAPTURE EVERY IDEA. ORGANIZE EVERY SUBJECT. Simplify Notes brings handwritten notes, notebooks and PDFs together in one calm, organized place. Write naturally with Apple Pencil, create notebooks for every subject, organize your work into folders and keep important ideas easy to find. Whether you’re studying for an exam, attending a lecture or planning a personal project, everything stays clear and connected. BUILT FOR THE WAY YOU STUDY • Create unlimited notebooks • Write and draw naturally • Use Apple Pencil on iPad • Import and work with PDFs • Organize notebooks into folders • Add images to your notes • Mark important content with tags and favorites • Search and find notes quickly • Export your work as PDF • Choose from multiple paper formats • Keep courses, projects and ideas together LESS CLUTTER. MORE FOCUS. Simplify Notes helps you reduce the mental load of scattered files, loose pages and disconnected ideas. Give every course, subject or project its own place, so you can focus on learning instead of searching. PERFECT FOR • College and university students • Lecture and class notes • Exam preparation • Research and assignments • Engineering and MBA studies • Personal projects • Everyday ideas and planning No account required. No subscription. Just open the app and start writing. Your ideas deserve a place you’ll actually remember.

About

BindNotes

Features
Read full description

Your notes. Linked. Notes shouldn't be limited by the size of a page. But linear pages and infinite canvas aren't the answer — you just get lost. BindNotes takes a different approach: go infinitely deep, not infinitely long. Lasso any handwriting with Apple Pencil, link it to another page, and tap to jump. Pages give you focus. Links give you depth. Your notes become a connected network of ideas — not a stack of dead-end pages. BindNotes is a notebook app built for Apple Pencil. Write, sketch, and draw like any notebook — then connect your pages. Headers & Outline Assign header levels (H1–H5) to any page. Headers build a navigable outline for your notebook — tap to see the full structure, drill into sections, jump to any page. Color-coded by level so you can see hierarchy at a glance. Links let you follow a thought. Headers let you see the shape of your notebook. Together, they turn a stack of pages into a system. Page Overview See every page connection in your notebook as a visual graph. Arrows show which pages link where. Spot structure, find orphaned pages, navigate by tapping. PDF Annotation (Pro) Import any PDF into a notebook. Annotate with pen, highlighter, and lasso. The highlighter lifts actual pixels from the PDF — highlighted content becomes a visual element you can work with. Add headers to organize the PDF. Create links between pages. Turn a static document into something navigable. PDF Export (Pro) Export your notebook as a PDF. Links become clickable cross-references. An outline page is auto-generated. Your handwritten notebook exports like a professional document. Sync with iCloud Drive Notebooks sync across iPhone, iPad, and Mac via iCloud Drive. No account. No server. You control where your data lives. Free — No Limits on Note-Taking Everything you need to write, draw, and link is free: • Unlimited notebooks and pages • All drawing tools — pen, highlighter, eraser, lasso • Page-to-page linking • Headers and outline navigation • Page overview (link graph) • iCloud Drive sync • 5 page templates (blank, ruled, graph, dots) BindNotes Pro — One-Time Purchase Unlock tools for serious workflows. No subscription. Buy once, own forever. • PDF import and annotation • PDF export with clickable links and bookmarks • Tags for notebook organization • Dark page templates • Full link and header color palettes Your notes stay on your device. We collect no data. No analytics. No tracking. No server. Your notebooks are stored locally or in your iCloud Drive — nowhere else. See our privacy policy at bindnotes.com/privacy.

Screenshots

Simplify Notes2 screens
BindNotes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Simplify Notes at none against BindNotes's 1. Simplify Notes also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). BindNotes's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price 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. BindNotes sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Simplify Notes asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Simplify Notes ships an update weekly, BindNotes every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on September 30, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 5 level
Simplify Notes versus BindNotes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSimplify NotesBindNotes
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationAd-supported—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMario GuzmanEvgenii Eremeev

In-app purchases

None

Simplify Notes

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

BindNotes

One-time1
  • BindNotes Pro$2.99

Questions

Is Simplify Notes free?
Simplify Notes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is BindNotes free?
BindNotes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Simplify Notes or BindNotes have ads?
Simplify Notes shows ads; BindNotes does not.
Which is updated more often, Simplify Notes or BindNotes?
Simplify Notes ships an update weekly, and BindNotes every 3 weeks. Most recently, Simplify Notes was updated on September 30, 2026 and BindNotes on September 30, 2026.

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