Uni vs UnivNote
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Uni
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Create problem sets and study with “Learned” and “Not Yet”, all within your note app. With Uni:Note, you can review alongside your original notes and study problem sets in the companion app Uni:Note Pocket by importing a backup. Uni:Note is a handwriting app for iPad with a simple, ad-free interface that lets you write as you would in a paper notebook. Designed under the guidance of a current university student, it focuses on being easy to use in class. Along with Apple Pencil handwriting, it supports writing on images and PDFs, vertical notebooks, and multiple windows. Keep taking notes while working with class handouts and PDF materials. Use the notes you write for review. Study Assistant (AI) supports Circle to Solve, problem set generation, and AI Summary. You can also create and edit problem sets yourself. Recording and real-time transcription are also supported. Take notes while recording a class, then use AI Summary to summarize the transcription. Customize the navigation bar and palette to suit the tools you use most. ■Key Features • Create and edit problem sets with handwriting, the keyboard, pasted text, or TSV/CSV files • AI problem set generation from your notes • Study with “Learned” and “Not Yet”, resume where you left off, and shuffle questions • Review with your original notes displayed alongside • Study problem sets imported from a backup in Uni:Note Pocket • Handwriting with Apple Pencil • Writing on images and PDFs • Vertical notebooks and multiple windows • Recording and real-time transcription • AI Summary and Circle to Solve • Sticky Marker • Ruler, Move Selection • Undo and Redo for moves and changes to shapes, pasted images and PDFs, and sticky notes, plus lines drawn with the ruler • Open the Button Guide with “?” (from the “…” menu in a notebook) • Pomodoro timer • Navigation bar and palette customization • Export PDF • Backup and restore ■About Privacy Uni:Note uses in-app identifiers that do not directly identify you to manage your AI Balance and purchase status. It also collects diagnostic information, such as crash logs when the app crashes, to investigate issues. When you use AI features, data needed for processing, such as selected note content and transcriptions, is sent to an AI service to generate answers, problem sets, summaries, and similar output. Routine diagnostic information does not include information that directly identifies you or the contents of notes, audio, transcriptions, or attachments. The information collected is used to provide AI features, manage their use, and improve app quality. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
UnivNote
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UnivNote — Smooth PDF Note App UnivNote makes the fundamentals — writing, reading, and organizing on PDFs — fast and reliable, instead of leading with AI. Write on textbooks, slides, papers, and books with iPad and Apple Pencil, and keep working on the same notes on iPhone and Mac. Memorize with the masking highlighter, review on schedule, and collect missed problems in Mistake Notes — your whole study flow in one app. ▶ What Makes UnivNote Different · Fast writing with lower heat Pen, eraser, lasso, and paste never stall, even as your notes pile up. We keep improving scrolling and note opening on stroke-heavy pages, along with heat and battery. · Cover, test, and review on schedule Cover answers with the masking highlighter and tap to check. Drag a rectangular mask with your finger to move it, or drag a corner to resize it. Right/wrong memory test results set your next review date, and the “Review” tab and Home Screen widget show today’s reviews and your weekly and monthly schedule. You can also set your own review intervals. · Layers — keep the original and your notes apart Keep handwriting, answers, and corrections on 5 layers per note and hide them with one tap. Edits touch only the current layer, so ink on the others stays as it is. · Views built for workbooks Choose Vertical scroll, Horizontal page turn, Horizontal scroll, or Two-page view, and keep your place with Lock Zoom and Lock View. Extend page margins on all four sides to make room for working out problems. · Shapes you can re-edit anytime 30+ shapes, from lines and arrows to 3D shapes like cylinders, cones, and spheres. Keep fine-tuning their form with handles after inserting. · Lecture recording and class notes Audio recording with handwriting-synced playback, laser pointer, reading mode, and gesture shortcuts. Recordings are kept even if the app quits unexpectedly. ▶ Main Features · Pen, pencil, highlighter, fountain pen, eraser — widths, colors, line styles · Lasso and rectangle select — move, resize, rotate, copy, duplicate, move to layer · Apple Pencil double-tap and squeeze actions, favorite pens, per-note tool memory · No-Pencil mode — finger writing, two-finger scroll · Masking highlighter, right/wrong memory tests, Review tab and widget · Mistake Notes — collect lassoed problems and jump back to their page · Page links and backlinks · Shape insertion, image paste and crop, text boxes · Text recognition (OCR), word-aware highlighting on PDF text · Unified search — PDF text, text boxes, note titles · Sidebar table of contents — detects and edits PDF outlines, Build Contents with AI · Import EPUB ebooks and Office documents, “Translate with Your AI” · AI Connection — your AI reads your notes to help organize and review (needs UnivNote for Mac) · Import folders and .zip files exported from other note apps in one go · Bring in PDFs and photos from other apps via the share sheet · 90+ design templates, note covers, infinite notes · Study clock — stopwatch and timer, exam countdowns per subject · Folder library — nested folders, grid view, hide, lock · Page manager — add, delete, duplicate, rotate, multi-select · iCloud sync, WebDAV import, Auto Backup (folder or WebDAV) · “Help” guide in Settings, 27 languages ▶ Pricing · Free for up to 20 notes · Unlimited Notes is a one-time lifetime purchase · No subscription · No ads · Family Sharing supported · Early Supporters automatically get Unlimited Notes ▶ Privacy · No note data is sent externally · Notes stay on your device or your own iCloud ▶ Recommended Setup · iPad + Apple Pencil recommended; iPhone and Mac supported · iPadOS 18 or later, optimized for 13" and 11" iPad Pro / iPad Air
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: UnivNote at daily against Uni's every 5 days. UnivNote also leads on device support (3 vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Uni sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and UnivNote sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Uni ships an update every 5 days, UnivNote daily. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.
| Parameter | Uni | UnivNote |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days | Daily — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 16 MB | 53 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Yuya Nakamura | Jeonghwan Ryu |
In-app purchases
Uni
- Premium Plus$1.991 Month
- AI Balance Small$0.99
- AI Balance Medium$2.99
- Premium$5.99
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- AI Balance Large$8.99
- AI Balance Extra Large$19.99
UnivNote
- Unlimited Notes$9.99









