Comparison

BindNotes vs Mena

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

Head to head
About

BindNotes

Features
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Your notes. Linked. Notes shouldn't be limited by the size of a page. But linear pages and infinite canvas aren't the answer โ€” 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 โ€” not a stack of dead-end pages. BindNotes is a notebook app built for Apple Pencil. Write, sketch, and draw like any notebook โ€” then connect your pages. Headers & Outline Assign header levels (H1โ€“H5) to any page. Headers build a navigable outline for your notebook โ€” 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 โ€” 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 โ€” No Limits on Note-Taking Everything you need to write, draw, and link is free: โ€ข Unlimited notebooks and pages โ€ข All drawing tools โ€” pen, highlighter, eraser, lasso โ€ข Page-to-page linking โ€ข Headers and outline navigation โ€ข Page overview (link graph) โ€ข iCloud Drive sync โ€ข 5 page templates (blank, ruled, graph, dots) BindNotes Pro โ€” One-Time Purchase Unlock tools for serious workflows. No subscription. Buy once, own forever. โ€ข PDF import and annotation โ€ข PDF export with clickable links and bookmarks โ€ข Tags for notebook organization โ€ข Dark page templates โ€ข 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 โ€” nowhere else. See our privacy policy at bindnotes.com/privacy.

About

Mena

Features
Read full description

Private visual notes for iPad. Build mind maps on an infinite canvas, study with FSRS flashcards, and sync through your private iCloud storage โ€” no account required. Mena is an infinite canvas and visual second brain for iPad. Sketch ideas, build mind maps, embed media, and turn any board into spaced-repetition flashcards you actually review โ€” no account required. INFINITE CANVAS Pan, zoom, and draw with no page limits. Pastel sticky notes, shapes and connectors for mind maps and flowcharts, frames, tables, and 19 polygon shapes. Apple Pencil support with Draw to Shape โ€” sketch a rough shape and Mena snaps it perfect. EVERY KIND OF CONTENT Drop anything onto your board: sticky notes, rich text and Markdown, code blocks with syntax highlighting, images, PDFs with full page navigation, video, audio files, and live maps. Record voice memos directly on the canvas โ€” ink drawn during recording is seekable by playback time. Web embeds and URL preview cards keep sources right where you need them. PAPER TEMPLATES Note pages come in blank, lined, dotted, and grid. Change one page or every blank page at once, and choose auto, light, or dark paper independently of your system theme. The same page renders identically in the reader, sidebar, overview grid, library thumbnail, and exported PDF. STUDY WITH FSRS Turn any deck board into spaced-repetition flashcards. Mena uses FSRS โ€” the most accurate scheduling algorithm available โ€” to surface cards exactly when you need them. Again / Hard / Good / Easy grading with interval preview. Cloze deletion with one tap. Auto-generate flashcards from your notes on-device, no network needed. STUDY DASHBOARD Track your streak, retention rate, and 14-day due forecast. See today's review count at a glance. ANKI COMPATIBLE Import any .apkg file directly. Mena imports your cards, scheduling data, embedded images, and cloze deletions. Export any deck back as .apkg and study it in Anki on any device. SLIDES & PRESENTATION Draw a frame around anything and it becomes a slide. Open the filmstrip panel, jump to any slide, present full-screen, or export the whole deck as a crisp PDF. 6 BOARD TYPES Board โ€” infinite whiteboard. Note โ€” vertical scroll page. Journal โ€” one auto-created page per day. Atlas โ€” a spatial map of all your boards. Collection โ€” a live saved query across all boards. Deck โ€” FSRS study deck with review session. HOME SCREEN WIDGETS 4 widget types for home screen and lock screen: New Board (one-tap creation), Board Preview (live thumbnail of any board), Today's Study (due count, streak, retention), and Deck (per-deck stats). All fully configurable. SHARE FROM ANYWHERE A share extension catches text, links, images, PDFs, and videos from any other app โ€” tap Share โ†’ Mena, pick a board, done. PRIVATE iCLOUD SYNC Every board, element, and attachment syncs across your Apple devices through your private iCloud CloudKit database. No Mena account. No third-party cloud server stores your Mena content. Flashcard generation runs on-device. Optional web embeds and Unsplash search connect only when you choose to use them. Mena fits how your brain actually works โ€” capture, connect, and remember. FREE & PRO Free covers 3 boards, 3 notes, 3 documents and 5 decks; journals and system boards are never limited. Mena Pro lifts every limit โ€” Pro Monthly and Pro Yearly renew automatically, Pro Lifetime is a one-time purchase. Prices appear in the app before you buy, and you can restore purchases at any time. Privacy Policy: https://apps.cihat.dev/mena/privacy-policy/ Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

BindNotes4 screens
Mena4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Mena at every 3 days against BindNotes's every 3 weeks. Mena also leads on iOS requirement (18.6 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. BindNotes sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Mena sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BindNotes ships an update every 3 weeks, Mena every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences ยท 4 level
BindNotes versus Mena: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBindNotesMena
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 3 days โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.018.6 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size9 MB48 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEvgenii EremeevCihat Salik

In-app purchases

1 purchases

BindNotes

One-time1
  • BindNotes Pro$2.99
3 purchases

Mena

Subscriptions2
  • Mena Pro - Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Mena Pro - Yearly$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • Mena Pro - Lifetime$79.99

Questions

Is BindNotes free?
BindNotes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Mena free?
Mena is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do BindNotes or Mena have ads?
Neither BindNotes nor Mena shows ads.
Which is updated more often, BindNotes or Mena?
BindNotes ships an update every 3 weeks, and Mena every 3 days. Most recently, BindNotes was updated on September 30, 2026 and Mena on October 14, 2026.

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