Comparison

Papel vs Notes Index

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

Head to head
About

Papel

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Receipts, contracts, prescriptions — kept in collections where you'll find them later. Send a collection as a link: the recipient needs no app and no account. WHAT PAPEL DOES — Fast scanning — Edge detection, multi-page. Straight from the camera into a collection. — Collections your way — Organize by month, client, project. Your logic, your structure. — Color tags — Tag collections and filter with one tap. Especially handy for invoicing. — Search — Find a document by its name, note or the text recognized from it, across all collections. — Document bundle — Every document as its own PDF plus a CSV summary, together in one ZIP. Before sending, you see the document count, missing amounts and totals for each currency. — Move and copy — Move or copy a document to another collection, along with its text and manual edits. — Fill in details with AI — On request, it suggests the name, date, amount and currency from the document's recognized text. Only what you confirm is saved. — Share via link — Generate a link and send it to anyone. Your accountant, partner, insurer — they don't need any app. — Web viewer — The recipient opens it in the browser. They download single documents or the whole ZIP. — Close & archive — Close a collection once it's done and it moves to the archive. Anyone who opened it in the Papel app gets a notification. — PDF import — Add existing PDFs from email or Files in a few taps. PRIVACY — No account needed — Scan and sort right away, no sign-up. Your documents stay on your phone. — Text is recognized right on your phone. Content goes to a server only for backup and sharing with Papel Plus, and when you ask AI to fill in details. Then Papel sends the document's recognized text, not the photo, through its server to the AI provider. — Email login with a one-time code — no password to remember. — No third-party tracking. No ads. No personal analytics. FREE AND PAPEL PLUS Scanning and organizing are free, with no account and no limits. Papel Plus adds cloud backup and sharing. Free: — Unlimited documents, collections and tags — Scanning, PDF import and export — Fill in details with AI: two uses once signed in, more with Papel Plus Papel Plus: — Cloud backup and access from your other devices — Share collections via link — Links valid for 7, 30 or 90 days, optional password — When you close a collection, only recipients who opened it in the Papel app get notified — Monthly, yearly or a one-time lifetime purchase Privacy Policy: https://1tnt.link/papel/privacy.html Terms of Use (EULA): https://1tnt.link/papel/eula.html

About

Notes Index

Features
Read full description

Notes Index turns your handwritten notes into a library you can search. Scan a notebook page or loose sheet with the built-in document scanner, or bring in a photo you already took. Notes Index cleans up the page, recognizes your handwriting on the device, and files it by date. FIND ANY PAGE Search for a word you wrote and Notes Index highlights exactly where it appears on the page. BROWSE LIKE PAPER Pinch through your library from a full-width page down to a dense grid. On iPad, open two pages side by side, like an open notebook. MARK IT UP Write on your pages with Apple Pencil or your finger, and recrop a page any time. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account and no ads. Text recognition happens on your device. Turn on iCloud sync to keep your library on all your devices, stored in your own iCloud account. Export your images and text whenever you like.

Screenshots

Papel4 screens
Notes Index4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Notes Index at none against Papel's 3. Notes Index also leads on update cadence (every 9 days vs every 3 weeks). Papel's advantage is iOS requirement (15.5 vs 26.0). On price, ads 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. Papel sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Notes Index asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Papel ships an update every 3 weeks, Notes Index every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 5 level
Papel versus Notes Index: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPapelNotes Index
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.5 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size107 MB2 MB
Age rating+44+
DeveloperBROKEN MATRIX TECHNOLOGY, LLCnedrelow, LLC

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Papel

Subscriptions2
  • Papel Plus Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Papel Plus Yearly$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • Papel Plus Lifetime$59.99
None

Notes Index

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Papel free?
Papel is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Notes Index free?
Notes Index is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Papel or Notes Index have ads?
Neither Papel nor Notes Index shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Papel or Notes Index?
Papel ships an update every 3 weeks, and Notes Index every 9 days. Most recently, Papel was updated on November 5, 2026 and Notes Index on October 31, 2026.

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