Comparison

NoteSam vs Noteleaf

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

Head to head
About

NoteSam

Features
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NoteSam โ€” Handwritten Notes for iPad Built by a mathematician who needed a handwriting notebook that actually kept up with the Apple Pencil. Couldn't find one. Wrote it. Private by design. Your notes live on your device. Sync goes only where you point it โ€” iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, WebDAV, S3, SFTP. No third-party tracking SDKs, no ad networks, no behavioral profiling. WRITING โ€ข Native PencilKit engine tuned for low-latency Apple Pencil โ€ข Vector strokes โ€” infinite zoom, no pixelation โ€ข Pressure + tilt sensitivity โ€ข Palm rejection that just works READING & ANNOTATION โ€ข PDF import โ€” annotate textbooks, contracts, lecture notes โ€ข EPUB reader with text-anchored highlights that survive font-size changes โ€ข Voice memos attached to the page ORGANIZATION โ€ข Unlimited folders and notebooks โ€ข Template marketplace โ€” grid, dot, music, planner, more โ€ข OCR search across handwritten notes PRIVACY End-to-end encryption (AES-256-GCM + Argon2id). Your cloud provider sees ciphertext only. Product analytics is limited to anonymous conversion events (sign-up, purchase). Your handwriting, your PDFs, your voice memos โ€” those never leave your device unless you sync them yourself. OFFLINE-FIRST Everything works without a network connection. Sync is additive. Free tier: unlimited notebooks, PDF + EPUB import, all core drawing tools. Pro unlocks the template marketplace and multi-provider sync. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Custom Terms: https://notesam.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://notesam.app/privacy

About

Noteleaf

Features
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Noteleaf is a handwriting notebook that feels like real looseleaf paper. Write freely with Apple Pencil, rearrange pages, choose from templates, and make it your own. โ–  Key Features Looseleaf Feel Pages can be reordered freely, just like real looseleaf paper. Move, insert, or remove pages to organize your notes the way you want. Handwriting with Apple Pencil Write naturally with Apple Pencil. Supports Scribble. Turn on Apple Pencil-Only Mode in Settings to prevent accidental palm touches. Ruler Tool Draw perfectly straight lines at any angle using the on-screen ruler โ€” no physical ruler needed. 10 Page Templates Choose from blank, lined, wide-ruled, grid, dot grid, Cornell, and more. Mix templates freely within a single notebook. 16 Leather Cover Colors Personalize each notebook with a color that suits you โ€” 16 rich leather-style covers to choose from. PDF Export Export any notebook as a PDF to share or archive your notes. Notebook Sharing Share notebooks with others in the app's native format. โ–  One-Time Purchase Noteleaf is free to download. One in-app purchase unlocks: ใƒป Unlimited notebooks (free tier: 1 notebook) ใƒป PDF export ใƒป Notebook sharing All handwriting features are available for free. No subscription. No account required.

Screenshots

NoteSam3 screens
Noteleaf4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Noteleaf at none against NoteSam's shown. On price, update cadence, 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. NoteSam sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Noteleaf sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

NoteSam ships an update every 5 days, Noteleaf every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 5 level
NoteSam versus Noteleaf: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNoteSamNoteleaf
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 5 days โ€” betterEvery 6 days
AdsYesNo โ€” better
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size15 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCryptosam LLCmasafumi matsumoto

In-app purchases

2 purchases

NoteSam

Subscriptions2
  • NoteSam Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
  • NoteSam Pro Yearly7 Days trial$19.991 Year
1 purchases

Noteleaf

One-time1
  • Premium Unlock$9.99

Questions

Is NoteSam free?
NoteSam is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Noteleaf free?
Noteleaf is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do NoteSam or Noteleaf have ads?
NoteSam shows ads; Noteleaf does not.
Which is updated more often, NoteSam or Noteleaf?
NoteSam ships an update every 5 days, and Noteleaf every 6 days. Most recently, NoteSam was updated on September 29, 2026 and Noteleaf on October 5, 2026.

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