Comparison

UnivNote vs ScribblePad

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

Head to head
About

UnivNote

This app offers a smooth and reliable PDF note-taking experience. It allows users to write, highlight, and organize notes on documents, textbooks, and slides, with features like masking highlighters and review scheduling to aid memorization. It supports multiple layers for notes and offers various view options for workbooks.

Highlights
  • Fast writing and drawing tools
  • Masking highlighter for memorization
  • Scheduled review system
  • Multi-layer note organization
  • Multiple view options for workbooks
  • Editable shapes and text boxes
  • Audio recording synced with handwriting
Features
Read full description

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

About

ScribblePad

A private, free note-taking and PDF annotation app for Apple devices. It offers natural handwriting, organization tools, and optional cloud backup to your own storage. Enjoy a distraction-free experience with no accounts or tracking.

Highlights
  • Natural handwriting with Apple Pencil
  • PDF annotation and markup
  • Organize notes with subjects and notebooks
  • On-device handwriting search (OCR)
  • Audio recording synced to notes
  • Optional Google Drive/iCloud backup
  • Offline functionality
Features
Read full description

The free, private note app for iPhone, iPad & Mac. No subscription, no account, no tracking — just fast handwriting, PDF markup, and backup to YOUR own cloud. Write naturally with Apple Pencil, organize notes into colorful subjects, and keep everything synced to your own Google Drive or iCloud. Nothing lives on our servers — your notes stay yours. WRITING & TOOLS • Smooth, low-latency ink (PencilKit) — pen, pencil, highlighter, eraser, lasso • Pinch to zoom, palm rejection, and ruler • Add text boxes, shapes, images, and stickers on top of your ink ORGANIZE • Subjects → notebooks → pages, drag to reorder • Templates: blank, ruled, grid, dotted + your own custom pages • Search your handwriting instantly with on-device OCR PDF & IMPORT/EXPORT • Import and annotate PDFs • Export as PDF, PNG, or the native .scribble format • Share notes with other ScribblePad users AUDIO • Record audio synced to your strokes — replay your notes in time PRIVATE BACKUP & SYNC (OPTIONAL) • Back up to your own Google Drive (the app only sees files it creates) or iCloud • Works fully offline — the cloud is yours, not ours No sign-up. No ads. No data collection. Just a beautiful place to think.

Screenshots

UnivNote4 screens
ScribblePad4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ScribblePad at none against UnivNote's 1. ScribblePad also leads on ratings volume (3 vs 1). UnivNote's advantage is update cadence (daily vs every 4 days). On price, rating, ads and monetization model 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. UnivNote sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. ScribblePad asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for UnivNote against 5.0 for ScribblePad. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 3 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

UnivNote ships an update daily, ScribblePad every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
UnivNote versus ScribblePad: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUnivNoteScribblePad
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings13 — better
Update frequencyDaily — betterEvery 4 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size55 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJeonghwan RyuSagar Seth

Customer experience

UnivNote

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

ScribblePad

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

UnivNote

One-time1
  • Unlimited Notes$9.99
None

ScribblePad

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is UnivNote free?
UnivNote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ScribblePad free?
ScribblePad is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, UnivNote or ScribblePad?
UnivNote and ScribblePad are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 3 ratings respectively.
Do UnivNote or ScribblePad have ads?
Neither UnivNote nor ScribblePad shows ads.
Which is updated more often, UnivNote or ScribblePad?
UnivNote ships an update daily, and ScribblePad every 4 days. Most recently, UnivNote was updated on November 9, 2026 and ScribblePad on October 31, 2026.

Other comparisons