Comparison

Serious Notebook vs ScribblePad

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

Head to head
About

Serious Notebook

A private digital notebook for handwriting, typing, and annotating documents. Import PDFs, scan paper, and organize your thoughts with customizable tools. Keep your work securely on your device with no accounts or tracking.

Highlights
  • Handwrite and sketch with Apple Pencil
  • Type notes and highlight on iPhone
  • Import and annotate PDFs
  • Scan paper into notebooks
  • Insert text boxes, sticky notes, photos, and scans
  • Export notebooks as PDF
Read full description

Your handwriting, PDFs, and ideas. A quieter place to think. Write naturally with Apple Pencil on iPad. Type notes and highlight pages on iPhone. Import a PDF planner, annotate a worksheet, or scan paper into a notebook you can keep working in. Serious Notebook keeps your work on your device, with no account, ads, tracking, or subscription. WRITE, STUDY, AND PLAN • Handwrite and sketch on iPad with pen, pencil, highlighter, and eraser tools. Apple Pencil works on compatible iPads. • Type notes and highlight with your finger on iPhone. • Choose blank, ruled, grid, or dot-grid paper in soft white or cream. • Give each notebook its own title and cover. MAKE DOCUMENTS YOUR OWN • Import PDFs as notebooks and annotate their pages. • Scan paper on supported camera-equipped devices, review the pages, then start writing. • Add text boxes and sticky notes. With lifetime access, insert photos, PDF pages, and scans into your notes. • Move, resize, and rotate inserted objects. • Export a notebook or selected pages as PDF to save or share. NEW IN 3.0 Scan several pages straight into your open notebook as movable objects with lifetime access. Take multiple photos, review them, and add them together. On iPad, a clearer top toolbar leaves more room to write. TRY YOUR OWN NOTES The free workspace includes one handwritten notebook plus one separate PDF or scan notebook, up to 10 pages each. Try the included example without using either allowance. ONE LIFETIME PURCHASE Unlock unlimited notebooks, pages, PDF imports, camera scans, and photo insertion with a single non-consumable purchase. No recurring payments. Existing lifetime customers and eligible original paid-app customers keep access. Restore Purchases is available in Settings. PRIVATE, ON YOUR DEVICE Notes, imported documents, photos, and scans stay on the device where you create them. No app account or document upload is required. Notebooks do not automatically sync between devices. Export PDFs regularly to keep a copy of your work. Purchase and restoration use Apple's App Store services. For class notes, project ideas, PDF planners, and everyday thinking on iPhone and iPad.

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

Serious Notebook4 screens
ScribblePad4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ScribblePad at none against Serious Notebook's 1. ScribblePad also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 3 weeks) and ratings volume (3 vs 1). On price, rating, 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. Serious Notebook 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 Serious Notebook against 5.0 for ScribblePad. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 3 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Serious Notebook ships an update every 3 weeks, ScribblePad every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 5 level
Serious Notebook versus ScribblePad: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSerious NotebookScribblePad
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings)
Number of ratings13 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBILGESU KADANSagar Seth

Customer experience

Serious Notebook

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

ScribblePad

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

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Serious Notebook

One-time1
  • Lifetime Unlock$24.99
None

ScribblePad

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Serious Notebook free?
Serious Notebook 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, Serious Notebook or ScribblePad?
Serious Notebook and ScribblePad are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 3 ratings respectively.
Do Serious Notebook or ScribblePad have ads?
Neither Serious Notebook nor ScribblePad shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Serious Notebook or ScribblePad?
Serious Notebook ships an update every 3 weeks, and ScribblePad every 4 days. Most recently, Serious Notebook was updated on October 25, 2026 and ScribblePad on October 24, 2026.

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