Comparison

Noteleaf vs Better Notes

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

Head to head
About

Noteleaf

Features
Read full description

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. β–  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 β€” 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 β€” 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. β–  One-Time Purchase Noteleaf is free to download. One in-app purchase unlocks: ・ Unlimited notebooks (free tier: 1 notebook) ・ PDF export ・ Notebook sharing All handwriting features are available for free. No subscription. No account required.

About

Better Notes

Features
Read full description

Better Notes is a focused idea studio for handwriting, sketching, typed notes and PDF annotation. It combines the freedom of paper with the organisation and editing tools of a modern native app. WRITE NATURALLY Capture smooth, pressure-aware ink with fountain pen, ballpoint, fineliner, pencil, calligraphy, brush, reed pen, marker and highlighter tools. Adjust colour, width and stabilisation, then erase by stroke or precisely through ink. BUILD PAGES YOUR WAY Choose blank, ruled, dotted, grid, Cornell and margin paper. Mix A4, A5, Letter and Legal pages in portrait or landscapeβ€”even inside the same notebook. Add, duplicate, bookmark and reorder your thinking page by page. MORE THAN HANDWRITING Add editable styled text, shapes and images. Move, rotate, recolour and organise content across independent layers with visibility, locking and opacity controls. ANNOTATE PDFs Import a PDF, write directly over it and keep its links intact. Export finished work as PDF, PNG, JPEG, Markdown or plain text whenever you need to share or continue elsewhere. RECORD THE MOMENT Attach audio to a page during a lecture, meeting or brainstorming session. Rename recordings and jump back to the page where each recording began. FIND AND ORGANISE IDEAS Create spaces and nested folders, add tags, mark favourites, revisit recent notes and recover items from Trash. Search notebook titles, tags and typed page content from one fast local library. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Better Notes works locally and offline. Your notebooks and recordings stay on your device unless you choose to export or share them. There is no required account, advertising or behavioural tracking. BUILT FOR APPLE DEVICES Enjoy a responsive light interface designed for touch, Apple Pencil, pointer and keyboard. Better Notes supports keyboard shortcuts, accessibility labels and Reduce Motion. Make space for your next thoughtβ€”and keep every stroke editable.

Screenshots

Noteleaf4 screens
Better Notes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Better Notes at none against Noteleaf's 1. On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. Noteleaf sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Better Notes asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard1 real difference Β· 5 level
Noteleaf versus Better Notes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNoteleafBetter Notes
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 6 daysβ€”
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo β€” better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Vision Pro β€” better
Requires iOS17.0 β€” better18.0
Further details β€” not scored
Size15 MB11 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developermasafumi matsumotoLuke Mclaughlin

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Noteleaf

One-time1
  • Premium Unlock$9.99
None

Better Notes

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Noteleaf free?
Noteleaf is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Better Notes free?
Better Notes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Noteleaf or Better Notes have ads?
Neither Noteleaf nor Better Notes shows ads.

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