Comparison

Better Notes vs Daypen

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

Head to head
About

Better Notes

Features
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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.

About

Daypen

Features
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Take notes. Daypen gets you ready for the exam. Take notes with Apple Pencil or your finger on iPad and iPhone. Daypen Learn turns them into a summary, flashcards and a quiz, and your planner keeps lectures, deadlines and revision in one week. One purchase covers your iPhone, your iPad and your Mac. HANDWRITTEN NOTEBOOKS β€’ Apple Pencil or finger, with fountain pen, ballpoint, pencil, highlighter and crayon β€’ 380 templates: Cornell notes, lined and grid paper, 2026–2027 calendars and exam planners β€’ 137 covers, stickers and labels β€’ Handwriting to text, and search inside your handwriting β€’ Your notebooks in sync on iPhone and iPad, and shared notebooks you write in together, live β€’ Record audio while you write, then tap your writing to hear that moment β€’ Bring in a PDF, or add one to any notebook, and write on it: slides, past papers, worksheets β€’ Write a formula by hand and Daypen solves it step by step β€’ Shapes that complete themselves, a laser pointer, and a lasso that turns writing into a task or a calendar entry Your first launch opens with a ready Anatomy notebook and a Daypen Guide, so you can try everything at once. DAYPEN LEARN Pick a page, a notebook or everything you wrote. Daypen Learn makes a summary, key terms, flashcards and a quiz from your own notes. Cards you miss come back sooner, the ones you know wait longer. Take a timed practice exam from your sets and see the three topics to study next. Set a daily goal, keep a streak, follow your scores, and share a quiz as an image with your study group. STUDY ROOMS Study with friends wherever they are: one shared timer, what everyone is working on, and who is focusing or on a break. A PLANNER FOR YOUR WEEK Block out lectures, study sessions and deadlines. Drag a block to move it, tap the circle to finish it, and let it repeat. Get a reminder on time or when you arrive somewhere. Any plan can have its own notebook page. SUMMARISE Record a lecture, open an audio file, a PDF or a Word document, or share a link. Daypen gives you the summary, the key points, the to-dos and the dates, and every line drops into your plan with one tap. HABITS Reading, revision, sleep, the gym. Tap a ring to complete it, watch the streak grow, and see the week, month and year in charts. AN ASSISTANT THAT KNOWS YOUR PLANS Ask what is due, how the week went, or what a plan still needs. It reads only your own plans, habits and notes. THE VAULT Expiry dates with reminders, passwords and IBANs, opened with Face ID or a code of its own. Passwords and IBANs stay in your device's keychain. TOGETHER One book with your flatmates, partner or family: a shared list, habits you keep as a group, and a spending log you can fill from a photo of the receipt. ALSO β€’ Widgets for the home and lock screen, and Siri β€’ A record button in Control Center β€’ Your Apple Calendar events beside your own plans β€’ 28 languages FREE AND PRO Free for good: three notebooks with the basic papers and every pen, the planner, the list, notes, five habits, one shared book, the widgets, and your first five questions to the assistant. After the tour you get a free sample quiz. Daypen Pro adds unlimited notebooks, the full template library and every cover, handwriting to text and handwriting search, Daypen Learn, PDF and audio in notebooks, Summarise, the vault, the unlimited assistant, unlimited habits, and backup across devices. One purchase covers every iPhone, iPad and Mac on the same Apple Account: β€’ A monthly or yearly subscription β€’ Or a one-time lifetime purchase, which also covers every feature added to Pro from here on Payment is charged to your Apple Account. A subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the period ends; manage or cancel it in your Apple Account settings. Lifetime is a single payment and does not renew. Terms of Use: https://gepgo.com/daypen/en/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://gepgo.com/daypen/en/privacy/

Screenshots

Better Notes4 screens
Daypen4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Better Notes at none against Daypen's 3. Daypen's advantage is iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.0). On price, ads and device support 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. Daypen sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Better Notes asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard2 real differences Β· 4 level
Better Notes versus Daypen: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBetter NotesDaypen
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyβ€”Every 3 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo β€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Vision ProiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch β€” better
Requires iOS18.015.1 β€” better
Further details β€” not scored
Size11 MB70 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLuke MclaughlinAli Can

In-app purchases

None

Better Notes

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Daypen

Subscriptions2
  • Daypen Pro$4.991 Month
  • Daypen Pro Year$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • Daypen Pro Lifetime$99.99

Questions

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

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