Comparison

Lucid Note vs FolikPDF

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

Head to head
About

Lucid Note

Features
Read full description

Lucid Note is a simple note-taking app that lets you annotate any PDF with Apple Pencil. β–  Write on Password-Protected PDFs Open and annotate PDFs protected with edit restrictions β€” company documents, study materials, and more β€” without any extra steps. Files that other apps can't open work seamlessly in Lucid Note. β–  Intuitive Writing β€’ Handwriting on PDFs β€” Write notes and draw diagrams directly on any PDF using Apple Pencil. Adjust pen width and color freely with the tool palette. β€’ Smooth zoom β€” Pinch to zoom in and out, two-finger scroll to pan. Write comfortably even in the finest details. β€’ Easy page navigation β€” Tap the left or right edge of the screen to flip pages. β€’ Stamps β€” Press date frames, daily schedule frames, and task checkbox frames as stamps onto your pages. Drag with a finger to reposition them anywhere. β–  Note and Page Management β€’ Create new notes β€” Choose a background style (blank, lined, grid, dot grid, legal pad) and paper size (A4 / A5 / US Letter) to start a fresh notebook. β€’ Add, delete, and reorder pages β€” Freely add pages to a note, or rearrange them by dragging in the thumbnail grid. β€’ Tag-based file management β€” Create custom tags to organize your files. Filter by tag instantly from the sidebar. β€’ Simple file management β€” Rename or delete files right from the list. β–  Sharing and Productivity β€’ Export annotated PDFs β€” Export a PDF with your handwriting, backgrounds, and stamps all merged in, ready to share. β€’ Handwriting recognition and search (experimental) β€” Using Apple's handwriting recognition technology, your notes are converted to text so you can search by keyword. Accuracy may vary by handwriting style and language. β€’ iCloud backup β€” Your imported PDFs and annotations are backed up automatically. Open a PDF and start writing β€” it's that simple.

About

FolikPDF

Features
Read full description

Folik is a private, capable PDF workspace for iPhone and iPad. It is completely free: no ads, no subscription, no account, and no in-app purchases. READ AND FIND β€’ Open PDFs from Files or other apps β€’ Search with contextual results and next/previous navigation β€’ Use continuous, single-page, or two-page layouts β€’ Browse thumbnails, outlines, and bookmarks SCAN ON DEVICE β€’ Capture multi-page documents with automatic edge detection β€’ Recognize text locally so new scans are searchable β€’ Keep scans inside Folik unless you choose to share them FILL AND SIGN β€’ Complete standard PDF text, checkbox, radio, and choice fields β€’ Track required fields and jump to the next unfinished field β€’ Create handwritten or typed signatures and initials ANNOTATE AND ORGANIZE β€’ Highlight, underline, strike through, draw, add notes, shapes, text, and stamps β€’ Move, resize, recolor, undo, and redo annotations β€’ Reorder, rotate, duplicate, delete, extract, or combine pages in a new copy EXPORT YOUR WAY β€’ Share the original β€’ Create an editable copy β€’ Export a flattened copy for consistent appearance PRIVATE BY DESIGN Folik processes documents, scans, text recognition, and edits on your device. It has no backend, analytics SDK, or advertising SDK. Compatibility note: Folik supports standard AcroForm fields exposed by iOS. XFA-only forms, certificate-backed digital signatures, JavaScript calculations, and vendor-specific PDF behavior may not be supported. EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Folik is open source under the MIT License. https://github.com/x3n-network/FolikPDF

Screenshots

Lucid Note2 screens
FolikPDF4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Lucid Note at daily against FolikPDF's every 2 days. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Lucid Note ships an update daily, FolikPDF every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference Β· 5 level
Lucid Note versus FolikPDF: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLucid NoteFolikPDF
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyDaily β€” betterEvery 2 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 β€” better18.6
Further details β€” not scored
Size7 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSatoshi TakezawaJOSEPH AARON SPEARS

In-app purchases

None

Lucid Note

No in-app purchases

None

FolikPDF

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Lucid Note free?
Lucid Note is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is FolikPDF free?
FolikPDF is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Lucid Note or FolikPDF have ads?
Neither Lucid Note nor FolikPDF shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Lucid Note or FolikPDF?
Lucid Note ships an update daily, and FolikPDF every 2 days. Most recently, Lucid Note was updated on October 11, 2026 and FolikPDF on October 4, 2026.

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