Comparison

pdf vs Notes Writer

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

Head to head
About

pdf

This app allows you to read and annotate PDF files on your iPhone with fast page turning and convenient finger-writing tools. Easily import PDFs and share your notes via email or cloud services.

Highlights
  • Fast PDF display and page turning
  • Finger-writing and annotation tools
  • Import PDFs via Dropbox, Email, iTunes
  • Categorized bookshelves with search
  • Export annotated PDFs
  • Password-protected bookshelves
Features
Read full description

Utilize pdf-notes to read pdf files on your iPhone. The fastest and convenient pdf-notes for iPad is now available for iPhone. 1. Fast display, quick page-turning even a thousand pages 2. Convenient finger-writings 3. Sharing notes by mail or clouds. - Categorized multiple bookshelves(booklists) with powerful search - Easy importing PDF files through (DropBox, Email or Safari's) "Open In..." or iTunes - Finger-writing with a variety of pens, highlighters, drawings, sticky or text notes - Outlines and bookmarks - Exporting annotated PDF files to mail or clouds - Protected bookshelves by a password - External display and AirPrint * please visit the support site for more information http://bit.ly/1gBUQV1 Blog http://bit.ly/1992293 Email musebook@musebook.com Twitter http://twitter.com/musebook4u YouTube http://youtu.be/_60pvYx6pT4 NOTE: All content contained herein is subject to change without notice.

About

Notes Writer

This app is a comprehensive note-taking and PDF editing solution for mobile devices. It allows users to write, format, and organize notes, annotate PDFs, fill forms, and scan documents. The app offers advanced editing tools, powerful search, and seamless sharing and export options.

Highlights
  • Write and format notes
  • Annotate PDFs and fill forms
  • Organize with unlimited notebooks
  • Powerful full-text search
  • Document scanning
  • Sync with cloud services
  • Export to multiple formats
Features
Read full description

Notes Writer brings handwriting, PDFs, voice, documents and AI together on iPad and iPhone. Take notes in class, mark up a contract, record a meeting or plan a thesis, and keep it all in one place that is easy to search and share. HANDWRITING THAT FEELS LIKE PAPER • Write with Apple Pencil using pens, pencils, markers, fountain pens and watercolor brushes, and refine with the lasso, ruler and shapes. • Mix handwriting, typed text, images, stickers and audio on one page. • Choose blank, ruled, Cornell, planner, music or graph paper. • Search your handwriting, check its spelling, or convert it to text, math or LaTeX. • Tap your ink to hear what was said as you wrote it. FOR STUDENTS • Record lectures while you write, then search the transcript. • Hide key facts under Tape, reveal them one by one and turn them into flashcards. • Study flashcards with spaced repetition, reminders and a Home Screen widget. • Make a quiz from your notes, a topic or pasted text, and score yourself. • Circle a problem with Magic Lasso and ask AI to explain, solve or check it. • Find free open textbooks and keep each subject together in a Study Project. FOR PROFESSIONALS • Meeting Notes records and transcribes the meeting, enhances your notes and writes a summary with action items. • Mark up PDFs, fill forms, sign, measure plans and redact text. • Scan paper documents and recognize their text. • Present on an external display or with AirPlay, using a laser pointer. • Brainstorm on whiteboards with sticky notes, images and recordings. • Open Word, RTF, Markdown and plain text, and export to PDF, DOCX, RTF, HTML or EPUB. FOR WRITERS AND RESEARCHERS • Draft in rich text and keep your sources open in tabs. • Organize long projects in the Binder, plan on the Corkboard, save snapshots and compile a manuscript or ebook. • Write LaTeX papers with a live PDF preview. • Combine explanations, graphs, charts and Python cells in Math Notebooks. • Structure ideas as outlines and exchange them in OPML. AI THAT WORKS WITH YOUR NOTES • Rewrite, simplify, translate, or fix spelling and grammar. • Ask questions and get answers from your own notes, PDFs and transcripts. • Summarize a reading, a recording or a meeting. You decide what goes into your notes. YOUR NOTES, YOUR WAY • Import notes from other note-taking apps. • Sketch with graphite and charcoal, or paint with watercolor, oils and acrylics. • Share an iPad with separate profiles, each with its own notes and an optional passcode. • Keep folders with covers, and work with files in iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive and the Files app. • Autosave, recovery, backups and passcodes protect your work. Privacy Policy http://www.noteswriter.com/Kairoos_Privacy_Policy.html Terms of Use https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

pdf4 screens
Notes Writer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Notes Writer at 4.5 against pdf's 3.9. Notes Writer also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 4 days vs every 5 weeks). pdf's advantage is iOS requirement (16.0 vs 26.0). On price, review sentiment, in-app purchases 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. pdf sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Notes Writer sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Notes Writer holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notes Writer has 7.3K ratings behind it against 18, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 49% of pdf's written reviews are positive against 45% of Notes Writer's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

pdf ships an update every 5 weeks, Notes Writer every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
pdf versus Notes Writer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterpdfNotes Writer
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.9 (18 ratings)4.5 (7.3K ratings) — better
Positive reviews48.6% of reviews — better44.8% of reviews
Number of ratings187.3K — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 4 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS16.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size109 MB688 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAMuseTec Co., Ltd.Kairoos Solutions SL

Customer experience

pdf

All ratings17 ratings
Positive76.5%
Neutral11.8%
Negative11.8%
Written reviews70 reviews
Positive48.6%
Neutral14.3%
Negative37.1%

Notes Writer

All ratings7,339 ratings
Positive86.7%
Neutral5.1%
Negative8.2%
Written reviews966 reviews
Positive44.8%
Neutral15.1%
Negative40.1%

Bugs and requests

pdf

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Notes Writer

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Notes randomly disappearing or getting corrupted
  • Inability to recover deleted documents
  • Unexpected behavior when adding/deleting pages
  • Syncing issues and broken links between documents

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add more brushes and pen customization options
  • Improve the clipping/selection tool
  • Implement OCR and handwriting search
  • Provide a Mac version

In-app purchases

3 purchases

pdf

One-time3
  • 2-Month Pass$0.99
  • 1-Year Path$2.99
  • Lifetime License$4.99
4 purchases

Notes Writer

Subscriptions3
  • Weekly$1.997 Days
  • Notes Writer Unlock All and AI3 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Notes Writer Unlock All and AI3 Days trial$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Pro Full Unlock$14.99

Questions

Is pdf free?
pdf is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Notes Writer free?
Notes Writer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, pdf or Notes Writer?
Notes Writer is rated higher. pdf averages 3.9 out of 5 from 18 ratings, while Notes Writer averages 4.5 from 7.3K ratings.
Do pdf or Notes Writer have ads?
pdf shows ads; Notes Writer does not.
Which is updated more often, pdf or Notes Writer?
pdf ships an update every 5 weeks, and Notes Writer every 4 days. Most recently, pdf was updated on November 1, 2026 and Notes Writer on November 11, 2026.

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