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, PDF annotation, rich text, Math Notebooks, voice recordings and AI writing tools into one workspace for iPad and iPhone. Capture a lecture, mark up a paper, plan a project or turn a rough draft into something ready to share. WRITE AND MAKE IT YOURS Create beautifully formatted notes with headings, lists, colors and highlights. Work with Word documents, RTF, Markdown and plain text. Open documents in tabs and move between your ideas and reference material without losing your place. WRITE ON PDFs WITH APPLE PENCIL Take handwritten notes, sketch in the margins and highlight what matters. Choose from pens, pencils, markers, fountain pens and watercolor tools. Use the eraser, lasso and ruler to refine your work. Add text, shapes, images, signatures and audio to PDF notes. Fill forms, organize pages and keep your reading and annotations together. Measure distances and areas on scaled drawings, and apply text redactions in supported PDFs. GIVE YOUR WRITING AN AI ASSIST Rewrite a passage, simplify difficult language, fix spelling and grammar, or adjust the tone. Summarize, translate and explore ideas with AI tools and chat. Keep control of what goes into your notes and documents. CAPTURE VOICE, FIND THE WORDS Record lectures, meetings and ideas while they are fresh. Play recordings back at your pace and generate transcripts to revisit the details. Add recordings to your PDF notes and whiteboards for more context. THINK BEYOND THE PAGE Build visual whiteboards with notes, images and recordings. Capture quick thoughts on sticky notes. Structure ideas in Outline Notes with nested branches, rich text and images. Collapse sections, rearrange your thinking, and import or export outlines in OPML format. WORK THROUGH THE NUMBERS Combine explanations and calculations in Math Notebooks. Explore formulas with the built-in calculation tools and run Python cells when you need more. Create charts, write LaTeX documents and preview the finished PDF alongside your source. ORGANIZE YOUR STUDY AND RESEARCH Bring your notes, readings and research together in Study Projects. Organize subjects, lectures and sources in the Binder, plan ideas on the Corkboard and keep reference material beside your notes. Study Projects give everything a place as your understanding grows. TAKE BIG WRITING PROJECTS FURTHER Organize writing projects into sections in the Binder, plan with a Corkboard and review your writing as a manuscript. Keep research beside your draft, save snapshots and compile your work into a finished document or ebook. ORGANIZE, SCAN AND SHARE Keep notes and documents in folders with recognizable covers. Scan paper documents, import files and find what you need with search. Export supported documents to formats including PDF, DOCX, RTF, HTML and EPUB. Use the Files app and supported cloud locations to bring your work with you. LOOK AFTER YOUR WORK Autosave, document recovery and automatic backups help protect your progress. Use app and folder passcodes for an extra layer of privacy. Continue opening your existing Notes Writer PDF notes and outlines as you move to the new workspace. From your first handwritten idea to your final document, make room for the way you think. 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 4.0. Notes Writer also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 6 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 7 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. 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 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notes Writer has 7.3K ratings behind it against 17, 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 6 days. The most recent releases landed on July 10, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
pdf versus Notes Writer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterpdfNotes Writer
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (17 ratings)4.5 (7.3K ratings) — better
Positive reviews48.6% of reviews — better45.2% of reviews
Number of ratings177.3K — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 6 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 MB627 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 ratings7,327 ratings
Positive86.9%
Neutral5.1%
Negative8.1%
Written reviews952 reviews
Positive45.2%
Neutral15.2%
Negative39.6%

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
7 purchases

Notes Writer

Subscriptions2
  • Notes Writer Unlock All and AI3 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Notes Writer Unlock All and AI3 Days trial$14.991 Year
One-time5
  • Full Version Unlock Pro$3.99
  • Full Version Unlock Pro$4.99
  • Full Version Unlock Pro2 variants$5.99
Show 2 more
  • Full Version Unlock Pro$6.99
  • Lifetime Pro Full Unlock$9.99

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 4.0 out of 5 from 17 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 6 days. Most recently, pdf was updated on July 10, 2026 and Notes Writer on September 29, 2026.

Other comparisons