Notepad vs QuickNotes X
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Notepad
Capture thoughts, create to-do lists, and organize ideas with a versatile digital notebook. Supports handwriting, text notes, and secure cloud syncing. Personalize your experience with custom themes and icons.
- Create to-do lists with checkboxes
- Unlimited text notes
- Handwritten notes with Apple Pencil
- Organize notes into folders
- Pin and sort notes
- iCloud backup and sync
- Advanced search functionality
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Jot down notes and organize your ideas with Notepad—the classic notepad writing app designed for keeping track of everything that matters. [ TO-DO LISTS ] • Create beautiful task lists with interactive checkboxes to track your daily tasks and goals. • Drag and drop to reorder items—organize your to-dos exactly how you want them. • Enjoy the satisfying experience of checking off completed tasks as you get things done. • Perfect for shopping lists, daily chores, project tasks, and everything in between. [ NOTES ] • Create unlimited text notes with rich formatting—quickly and easily. • Tap anywhere to start typing—it's simple, fast, and always saved automatically. • Works perfectly in both light and dark mode. [ RICH TEXT FORMATTING ] • Style your notes with bold, italic, underline, and strikethrough. • Choose from 7 text colors and 7 highlight colors to make important details stand out. • Pick from 18 handpicked font families—each with proper bold and italic variants. • A convenient formatting toolbar sits right above the keyboard for fast access. • Switch fonts anytime—your existing formatting is preserved. [ HANDWRITTEN NOTES WITH APPLE PENCIL ] • Capture your thoughts naturally with fluid, responsive handwriting that feels like pen on paper. • Create beautiful handwritten notes, diagrams, and drawings with realistic ink flow and pressure sensitivity. • Choose from fountain pens, pencils, and highlighters with customizable colors for a personalized writing experience. • Enjoy our adaptive paper grid that works perfectly in any orientation or device. [ FOLDERS - ORGANIZE YOUR NOTES ] • Organize notes into folders and subfolders with a clean, nested structure. • Assign a unique color to each folder, making it simple to categorize and find notes at a glance. • Drag-and-drop to reorder, and move multiple notes easily. [ PIN & SORT NOTES ] • Pin important notes to the top and sort by date, custom order, or alphabetical order. [ BACKUP WITH ICLOUD ] • Keep notes safe with automatic backups and iCloud sync across your devices. [ PERSONALIZE YOUR NOTEPAD ] • Give your notepad a personal touch with unique app icons, custom colors, stylish fonts, and a sleek dark mode for night owls. [ FIND NOTES FAST ] • Use advanced search tools and text highlighting to track down exactly what you're looking for. [ KEEP YOUR NOTES SAFE ] • Lock your notes with FaceID or TouchID for extra privacy. [ SHARE & PRINT ] • Send your notes to other apps like Mail or WhatsApp, or print them directly from Notepad. [ PREMIUM FEATURES FOR POWER USERS ] • Go ad-free, unlock exclusive themes, and get advanced sorting options with Premium. Notepad combines the nostalgic feel of a simple notebook with the functionality of today's tech. Use Notepad for everything from brainstorming ideas and setting personal reminders to creating shopping lists, to-do lists, grocery lists, chores lists, appointment notes, class notes, daily goals, password hints, birthday reminders, packing lists, travel itineraries, and more. Write, organize, and stay on top of everything that matters—download Notepad now and stay productive your way! Terms of Use & Privacy Policy: https://www.oldnotepad.com/terms.
QuickNotes X
This app offers a fluid and precise note-taking experience with a custom vector ink engine, voice recording synced to writing, and ML-powered shape recognition. Organize notes with notebooks and folders, protect them with passwords and biometrics, and sync seamlessly across devices via iCloud. Mark up PDFs and presentations, and customize your notes with various tools and templates.
- Vector ink engine for fluid writing
- Voice recording synced to notes
- ML-powered shape recognition
- Notebook and folder organization
- Password and biometric protection
- PDF and presentation annotation
- iCloud sync across devices
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ESCAPE THE LIMITS OF PHYSICAL PAPER • Experience a fluid, precise and natural note taking experience powered by the unparalleled performance of QuickNotes X custom vector ink engine; • Choose your drawing style with numerous included tools, such as fountain and ballpoint pen; • Freely customize your stroke color as well as line thickness and pressure sensitivity; • Record and play back lectures with Voice Recording: your writing will be synced to the audio! • Draw perfect shapes and straight lines thanks to automatic, ML-powered shape recognition; • Move, resize, rotate and zoom your handwriting to take notes like a pro; • Never run out of paper: swipe to the next page and a new page will be created if needed! • Take perfect notes with your Apple Pencil, Logitech Crayon or other capacitive styluses. ORGANIZE & PROTECT YOUR THOUGHTS • Never lose your notes again thanks to the powerful organization provided by QuickNotes X; • Create Notebooks to organize your notes; • Add unlimited Folders & Subfolders to group your Notebooks; • Lock individual Notebooks and Folders with a Password to protect your thoughts from prying eyes; • Unlock protected notebooks using Face ID, Touch ID or by entering your Password; • Rearrange your Notebooks and Folders however you like to make sure they are always in the correct order. SEAMLESSLY SYNC TO ALL YOUR DEVICES • Seamlessly back up & sync your notebooks and folders to all your devices thanks to iCloud; • Write once, edit anywhere: when iCloud Sync is active all your content is automatically available on all your devices; • Use the native Mac app to view your notes on the bigger screen and edit them right on your computer. MARK UP & WRITE ON PDFs, SLIDES AND MORE • Import and edit PDFs, PowerPoint presentations more; • Annotate documents on your device with all the tools available, including fountain & ballpoint pen, highlighter and shape recognition; • Open notes and documents side-by-side on your iPad for maximum flexibility; • Quickly export your notes as images, PDF or QuickNotes X Documents for easy sharing ENDLESS CUSTOMIZATION FOR YOUR CREATIVITY • Create an unlimited number of presets for stroke color and line thickness to always have the right one ready at your fingertips; • Choose between Dual or Single Bar Mode to take notes with the maximum level of flexibility and customizability; • Choose to erase entire strokes on only some parts thanks to the new Precision and Whole Stroke Erasers; • Use the Lasso tool to cut, copy, paste or delete groups of strokes or entire pages; • Customize the look of your Notebooks and Folders by choosing from more than 80 options; • Make each notebook cover yours: the Notebook cover is now fully editable so you can draw on it! • Choose the right paper template for your Notebooks, such as Blank Paper, Cornell Paper, Chemistry Paper, Engineering Grid Paper, Music Paper and more! TYPE AND WRITE ANYWHERE • Add Text Boxes anywhere in a page to start typing, with plenty of customization options for color, font style and size, available right at your fingertips in the new Tool Bar; • Move, rotate and scale text boxes to never run out of space; • Combine handwritten notes with typed content and annotate or highlight key words in your Text Boxes; AND THERE IS EVEN MORE! • Swipe left or right to quickly move to the previous or next page in the notebook; • Quickly jump to any page in the Notebook by using the Notes List menu in the Note Editor; • Customize any new page you create thanks to the new "New Page" menu in the Editor; • Create a QuickNotebook to always have a fresh new page when you open the app; • Changing the paper template for a single page or the entire Notebook is only one tap away; QuickNotes X: Note-Taking, Made Easy. Website: https://www.quicknotesx.com Twitter: @QuickNotesX Instagram: @quicknotesx ----------- Privacy Policy: https://www.quicknotesx.com/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Notepad at 84% against QuickNotes X's 38%. Notepad also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.3) and update cadence (every 8 days vs every 5 weeks). QuickNotes X's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support 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
Both are free to download. Notepad sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and QuickNotes X sells 11 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 3 months. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Notepad holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notepad has 28K ratings behind it against 3.8K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 84% of Notepad's written reviews are positive against 38% of QuickNotes X's.
Notepad ships an update every 8 days, QuickNotes X every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Notepad | QuickNotes X |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (28K ratings) — better | 4.3 (3.8K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 84.1% of reviews — better | 38.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 28K — better | 3.8K |
| Update frequency | Every 8 days — better | Every 5 weeks |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 75 MB | 354 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | 1381802 Ontario Inc. | Alessandro Sassi |
Customer experience
Notepad
QuickNotes X
User reviews
Notepad
From 28K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Simple and easy to use
- 📝 Useful for notes, lists, and reminders
- 🎨 Customizable font and color options
- 💾 Reliable for storing important information
- 🔍 Helpful search functionality
Room to improve
- 💰 Premium subscription required to remove ads
- 🐛 Occasional data loss or note disappearance
- 📤 Lack of sharing or exporting options
- 🔒 No password protection for individual notes
QuickNotes X
From 3.8K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 💻 Intuitive and easy to use
- 📚 Helpful for organizing notes
- 🎨 Variety of paper templates and pens
- 🔊 Voice recording feature
- ⚡️ Smooth writing experience with Apple Pencil
Room to improve
- 🔒 Limited functionality without paying for pro version
- 🐛 Glitches, crashes, and data loss issues
- 💭 Handwriting can appear blurry or distorted
- 🖋️ Lack of palm rejection when writing
- 📁 Inability to reorder or move pages
Bugs and requests
Notepad
Reported bugs
2 issues- Notes randomly disappearing
- Ads covering up the note-taking area
Requested features
4 requests- Add drawing/highlighting tools
- Integrate with calendar and contacts
- Ability to sort and organize notes
- Option to password protect specific notes
QuickNotes X
Reported bugs
4 issues- Notes randomly disappearing or becoming corrupted
- Pen input not registering correctly or lagging
- Unexpected page flipping or navigation issues
- Syncing problems between devices
Requested features
5 requests- Add text typing option for those with poor handwriting
- Implement cloud sync and cross-device access
- Include more customization options like templates and colors
- Improve shape recognition and drawing tools
- Allow rearranging and organizing of pages/notebooks
In-app purchases
Notepad
- Monthly Premium Membership$1.991 Month
- Monthly Premium Subscription$2.991 Month
- Yearly Premium Subscription$14.991 Year
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- Yearly Premium Subscription$17.991 Year
- Lifetime Premium Membership$19.99
- Lifetime Premium Membership$29.99
- Lifetime Premium Membership$39.99
QuickNotes X
- Cloud & ML Pack$0.993 Months
- Covers Pack$0.99
- Templates Pack$0.99
- QuickNotes X AI: 50000 Tokens$0.99
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- QuickNotes X AI: 100000 Tokens$1.99
- Notebooks & Folders Pack$2.99
- Tools Pack$2.99
- QuickNotes X AI: 300000 Tokens$3.99
- QuickNotes X Pro$4.99
- Pro Pack$5.99
- QuickNotes X AI: 500000 Tokens$5.99







