Comparison

Notepad vs Notes, To

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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.

About

Notes, To

Capture notes, tasks, voice recordings, and web pages in a single, private app. Organize your thoughts and projects with flexible blocks, tags, and a folder-like system. Sync your data across devices and personalize your experience with themes.

Highlights
  • Private local data storage
  • Modular content blocks
  • Folder-like organization with tags
  • Integrated to-do list system
  • Save web pages for later
  • Voice memo recording
  • Cross-device cloud sync
Features
Read full description

Notes, tasks, voice recordings, web pages, and files - all in one beautiful native iOS app. Your data stays on your device Featured by Apple - "New Apps We Love" 4.8 stars from thousands of users "Better than Notion for personal use - kind of like Notion, but native" "Better than Evernote's and OneNote's mobile app" "Best notes app. It does everything I could want" - KEY FEATURES - PRIVATE All data stored locally on your device, owned by you. No account required to get started. Just open the app and write. MODULAR Every piece of content is an independent block. Capture texts, lists, to-dos, files, bookmarks, locations, and more - then arrange them however you want. ORGANIZED Folder-like system, tags, color coding, and search. Put notes inside other notes to build any structure you need - shopping lists, project plans, or an entire personal knowledge base. TO-DOS Flexible task and project system built right into your notes. Create checklists, set reminders, check items off. No need for a separate task app. DRAG & DROP Add content and move it around, anywhere you want. Designed for touch from day one - not adapted from desktop. READ IT LATER Save websites and articles to read later. Keep everything you find online in one place alongside your notes. VOICE MEMOS Record memos, meeting notes, lectures, and ideas. Right there next to your text notes, not in a separate app. CLOUD SYNC Back up your data and access it on all your devices. Works offline first - syncs automatically when you reconnect. THEMES Beautiful themes to personalize your space. Make the app feel like yours. - PERFECT FOR - - Shopping lists, grocery lists, daily checklists - Quick notes, ideas, and thoughts - Managing tasks and to-dos - Organizing projects and personal knowledge - Saving web links to read later - Collecting recipes, travel plans, fitness tips - Recording voice memos and meeting notes - Keeping files and documents in one place - Journaling and personal diary - And much more - UNIT PLUS - A powerful free version is available for everyone. Upgrade to Plus to unlock: - Unlimited blocks - Advanced block types (audio, location, toggle) - Passcode protection - Save web pages offline - Premium themes collection - Unlimited uploads - Unlimited devices - Priority support Unit is free. If you choose to upgrade to Plus, payment will be charged to your Apple account, and your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. You can choose to be billed monthly or yearly. You can turn off auto-renew in your Apple ID Account Settings any time after purchase. - Join our community: - Reddit: r/unitnotes - Twitter: @unitnotes - Email: support@unit.app - Terms of Service: https://unit.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://unit.app/privacy

Screenshots

Notepad4 screens
Notes, To4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Notes, To at none against Notepad's shown. Notepad's advantage is ratings volume (28K vs 108) and update cadence (every 8 days vs every 6 weeks). On price, rating, review sentiment and in-app purchases 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. Notepad sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Notes, To sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Notepad against 4.8 for Notes, To. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notepad has 28K ratings behind it against 108, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 84% of Notepad's written reviews are positive against 82% of Notes, To's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Notepad ships an update every 8 days, Notes, To every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Notepad versus Notes, To: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotepadNotes, To
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (28K ratings) — better4.8 (108 ratings)
Positive reviews84.1% of reviews — better81.8% of reviews
Number of ratings28K — better108
Update frequencyEvery 8 days — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size100 MB20 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer1381802 Ontario Inc.Nazir Dashtiev

Customer experience

Notepad

All ratings27,905 ratings
Positive96.7%
Neutral1.8%
Negative1.5%
Written reviews961 reviews
Positive84.1%
Neutral4.5%
Negative11.4%

Notes, To

All ratings107 ratings
Positive94.4%
Neutral1.9%
Negative3.7%
Written reviews44 reviews
Positive81.8%
Neutral4.5%
Negative13.6%

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

Notes, To

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Notepad

Subscriptions4
  • Monthly Premium Membership$1.991 Month
  • Monthly Premium Subscription$2.991 Month
  • Yearly Premium Subscription$14.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Yearly Premium Subscription$17.991 Year
One-time3
  • Lifetime Premium Membership$19.99
  • Lifetime Premium Membership$29.99
  • Lifetime Premium Membership$39.99
4 purchases

Notes, To

Subscriptions3
  • Month$3.991 Month
  • 6 months$19.996 Months
  • Year$34.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$99.99

Questions

Is Notepad free?
Notepad is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Notes, To free?
Notes, To is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Notepad or Notes, To?
Notepad is rated higher. Notepad averages 4.8 out of 5 from 28K ratings, while Notes, To averages 4.8 from 108 ratings.
Do Notepad or Notes, To have ads?
Notepad shows ads; Notes, To does not.
Which is updated more often, Notepad or Notes, To?
Notepad ships an update every 8 days, and Notes, To every 6 weeks. Most recently, Notepad was updated on September 25, 2026 and Notes, To on September 19, 2026.

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