Comparison

Notepad vs Jot Down

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

Jot Down

Create visually appealing sticky notes and to-do lists with customizable colors and fonts. Sync your notes seamlessly across all Apple devices using iCloud. Organize tasks with checkpoint options directly from your home screen widgets.

Highlights
  • Customizable sticky notes
  • To-do list functionality
  • Homescreen widgets
  • iCloud sync across Apple devices
  • Variety of font styles
  • Gradient color options
Features
Read full description

Sticky notes that stay where you look. Jot Down is a focused text-note app for quick thoughts, reminders, and everyday writing. Pin notes to Home or Lock Screen widgets, style them your way, and keep them synced through your private iCloud. WHY JOT DOWN • See important notes without opening the app • Start a new note from Home or Lock Screen • Dictate text with on-device speech recognition • Add reminders to a note • Organize with folders, favorites, colors, fonts, and wallpapers • Sync across iPhone, iPad, and Mac • No subscription or in-app paywall HOW IT WORKS 1. Capture a thought 2. Style or organize it 3. Pin it to a widget when it needs to stay visible Jot Down creates text notes only. It does not include the task, audio, scanner, drawing, focus, or countdown editors from Mini Notes. Download Jot Down and keep the next idea in sight.

Screenshots

Notepad4 screens
Jot Down4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Notepad at Free against Jot Down's $1.99. Notepad also leads on ratings volume (28K vs 5) and update cadence (every 8 days vs monthly). Jot Down's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 7) and ads (none vs shown). On rating 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Notepad is free to download; Jot Down costs $1.99 up front. Notepad sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Jot Down asks for nothing beyond the download.

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 Jot Down. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notepad has 28K ratings behind it against 5, 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 100% of Jot Down's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Notepad ships an update every 8 days, Jot Down monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Notepad versus Jot Down: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotepadJot Down
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating4.8 (28K ratings)4.8 (5 ratings)
Positive reviews84.1% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings28K — better5
Update frequencyEvery 8 days — betterMonthly
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS18.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size75 MB61 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer1381802 Ontario Inc.Mohini Sharma

Customer experience

Notepad

All ratings28,224 ratings
Positive96.6%
Neutral1.8%
Negative1.5%
Written reviews961 reviews
Positive84.1%
Neutral4.5%
Negative11.4%

Jot Down

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

Jot Down

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
None

Jot Down

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Notepad free?
Notepad is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Jot Down free?
Jot Down costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Notepad or Jot Down?
Notepad and Jot Down are both rated 4.8 out of 5 on the App Store, from 28K and 5 ratings respectively.
Do Notepad or Jot Down have ads?
Notepad shows ads; Jot Down does not.
Which is updated more often, Notepad or Jot Down?
Notepad ships an update every 8 days, and Jot Down monthly. Most recently, Notepad was updated on September 27, 2026 and Jot Down on September 21, 2026.

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