Comparison

Notepad vs xTiles

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

xTiles

Capture notes, tasks, and ideas with a versatile app that syncs across devices. Organize everything visually with drag-and-drop boards, and access your content online or offline. Stay productive with reminders, calendars, and quick search.

Highlights
  • Jot down notes and voice recordings
  • Snap sketches and upload photos
  • Save web content (text, images, links)
  • Create to-do lists and set reminders
  • Organize ideas into visual boards
  • Instant cross-device syncing
  • Offline access
Features
Read full description

At your desk, on the go, online or offline, enjoy the powerful capabilities of xTiles! Free your creativity with the same beautiful experience, whatever you’re on. ORGANIZE EVERYTHING IN ONE PLACE • Jot down quick notes, ideas, and voice recordings. • Snap sketches and upload photos from your camera. • Save text, images & links from the web. STAY ON TOP OF DAILY WORK • Keep your workflow organized with to-do lists. • Get organized with calendars and reminders. • Pin keynotes and ideas for quick access to them. JUMP INTO ANY PROJECT FAST • Find anything you saved to xTiles in seconds. • View and work without the lag and fall with a visually appealing experience. CONTINUE WORK IN A VISUAL WAY When you're back at your computer, flexibly organize your ideas and projects into visual boards with a drag-and-drop interface. INSTANT SYNCING Anything you save to the app is instantly synced to all of your devices. Native app store content on your devices, so you’ll never lose your flow. Ideas can strike you at any time! Be ready to convert them into something more! Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://xtiles.app/en/privacypolicy

Screenshots

Notepad4 screens
xTiles4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Notepad at 84% against xTiles's 35%. Notepad also leads on rating (4.8 vs 3.5) and ratings volume (28K vs 124). xTiles's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). On price, update cadence, 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. Notepad sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and xTiles sells 11 in-app purchases, starting at $15.00 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Notepad holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notepad has 28K ratings behind it against 124, 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 35% of xTiles's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Notepad ships an update every 8 days, xTiles every 10 days. Both last shipped on October 1, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Notepad versus xTiles: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotepadxTiles
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (28K ratings) — better3.5 (124 ratings)
Positive reviews84.1% of reviews — better35.2% of reviews
Number of ratings28K — better124
Update frequencyEvery 8 days — betterEvery 10 days
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size75 MB98 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer1381802 Ontario Inc.xtiles inc

Customer experience

Notepad

All ratings28,224 ratings
Positive96.6%
Neutral1.8%
Negative1.5%
Written reviews963 reviews
Positive84.1%
Neutral4.5%
Negative11.4%

xTiles

All ratings124 ratings
Positive55.6%
Neutral15.3%
Negative29.0%
Written reviews108 reviews
Positive35.2%
Neutral26.9%
Negative38.0%

User reviews

Notepad

From 28K App Store ratings

What 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

xTiles

From 124 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly interface
  • 🎨 Highly customizable design with templates
  • 💡 Excellent for ADHD organization and productivity
  • 🖥️ Desktop version works exceptionally well
  • 📊 Visual organization with flexible tile-based layout

Room to improve

  • 📱 Mobile app severely lacks desktop functionality
  • 🐛 iPad app is poorly optimized and glitchy
  • ❌ Cannot edit or create content on mobile devices
  • 🔧 Limited customization options on mobile
  • 📊 Tables and charts cannot be edited on mobile

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

xTiles

Reported bugs

13 issues
  • Mobile app fails to load boards
  • Cannot duplicate or delete items on mobile
  • Text input jumps and backspace behaves incorrectly
  • Long-hold on images triggers copy/paste menu
  • Calendar dates incorrect for 2025
Show 8 more
  • Images in vision boards don't display properly
  • App crashes when trying to edit
  • Cannot save edits on mobile
  • Tiles don't respond to touch input
  • Desktop site request feature blocked on iPad
  • Spotify playlist cannot be removed from templates
  • Typing in tables doesn't work on tablet
  • App freezes when adding notes

Requested features

16 requests
  • Home screen widgets for quick access
  • Mobile layout optimization for smaller screens
  • Full editing capabilities on mobile devices
  • Multi-factor authentication (MFA) support
  • Ability to delete and rearrange sections on mobile
Show 11 more
  • Calendar widget for notifications
  • Apple Pencil support for handwriting
  • Drag-and-drop functionality on mobile
  • More integrations with external services
  • Dark mode option
  • Custom fonts and expanded color palette
  • Automatic task removal when completed
  • Chart and formula creation capabilities
  • Ability to create new projects from mobile
  • Better template customization on iPad
  • Photo gallery integration for cover images

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
11 purchases

xTiles

Subscriptions8
  • Plus$15.001 Month
  • Plus$19.001 Month
  • Pro$35.001 Month
Show 5 more
  • Starter$69.001 Year
  • Plus$99.001 Year
  • Ultimate Productivity Bundle$99.001 Year
  • Plus$149.001 Year
  • Pro$299.001 Year
One-time3
  • Basic Productivity Bundle$59.00
  • Lifetime Access$149.99
  • Believer Plan$199.00

Questions

Is Notepad free?
Notepad is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is xTiles free?
xTiles is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Notepad or xTiles?
Notepad is rated higher. Notepad averages 4.8 out of 5 from 28K ratings, while xTiles averages 3.5 from 124 ratings.
Do Notepad or xTiles have ads?
Notepad shows ads; xTiles does not.
Which is updated more often, Notepad or xTiles?
Notepad ships an update every 8 days, and xTiles every 10 days. Most recently, Notepad was updated on October 1, 2026 and xTiles on October 1, 2026.

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