Comparison

Notepad vs Notepad+ Pro

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

Notepad+ Pro

This app transforms your iPad into a digital notebook for taking notes, sketching, and annotating documents. It offers a variety of templates, editing tools, and export options to enhance productivity and creativity.

Highlights
  • Take notes and sketch digitally
  • Annotate PDFs and other files
  • Organize notes on virtual boards
  • Password protection for notes
  • Export notes in PDF or image format
  • Customizable templates
  • Apple Pencil support with palm rejection
Read full description

Fully optimized for iPad Pro and Apple Pencil! Notepad+ is pen and paper right on your iPad exactly when you need them. Take notes, draw, make sketches, annotate PDFs, create lists and memos, export your notes, and discover other great features. From now on you can be more productive than ever! CREATE & ANNOTATE - Take notes in lectures, seminars, business meetings, and conferences - Аnotate and edit files in various formats: PDF, Excel, Keynote, Numbers and more - Organize notes on a virtual board - Quickly assign a unique title to each note - Change the template of any note in seconds - Protect sensitive notes with a password - Always pick up where you left off with the autosave feature CUSTOMIZE & EDIT - Move images easily from other apps using iOS 11 Drag and Drop - Choose your template from 8 template galleries (Basic, Education, Lifestyle, Business, Sports, Games, Photo Frames, Music) - Enjoy the editing options you're used to: easily cut, copy and paste any content - Make the most of ink pens, highlighters and colors for true handwriting experience - Enlarge parts on your screen to better see words and images with Magnification Tool - Zoom in and out to pay attention to details while sketching or drawing - Add photos to make your notes more visually appealing - Use helpful Icons, funny smileys and add text next to them to make your notes more catchy and emotional - Hide sensitive content with a single tap using Blur - Reorganize your notes with a drag-and-drop gesture, sort them by date created or modified - Use the iPad keyboard to type your notes - Experience all the advantages of maximum portability when using Smart Keyboard for iPad Pro - Use your finger or stylus when writing or drawing - Use Apple Pencil to create sketches or take notes without accidental marks or blots applying palm rejection function - Adjust the palm rest to prevent marks - Photo extension: mark up images right in your iPad's Photos app, use pens and highlighters to add notes and captions easily. - Create notes by importing and editing files in numerous formats: Excel (.xls), Keynote (.key), Numbers (.numbers), Pages (.pages), PDF (.pdf), Powerpoint (.ppt), Word (.doc), Rich Text Format (.rtf), Rich Text Format Directory (.rtfd), Keynote ’09 (.key), Numbers ‘09 (.numbers), Pages ‘09 (.pages) EXPORT & SHARE - Share a page or the whole notebook - Select a format (PDF or image) for better manageability - Email, print, save to Photos or iTunes - Use the Quick Search to find important notes in an instance GET 24/7 SUPPORT - Ask questions about the app and get immediate help with managing your notes - just contact us at support@apalon.com Notepad+ gives you the best of a digital notebook, all in one place. AdChoices: http://www.apalon.com/privacy_policy.html#4 For complete access to all Notepad+ features, you will need to allow access to the following: *Photos – so you can import your snapshots, mark them up, and save them. *Camera – so you can take photos and edit them within the app. *Contacts – so you can add them to documents and email your notes.

Screenshots

Notepad4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Notepad at Free against Notepad+ Pro's $19.99. Notepad also leads on update cadence (every 8 days vs every 2 months) and review sentiment (84% vs 61%). Notepad+ Pro's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 7) and ads (none vs shown). On 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; Notepad+ Pro costs $19.99 up front. Notepad sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Notepad+ Pro asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Notepad holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 28K and 6.3K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 84% of Notepad's written reviews are positive against 61% of Notepad+ Pro's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Notepad ships an update every 8 days, Notepad+ Pro every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 1 level
Notepad versus Notepad+ Pro: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotepadNotepad+ Pro
PriceFree — better$19.99
Rating4.8 (28K ratings) — better4.6 (6.3K ratings)
Positive reviews84.3% of reviews — better60.7% of reviews
Number of ratings28K — better6.3K
Update frequencyEvery 8 days — betterEvery 2 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPad
Requires iOS18.08.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size75 MB57 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer1381802 Ontario Inc.Mosaic S.r.l.

Customer experience

Notepad

All ratings28,397 ratings
Positive96.6%
Neutral1.8%
Negative1.5%
Written reviews972 reviews
Positive84.3%
Neutral4.4%
Negative11.3%

Notepad+ Pro

All ratings6,340 ratings
Positive90.3%
Neutral4.6%
Negative5.1%
Written reviews1,187 reviews
Positive60.7%
Neutral12.7%
Negative26.5%

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

Notepad+ Pro

From 6.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 👍 Useful templates
  • 🚀 Responsive with Apple Pencil
  • 👍 Great for note-taking and sketching
  • 👍 Versatile for various use cases

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Templates won't download
  • 🐛 Laggy or unresponsive writing experience
  • 🐛 Inability to organize notes into folders
  • 🐛 Limited color and pen options
  • 🐛 Compatibility issues with newer devices

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

Notepad+ Pro

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Frequent crashes or freezing
  • Disappearing or corrupted notes
  • Inability to open or export PDF files
  • Unresponsive or 'dead' areas on the screen
  • Inconsistent performance with Apple Pencil

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to create custom templates
  • Improved palm rejection and gesture support
  • Sync and backup capabilities across devices
  • More advanced text editing and formatting options
  • Conversion of handwritten notes to digital text

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

Notepad+ Pro

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Notepad free?
Notepad is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Notepad+ Pro free?
Notepad+ Pro costs $19.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Notepad or Notepad+ Pro?
Notepad is rated higher. Notepad averages 4.8 out of 5 from 28K ratings, while Notepad+ Pro averages 4.6 from 6.3K ratings.
Do Notepad or Notepad+ Pro have ads?
Notepad shows ads; Notepad+ Pro does not.
Which is updated more often, Notepad or Notepad+ Pro?
Notepad ships an update every 8 days, and Notepad+ Pro every 2 months. Most recently, Notepad was updated on October 12, 2026 and Notepad+ Pro on October 11, 2026.

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