Comparison

MetaMoJi Note Lite vs Notes Writer

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

Head to head
About

MetaMoJi Note Lite

This app is a versatile digital notebook and PDF annotation tool. Visually sketch ideas with various pens, take notes, or mark up documents. It functions as a virtual whiteboard for brainstorming and digital scrapbooking, with premium features available.

Highlights
  • Sketch with stylish pens and ink
  • Annotate imported PDF documents
  • Virtual whiteboard for brainstorming
  • Digital scrapbooking
  • 50X scaling ability
  • Share via email and social media
  • Cloud synchronization
Read full description

MetaMoJi Note is a cross-platform note taking app, PDF annotation tool, and a digital scrapbook for your life. Sketch your ideas visually with stylish pens and ink, take notes, or annotate imported PDF documents. MetaMoJi Note is a virtual whiteboard for sketching, annotation, scrapbooking or digital mashup. Premium upgrades include voice recording, handwriting recognition and text conversion, automatic synchronization of documents, and a shared drive. MetaMoJi Note is the only note-taking app available across all major mobile platforms. Winner of multiple awards: Tabby Award for Best Personal Productivity App - Silver Stevie® Award for International Business - Finalist for Appy Award for Productivity - #1 Productivity App in Japan Capture, share, and access your inspiration anywhere, anytime! Key Features • Intuitive and flexible navigation • Take notes or sketch your ideas with a variety of pens, paper layouts and graphics, including calligraphy pens and special pastel inks • 50X scaling ability - scale your document up to a whiteboard or down to a sticky note while still maintaining 100% visual integrity • Import a PDF file, mark it up as needed, and save it as another PDF file • Share creations by email or upload to Twitter, Facebook or Tumblr • Sync all folders or selected folders to the MetaMoJi Cloud, a cloud service that allows you to save and manage your documents (up to 2GB for free) • Save drawings as individual JPEG graphics in the items library for later use • Scale, rotate, or move text boxes anywhere in your work space • Interactively browse the web from within the app and mark up sites • Built-in spell checker • Premium feature: Voice recording and audio editing to associate sound bits to pages or parts of your document or composition. MetaMoJi Note Lite is free to download and use. MetaMoJi Note adds the great features above, along with voice memo, audio editing, text formatting, and password protection capabilities. The Gold Service offers advanced cloud storage, auto sync, and unlimited access to optional inks, premium items, papers and note styles for more professional results. Here are some ways to use MetaMoJi Note for your personal and business life: • Generate quick notes and to-do lists • Mark up and sign contracts and critical business documents • Use as a dynamic whiteboard to brainstorm and present • PDF and photo annotation • Review/edit documents and share feedback through email • Capture and markup website pages • Sketch drawings • Outline an essay, article or story • Create your own “Pinterest” board and share via social networks • Digital scrapbooking • Play games • Design flyers or greeting cards • Draw a flowchart • Maintain a digital calendar • Compile recipes • Create a party invitation Learn more: More about MetaMoJi Note: http://noteanytime.com/en/quick_guide.html Support: http://noteanytime.com/en/support.html Twitter: https://twitter.com/noteanytime Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NoteAnytime YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/NoteAnytime Contact us: http://noteanytime.com/en/contact.html

About

Notes Writer

This app is a comprehensive note-taking and PDF editing solution for mobile devices. It allows users to write, format, and organize notes, annotate PDFs, fill forms, and scan documents. The app offers advanced editing tools, powerful search, and seamless sharing and export options.

Highlights
  • Write and format notes
  • Annotate PDFs and fill forms
  • Organize with unlimited notebooks
  • Powerful full-text search
  • Document scanning
  • Sync with cloud services
  • Export to multiple formats
Features
Read full description

Every note. Every format. Unlimited Digital Notebooks. Like paper, but better. Take lecture notes, prepare for exams and develop your research. Bring the same tools to manuscripts, interviews, lesson plans, meetings and creative projects. Notes Writer keeps your work together on iPad, iPhone and compatible Apple silicon Macs. Designed for students and anyone who wants to learn, create and stay organized—including teachers, writers, journalists, doctors, architects, illustrators, mathematicians, researchers and business professionals. WRITE & CAPTURE • Handwriting, sketching & painting Take handwritten notes with Apple Pencil, type a document or explore a concept through drawing. Use dedicated sketching, watercolor and oil painting tools for illustrations and creative work. • PDF annotation Review lecture slides, medical literature and professional reports. Highlight PDFs, add comments, images and shapes, fill forms and sign documents. Keep your annotations beside the source material. • Recording & transcription Record lectures, business meetings and interviews, transcribe the audio and search the transcript for the detail you need. Add recordings to PDF notes and whiteboards, then listen back at your own pace. STUDY & RESEARCH • Courses, manuscripts & research projects Choose an optional project tree to arrange topics, sources and drafts in a Study Project. Use the Binder for structure, the Corkboard to plan sections and compilation to assemble a document or ebook. • Whiteboards, diagrams & outlines Create whiteboards with notes, images, recordings and tables. Build flowcharts and diagrams to explain a process, compare findings or plan a lesson or project. Use Outline Notes when your ideas need a hierarchy. • Flashcards & review Create flashcards with text, handwriting and images, or generate them from notes and PDFs with optional AI tools. Review with spaced repetition, answer by typing or speaking, and track your progress. MATH & SCIENCE • Calculations, Python & charts Math Notebooks combine written reasoning, symbolic calculations and Python cells. Plot results, explore a model and present your data in editable Chart documents. • LaTeX & technical PDFs Write technical papers in LaTeX and compile them to PDF with a preview of the result. For plans and technical drawings, set a scale and measure distances, perimeters and areas directly on the PDF. ORGANIZE & SHARE • Notebooks, folders & templates Create and customize folders, subfolders and notebooks. Choose names, covers and paper templates that suit each course or project. Scan handouts, search your collection and manage documents with sorting, moving and grouping tools. • Documents side by side Open documents in tabs and work with your reading and draft side by side. Create a study planner, lesson plan, research journal or manuscript within the same library. • Formats for your work Work across PDF, Microsoft Word (DOCX), EPUB, RTF, Markdown, plain text (TXT), HTML, LaTeX and OPML outlines. Edit formatted documents, read ebooks and export supported documents as PDF, DOCX, RTF, HTML or EPUB. Export options vary by document type. • Sync, backup & privacy Sync with iCloud and work with Dropbox and Google Drive files through the Files app, with changes synced by your provider. Set up automatic document backups, use autosave and recovery, and protect the app and folders with a passcode. OPTIONAL AI ASSISTANT Ask questions about your notes and documents, simplify an explanation, summarize a reading or refine your writing. Use translation, grammar and tone tools when they help. Review every suggestion and decide what belongs in your work. Start a notebook. Study, create and work your way. Privacy Policy http://www.noteswriter.com/Kairoos_Privacy_Policy.html Terms of Use https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

MetaMoJi Note Lite2 screens
Notes Writer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Notes Writer at 4.5 against MetaMoJi Note Lite's 3.6. Notes Writer also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (7.3K vs 91). MetaMoJi Note Lite's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 9) and review sentiment (68% vs 45%). On price, ads 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

Both are free to download. Notes Writer sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. MetaMoJi Note Lite asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Notes Writer holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notes Writer has 7.3K ratings behind it against 91, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 68% of MetaMoJi Note Lite's written reviews are positive against 45% of Notes Writer's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MetaMoJi Note Lite ships an update every 2 months, Notes Writer every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
MetaMoJi Note Lite versus Notes Writer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMetaMoJi Note LiteNotes Writer
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.6 (91 ratings)4.5 (7.3K ratings) — better
Positive reviews67.6% of reviews — better45.0% of reviews
Number of ratings917.3K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS7.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size105 MB660 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMetaMoJi CorporationKairoos Solutions SL

Customer experience

MetaMoJi Note Lite

All ratings91 ratings
Positive59.3%
Neutral14.3%
Negative26.4%
Written reviews411 reviews
Positive67.6%
Neutral11.9%
Negative20.4%

Notes Writer

All ratings7,332 ratings
Positive86.8%
Neutral5.1%
Negative8.1%
Written reviews963 reviews
Positive45.0%
Neutral15.1%
Negative40.0%

User reviews

MetaMoJi Note Lite

From 91 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great free alternative
  • ✍️ Good for handwriting
  • 🎨 Many page formats
  • 🖼️ Easy to import images
  • 🗂️ Well-organized notes

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes
  • 📉 Data loss issues
  • 🎨 Limited color options
  • 🎨 Limited pen types
  • ⏳ Outdated interface

Notes Writer

From 7.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Smooth writing experience
  • 💡 Versatile note-taking features
  • 🔒 Good privacy
  • 👍 Useful for various purposes (notes, PDF annotations, etc.)

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and freezes
  • 🔒 Limiting free version with paywalls
  • 🐛 Bugs with erasing, page management, and file corruption
  • 🐛 Laggy performance and slow loading times

Bugs and requests

MetaMoJi Note Lite

Reported bugs

11 issues
  • App crashes frequently
  • Notes and pages disappear
  • Images in PDFs show blank
  • App freezes during use
  • Cutting/copying causes crashes
Show 6 more
  • Sync issues
  • Technical support unavailable
  • Review program is screwed up
  • Cannot connect to server for sync
  • VoiceOver accessibility issues
  • App looks small on newer devices

Requested features

17 requests
  • More color options
  • Color wheel
  • More pen types
  • Share screen option
  • Mac version
Show 12 more
  • Guides for lasso tool
  • Read mode for bullet journaling
  • Android font change option
  • Ad-free subscription option
  • Improve homepage design
  • Add highlight feature
  • More font colors
  • Right to left option for Hebrew/Arabic
  • Note pad feature
  • Full version for free
  • Import PDFs directly from iTunes
  • Record audio feature

Notes Writer

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Notes randomly disappearing or getting corrupted
  • Inability to recover deleted documents
  • Unexpected behavior when adding/deleting pages
  • Syncing issues and broken links between documents

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add more brushes and pen customization options
  • Improve the clipping/selection tool
  • Implement OCR and handwriting search
  • Provide a Mac version

In-app purchases

None

MetaMoJi Note Lite

No in-app purchases

8 purchases

Notes Writer

Subscriptions3
  • Weekly$1.997 Days
  • Notes Writer Unlock All and AI3 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Notes Writer Unlock All and AI3 Days trial$14.991 Year
One-time5
  • Full Version Unlock Pro$3.99
  • Full Version Unlock Pro$4.99
  • Full Version Unlock Pro2 variants$5.99
Show 2 more
  • Full Version Unlock Pro$6.99
  • Lifetime Pro Full Unlock$14.99

Questions

Is MetaMoJi Note Lite free?
MetaMoJi Note Lite is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Notes Writer free?
Notes Writer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, MetaMoJi Note Lite or Notes Writer?
Notes Writer is rated higher. MetaMoJi Note Lite averages 3.6 out of 5 from 91 ratings, while Notes Writer averages 4.5 from 7.3K ratings.
Do MetaMoJi Note Lite or Notes Writer have ads?
Neither MetaMoJi Note Lite nor Notes Writer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MetaMoJi Note Lite or Notes Writer?
MetaMoJi Note Lite ships an update every 2 months, and Notes Writer every 4 days. Most recently, MetaMoJi Note Lite was updated on October 26, 2026 and Notes Writer on November 1, 2026.

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