Comparison

Sketch vs Notebook

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

Head to head
About

Sketch

Create drawings and sketches directly on your device. Offers a wide range of colors, adjustable brush thickness, and transparency options for detailed artwork. Compatible across Apple devices.

Highlights
  • Minimalist interface
  • 16 million+ color selection
  • Adjustable brush thickness
  • Color transparency
  • Cross-device compatibility
Features
Read full description

Sketch Notes is a simple application that allows you to draw on the device. Several functions available : - Look minimal - Choose more than 16 million colors with RGB selection - Choose the thickness of the brush - Added the color transparency - Compatible with iPhone, iPad and Mac

About

Notebook

Capture your thoughts, ideas, and tasks with a versatile digital notebook. Create rich notes with text, files, audio, and video. Organize content visually, collaborate in real-time, and access everything across your devices.

Highlights
  • Rich note creation with text, files, audio, and video
  • Checklist creation for task management
  • Bookmark collection and offline reading
  • Kanban-style note organization
  • Real-time collaboration and sharing
  • AI-powered journaling suggestions
  • Cross-device and cloud synchronization
Features
Read full description

Zoho Notebook is a free, ad-free note-taking app for students, teams and researchers: capture, find and reuse what you write down — typed notes, Apple Pencil handwriting, voice recordings with AI transcription, checklists, files and document scans in one note. Syncs across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and other devices. WHAT PEOPLE USE NOTEBOOK FOR 1. MEETING AND LECTURE NOTES Record with audio or video cards; Notebook AI turns it into searchable text with timestamps, so you jump straight to the decision instead of replaying it. Structured minutes with title, participants, decisions and action points sit in the note beside your highlights. Record screen and self at once; longer videos get chapters. 2. STUDY AND RESEARCH Record lectures and search the transcript weeks later. Scan textbooks and business cards, handwrite and sketch with Apple Pencil, use OCR to find text inside photos and handwritten notes, so nothing you captured becomes unfindable. A long note becomes an AI mind map before an exam. 3. DAILY TO-DOS AND JOURNALING Dedicated checklist cards keep tasks beside your notes, and recurring reminders keep them on schedule. Journaling prompts come from your own activity, easier to keep than a blank page. 4. FILES, SCANS, AND SAVED READING Add PDFs, Word docs and spreadsheets with file cards. Articles, videos, recipes and how-tos become Smart Cards, formatted automatically, readable offline and ad-free. Group it all into nested collections. QUESTIONS PEOPLE ASK Is it free? Yes, with 2GB of free storage and no ads. Notebook Pro adds more storage, longer notes, larger attachments, Email-In to save emails as notes, premium covers, and custom recurring reminders. Can I move my notes from Evernote, Google Keep, or OneNote? Yes, with dedicated migration tools; it arrives organized. Is my data private? Notes are encrypted in transit and at rest. We never sell your data and never show ads. Lock notes or notebooks with a password, Touch ID or Face ID; previews stay hidden until unlocked. Does it work offline? Yes. Create, edit and read offline, then pick up on another device once it syncs to the cloud. What can Notebook AI do? Transcribe audio and video, build mind maps, summarize and simplify, fix grammar, set tone (casual, professional, friendly, direct, or confident), translate into any language, draft notes, checklists, tables, code or a template from a prompt, and suggest tags. Notebook AI is a separate add-on. Does it use on-device AI and Siri? Yes. An on-device Knowledge Graph links ideas across notebooks and answers questions from your own notes. Siri creates and updates notes by voice with the app closed, and On-Screen Awareness summarizes what's on screen without switching apps. Can I share with non-users? Yes. @mention people to collaborate in real time, or publish a public note or video by link. MORE INSIDE - Search by title, content, tag, collaborator, or notebook; filter by any card type, contact, or link; search within one note; sort by date or relevance, with auto-suggestions and recent searches, offline and across languages - iPhone: text-search audio notes, share via iMessage, dictate with Siri, recent notes from the Notification Bar, SharePlay in calls - iPad: drag and drop, split view, slide over, multiple windows, Stage Manager - Apple Watch: record audio, scribble notes, check off lists, add photo notes, record in one tap from a watch face complication - VoiceOver and a dark interface - Roll back to any of a note's last 10 versions Subscriptions auto-renew unless cancelled and are charged to your Apple Account. Prices vary by location. Manage in your account settings. Privacy - https://www.zoho.com/privacy.html Terms - https://www.zoho.com/terms.html

Screenshots

Sketch4 screens
Notebook4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Notebook at 4.7 against Sketch's 1.6. Notebook also leads on review sentiment (65% vs 25%) and update cadence (every 6 days vs every 7 months). Sketch's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 8). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Notebook sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $2.49 per month. Sketch asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Notebook holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 1.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notebook has 24K ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 25% of Sketch's written reviews are positive against 65% of Notebook's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sketch ships an update every 7 months, Notebook every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on June 8, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Sketch versus Notebook: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSketchNotebook
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.6 (7 ratings)4.7 (24K ratings) — better
Positive reviews25.0% of reviews64.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings724K — better
Update frequencyEvery 7 monthsEvery 6 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS15.6 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB220 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFrancesco AbbondoZoho Corporation

Customer experience

Sketch

All ratings7 ratings
Positive14.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative85.7%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive25.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative75.0%

Notebook

All ratings23,853 ratings
Positive93.2%
Neutral3.1%
Negative3.7%
Written reviews603 reviews
Positive64.7%
Neutral10.4%
Negative24.9%

Bugs and requests

Sketch

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Notebook

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Notes disappearing or getting corrupted
  • Freezing and crashing issues
  • Inconsistent behavior when editing notes
  • Syncing problems across devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved sorting and reordering options for notes
  • Enhanced search capabilities
  • Ability to export notes in various formats
  • More customization options for notebook covers
  • Integration with other productivity apps

In-app purchases

None

Sketch

No in-app purchases

7 purchases

Notebook

Subscriptions7
  • Notebook Pro$2.491 Month
  • Notebook Pro Plus$3.991 Month
  • Notebook AI$4.991 Month
Show 4 more
  • Notebook Personal$14.991 Year
  • Notebook Pro2 variants$24.991 Year
  • Notebook Pro Plus$39.991 Year
  • Notebook AI$49.991 Year

Questions

Is Sketch free?
Sketch is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Notebook free?
Notebook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Sketch or Notebook?
Notebook is rated higher. Sketch averages 1.6 out of 5 from 7 ratings, while Notebook averages 4.7 from 24K ratings.
Do Sketch or Notebook have ads?
Neither Sketch nor Notebook shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sketch or Notebook?
Sketch ships an update every 7 months, and Notebook every 6 days. Most recently, Sketch was updated on June 8, 2026 and Notebook on September 25, 2026.

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