LiquidText vs Element Note
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
LiquidText
This app provides a dynamic workspace for reviewing and organizing information from documents and webpages. It allows users to extract key facts, connect ideas across different sources, and annotate content for research, writing, or study.
- Import documents and webpages
- Extract and organize excerpts
- Connect ideas with ink links
- Compare document sections
- Annotate PDFs, Word, and PowerPoint
- Search across all documents
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*** Named “Most Innovative iPad App of the Year” by Apple App Store *** LiquidText offers a fast, natural way to review, gather, and organize information across all your documents and webpages—then apply the results to writing reports, meeting prep, or simply studying. Pull out key facts and connect them together, squeeze a document to compare sections, draw a line to connect ideas in different documents, comment on multiple pages at once, build upon your thoughts, and much more. ► WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING: * "If you want to experience the power of going beyond paper, you can download LiquidText" – Cult of Mac * One of Macworld’s Top 24 Apps for iPad Pro * One of Time Magazine's Ten Best apps for iPad Pro * * "There's a better way to organize your research, and the app is it." – iMore, Serenity Caldwell * “All you need for deep research projects.” – Macworld, Jackie Dove * "The world changed with...LiquidText" – Law360, Paul Kiesel * "LiquidText may just be *the* app for reviewing and annotating PDFs using Apple's tablet and stylus." – CIO Magazine, James Martin * “One of the most powerful, original iPad apps I've tried in years” – Federico Viticci, MacStories.net ► LIQUIDTEXT’S COMPLETE FEATURE SET INCLUDES: (Features with * require a paid upgrade.) Import • Create a workspace and import all the documents and web pages you need • Compatible with PDF, Word, and PowerPoint document types • Import from Dropbox, iCloud Drive, Box, email, and more • Import content from webpage or send to LiquidText directly from Safari • Instant OCR to select text in scanned documents; do a full document-OCR to search as well!* • Import documents & metadata directly from reference managers (supports Zotero and Mendeley)* Interact • Pull excerpts from all the documents in your project into the Workspace area • Add your own notes (typed or written) to the Workspace area • Freely draw on your notes, or on the workspace itself* • Organize excerpts and notes into groups • Connect anything - draw live “ink links” that span pages, documents, notes, and more* • Create mind-maps by drawing “ink links” connecting your excerpts/notes to one another * • Get context - tap notes and excerpts to find original source Compare • Pinch a document to compare different distant pages side by side • Collapse text to see annotated parts side-by-side • Collapse text to view search results(s) side-by-side • Import unlimited number of documents into a project, view up to 3 at once* Annotate • Freely draw* or highlight on your document, notes, or the workspace itself • Add margin notes/comments to text, images, notes, and excerpts • Comment on two or more selections simultaneously • Replace document with a newer version (and annotations are brought to new doc)* Search • Search for keywords across all your LiquidText documents • Find keywords in title or text of your documents* • Bulk highlight, tag, or link to your search results* Realtime Collaboration • Invite colleagues into your shared projects and work together in near realtime* • Leave comments and notifications for your collaborators* • Privacy controls: set whether each workspace & document in your project is shared or private* Easy Export • Export your project as a PDF (includes your Workspace and documents) • Export your project as a Word file (converts your notes/excerpts into a linear document) • Send a full LiquidText file for those with the app. • Send files by email or to Dropbox, iCloud Drive, Zotero, and more* Sync & Backup* • Real-time, cross-platform sync • Continuous cloud backup • Multi-device display: • Use your desktop or tablet as additional display for your other device • Use your tablet for freehand inking while viewing and keyboarding on your desktop See our terms of use at https://www.liquidtext.net/terms-of-use Learn more at LiquidText.net | Better Than Paper
Element Note
This app offers a distraction-free digital notebook experience with advanced handwriting, PDF annotation, and sketching capabilities. It features unique brushes, a powerful rendering engine, and smart organization tools. Sync your notes across devices and collaborate with others seamlessly.
- Unique handwriting brushes
- Smooth drawing engine
- PDF annotation
- Text, shape, and image attachments
- On-device OCR search
- Smart dark mode
- iCloud sync and collaboration
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Element Note is the next-gen note taking, PDF annotation, and light sketching app. We stripped down the unnecessaries and carefully polished the elemental functions for a digital notebook. With a modern look and powerful features, Element Note strives to provide an elegant writing space free of distractions. Features: Unique brushes - Pencil (HB Pencil, Mechanical Pencil) - Pen (Pen, Line Pen, Fountain Pen) - Brush (Art Brush, Round Brush) - Marker (Marker, Round Marker) Best-in-class note rendering engine - Smooth and fluid drawing powered by Metal technology - Support gradient ink for more expressive notes Powerful attachments - Text - Shape - Sticker - Image Universal Search - Search through your PDF & Handwritting using on device OCR Smart Darkmode - Smartly adapts all of your notes to the system darkmode without changing the paper or stroke colors. iCloud Sync & Collaboration - Sync via your personal iCloud (No data is passed to our server) - Collaborate through iCloud collaboration for up to 100 users. Desktop class organization - Intuitive multi-select drag and drop gesture to organize your notes or pages Element Note is free to try for up to 3 notes. Unlock the full app with an in app purchase to create unlimited notes. Terms and Conditions https://elementnote.app/terms Privacy Policy https://elementnote.app/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
LiquidText and Element Note both sit at 4.6 stars, but that hides the real split: 69% of Element Note's written reviews are positive against 50% of LiquidText's. On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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
Both are free to download. LiquidText sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $5.49 per month and Element Note sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $3.49 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for LiquidText against 4.6 for Element Note. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6.4K and 2.6K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 50% of LiquidText's written reviews are positive against 69% of Element Note's.
LiquidText ships an update every 2 weeks, Element Note fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | LiquidText | Element Note |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (6.4K ratings) | 4.6 (2.6K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 49.6% of reviews | 68.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 6.4K — better | 2.6K |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Fortnightly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 317 MB | 129 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | LiquidText, Inc. | Soysauce Lab |
Customer experience
LiquidText
Element Note
User reviews
LiquidText
From 6.4K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Powerful annotation and organization features
- 📚 Excellent for academic and research work
- 💡 Innovative concept and workflow
- 🤖 Responsive and helpful customer support
- 🖼️ Smooth integration with Apple Pencil
Room to improve
- 💰 Expensive, especially for the subscription model
- 🐛 Buggy and unstable at times
- 🤯 Steep learning curve and unintuitive interface
- 🔗 Lack of seamless cross-device sync and integration
- 🔍 Navigation and file management issues
Element Note
From 2.6K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Smooth handwriting experience
- 💡 Customizable pens and colors
- 👍 Clean and intuitive interface
- 🎨 Gradient and gradient brush tools
- 📚 Great for journaling and note-taking
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
- 🔍 Search function not working
- 🖼️ Issues with image handling and export
- 🔀 Difficulty switching between pen and eraser
- 🔑 Lack of password/locking feature for notes
Bugs and requests
LiquidText
Reported bugs
5 issues- Frequent crashes and data loss issues
- Inconsistent behavior with Apple Pencil
- Text selection and highlighting problems
- Sync issues between iPad and Mac versions
- Unexpected changes to existing annotations
Requested features
5 requests- Dark mode option
- Improved palm rejection and writing experience
- Better export and sharing options
- Thumbnail/outline view for easier navigation
- Ability to rotate and resize text/image annotations
Element Note
Reported bugs
4 issues- Notes and files randomly disappearing
- Inconsistent behavior when using the floating keyboard
- Handwriting recognition not working as expected
- Exported PDFs losing formatting and background colors
Requested features
6 requests- Ruler tool
- Ability to resize/rotate selections
- Improved text editing and formatting
- Presentation mode for connecting to displays
- Ability to import/export multiple files at once
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- Seasonal or custom sticker packs
In-app purchases
LiquidText
- LiquidText Live, Monthly, Stu7 Days trial$5.491 Month
- LiquidText Live, Monthly, StPr7 Days trial$5.491 Month
- LiquidText Unlimited, Mo, Stu7 Days trial$10.901 Month
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- LiquidText Live, Monthly7 Days trial$10.901 Month
- LiquidText Live, Monthly, Upg7 Days trial$10.901 Month
- LiquidText Unlimited, Yr, Stu7 Days trial$19.001 Month
- LiquidText Live, Yearly, Stu7 Days trial$54.901 Year
- LiquidText Live, Yearly7 Days trial$99.991 Year
- LiquidText Live, Yearly, Upg7 Days trial$99.991 Year
- LiquidText Unlimited, Yr7 Days trial$189.991 Year
- LT Pro - For Students$19.99
- LiquidText Pro$29.99
- LiquidText Pro II$89.99
Element Note
- Element Note Yearly$3.491 Year
- Element Note Yearly$4.991 Year
- Lifetime Launch Special$4.99
- Lifetime$9.99
- Lifetime$14.99







