Comparison

Handwriting Memorandum 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

Handwriting Memorandum

Easily capture your thoughts and ideas with a simple digital notebook. Draw sketches or jot down notes using your finger for quick and convenient input.

Highlights
  • Finger-based note-taking
  • Simple sketching functionality
  • Digital notebook
  • Quick input
  • Easy to use interface
Features
Read full description

You can take notes or draw simple sketches with your fingers using this app.

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

Handwriting Memorandum3 screens
Notes Writer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Handwriting Memorandum at 5.0 against Notes Writer's 4.5. Handwriting Memorandum also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 4) and review sentiment (71% vs 45%). Notes Writer's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 4 days vs every 12 months). On price 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 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Handwriting Memorandum asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Handwriting Memorandum holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notes Writer has 7.3K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of Handwriting Memorandum's written reviews are positive against 45% of Notes Writer's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Handwriting Memorandum ships an update every 12 months, Notes Writer every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Handwriting Memorandum versus Notes Writer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHandwriting MemorandumNotes Writer
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better4.5 (7.3K ratings)
Positive reviews71.4% of reviews — better44.8% of reviews
Number of ratings17.3K — better
Update frequencyEvery 12 monthsEvery 4 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationAd-supported — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB660 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperYuichi HARAKairoos Solutions SL

Customer experience

Handwriting Memorandum

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive71.4%
Neutral28.6%
Negative0.0%

Notes Writer

All ratings7,332 ratings
Positive86.8%
Neutral5.1%
Negative8.1%
Written reviews966 reviews
Positive44.8%
Neutral15.1%
Negative40.1%

Bugs and requests

Handwriting Memorandum

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

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

Handwriting Memorandum

No in-app purchases

4 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-time1
  • Lifetime Pro Full Unlock$14.99

Questions

Is Handwriting Memorandum free?
Handwriting Memorandum 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, Handwriting Memorandum or Notes Writer?
Handwriting Memorandum is rated higher. Handwriting Memorandum averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Notes Writer averages 4.5 from 7.3K ratings.
Do Handwriting Memorandum or Notes Writer have ads?
Handwriting Memorandum shows ads; Notes Writer does not.
Which is updated more often, Handwriting Memorandum or Notes Writer?
Handwriting Memorandum ships an update every 12 months, and Notes Writer every 4 days. Most recently, Handwriting Memorandum was updated on November 4, 2026 and Notes Writer on November 9, 2026.

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