# Mach Note vs Grain SA

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Grain SA at none against Mach Note's 1. Grain SA also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 9 months) and iOS requirement (10.2 vs 14.0). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Mach Note sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Grain SA asks for nothing beyond the download.

Mach Note ships an update every 9 months, Grain SA monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Mach Note | Grain SA |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[3.0 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mach-note-icloud-pdf-editor/id972400279/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **2** | — |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 9 months | **Monthly** |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Size | 18 MB | 98 MB |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 | **10.2** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Mach Software Design](https://appshunter.io/developer/327826899) | [4SIGHT SYSTEMS (PTY) LTD](https://appshunter.io/developer/656095757) |

## What reviewers say

### Mach Note

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mach-note-icloud-pdf-editor/id972400279)

This app allows for versatile note-taking with freehand drawing on native PDFs, audio recording with a 3D visualizer, and RTF word processing. Notes sync across devices via iCloud, and documents can be annotated and exported for various platforms.

**Highlights:** Freehand drawing on native PDF notes, Audio recording with 3D visualizer, RTF word processing, iCloud sync across devices, iCloud HandOff for seamless device switching, DOC/DOCX read support on iOS, read/write on OS X, Speech-to-Text dictation

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Remove Ads | $0.99 | one-time |


### Grain SA

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/grain-sa/id1665831580)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Mach Note free?

Mach Note is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Grain SA free?

Grain SA is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Do Mach Note or Grain SA have ads?

Neither Mach Note nor Grain SA shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Mach Note or Grain SA?

Mach Note ships an update every 9 months, and Grain SA monthly. Most recently, Mach Note was updated on November 1, 2026 and Grain SA on October 30, 2026.

---

*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*