Comparison

Notebook vs Notepad

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

Head to head
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

About

Notepad

Securely store and organize your thoughts with advanced features like PIN/biometric locking and an anti-theft system. Convert images to text, sync across devices, and customize your notes with rich formatting and tags. Share, backup, and easily retrieve your important information.

Highlights
  • PIN/Biometric note locking
  • Anti-theft system with photo capture
  • OCR for image to text conversion
  • Cloud sync across devices
  • Rich text formatting and styling
  • Tagging and color-coding for organization
  • Text, photo, and drawing note types
Features
Read full description

Keep important notes safely with Anti Theft System! • Lock Notes with PIN / Biometric authentication (Fingerprint / Face detection) • Anti Theft System (Capture face photo silently who entered wrong PIN) • OCR Notes - Capture image and convert readable characters into notes! (Helpful to save ID card / Bill details) • Signup account and sync notes across the devices with same email (Backup / Restore notes to cloud) • Style your note (e.g Bold / Italic / Underline / Heading / Bullets / Alignments / Undo / Redo etc) • Note Backup / Restore via Email and Document Files and Notepad cloud account • Manage unlimited Notes • Make Text / Photo / Drawing / Sketch Notes • Tag Notes for quick search • Color notes accordingly • Share notes with friends via various apps • Trash - Recover notes from here • Bookmark - Make Note Important to fetch easily • Backup PIN - Backup PIN via email for recovery • Quick Search via title / body / tags • Save note from other app support - Select text and share it via this notepad app to store note quickly without opening this app • Available in English, Spanish, French, Russian, Japanese, German, Chinese, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Greek, Arabic languages. Privacy Policy: https://parthmpandya.github.io/Privacy-Policy-Documents/iOS_Notepad_Privacy_Policy.html Terms Of Use: https://parthmpandya.github.io/Privacy-Policy-Documents/iOS_Notepad_Terms_and_Conditions.html This app will capture image from front camera without displaying prior view(Theft Report feature). If anyone have any query regarding this app or have any suggestion to improve app performance. Let me know on my email id: droidoworld@gmail.com

Screenshots

Notebook4 screens
Notepad4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Notebook at none against Notepad's shown. Notebook also leads on review sentiment (65% vs 33%) and update cadence (every 6 days vs every 3 months). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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. Notebook sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $2.49 per month and Notepad sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Notebook holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notebook has 24K ratings behind it against 64, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 65% of Notebook's written reviews are positive against 33% of Notepad's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Notebook ships an update every 6 days, Notepad every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Notebook versus Notepad: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotebookNotepad
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (24K ratings) — better4.3 (64 ratings)
Positive reviews64.7% of reviews — better33.3% of reviews
Number of ratings24K — better64
Update frequencyEvery 6 days — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better16.6
Further details — not scored
Size220 MB64 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZoho CorporationParth Pandya

Customer experience

Notebook

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

Notepad

All ratings64 ratings
Positive81.3%
Neutral3.1%
Negative15.6%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral11.1%
Negative55.6%

Bugs and 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

Notepad

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

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
5 purchases

Notepad

Subscriptions2
  • 1 Month License For Notes App$1.491 Month
  • 1 Year License For Notes App$11.991 Year
One-time3
  • Ad Free Notes$1.99
  • 1 Month License$1.99
  • 1 Year License$9.99

Questions

Is Notebook free?
Notebook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Notepad free?
Notepad is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Notebook or Notepad?
Notebook is rated higher. Notebook averages 4.7 out of 5 from 24K ratings, while Notepad averages 4.3 from 64 ratings.
Do Notebook or Notepad have ads?
Notepad shows ads; Notebook does not.
Which is updated more often, Notebook or Notepad?
Notebook ships an update every 6 days, and Notepad every 3 months. Most recently, Notebook was updated on September 25, 2026 and Notepad on September 17, 2026.

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