Comparison

Notebook vs NoteBuddy

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

Head to head
About

Notebook

Capture and organize all your thoughts, from typed notes and handwriting to voice memos and document scans. AI features help transcribe audio, create mind maps, and refine your writing. Seamlessly sync across all your Apple devices.

Highlights
  • AI-powered transcription and summarization
  • Handwriting and sketch support with Apple Pencil
  • Voice recording with AI transcription and timestamps
  • Checklists and to-do list management
  • Document scanning and file attachments
  • Nested collections for organization
  • Cross-device 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. TASKS, TO-DOS AND JOURNALING A dedicated To-Do tab sits alongside your notes: break work into subtasks, assign tasks to the right people, set due dates and priorities, and get reminders at the right time. Checklist cards keep shorter lists beside the note they belong to. 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 500MB 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

NoteBuddy

This note-taking application offers a comprehensive suite of tools for organizing thoughts and ideas. It supports rich text formatting, image insertion, and freehand drawing. Features like folder organization and iCloud synchronization ensure your notes are accessible and secure.

Highlights
  • Rich text editing
  • Add images and drawings
  • Folder and subfolder support
  • iCloud synchronization
  • Backup feature
  • Apple Pencil support
Features
Read full description

Note taking app with all important features you need: - rich text editing (bold, italic, underline, text alignments, text color, etc.) - add images - add drawings and hand written notes - support for folders and subfolders - iCloud synchronization - backup feature Including Support for: - Dynamic Type - Split Screen - Apple Pencil

Screenshots

Notebook4 screens
NoteBuddy3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Notebook at 73% against NoteBuddy's 22%. Notebook also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.3) and update cadence (every 6 days vs every 3 months). NoteBuddy's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 16.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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 NoteBuddy sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. 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 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notebook has 24K ratings behind it against 16, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 73% of Notebook's written reviews are positive against 22% of NoteBuddy's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Notebook ships an update every 6 days, NoteBuddy every 3 months. Both last shipped on November 15, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Notebook versus NoteBuddy: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotebookNoteBuddy
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (24K ratings) — better3.3 (16 ratings)
Positive reviews72.6% of reviews — better22.2% of reviews
Number of ratings24K — better16
Update frequencyEvery 6 days — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS16.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size221 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZoho CorporationOleg Mueller

Customer experience

Notebook

All ratings23,860 ratings
Positive93.2%
Neutral3.1%
Negative3.7%
Written reviews1,807 reviews
Positive72.6%
Neutral9.6%
Negative17.8%

NoteBuddy

All ratings16 ratings
Positive56.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative43.8%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive22.2%
Neutral0.0%
Negative77.8%

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

NoteBuddy

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
1 purchases

NoteBuddy

One-time1
  • NoteBuddy Pro$2.99

Questions

Is Notebook free?
Notebook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is NoteBuddy free?
NoteBuddy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Notebook or NoteBuddy?
Notebook is rated higher. Notebook averages 4.7 out of 5 from 24K ratings, while NoteBuddy averages 3.3 from 16 ratings.
Do Notebook or NoteBuddy have ads?
Neither Notebook nor NoteBuddy shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Notebook or NoteBuddy?
Notebook ships an update every 6 days, and NoteBuddy every 3 months. Most recently, Notebook was updated on November 15, 2026 and NoteBuddy on November 15, 2026.

Other comparisons