Comparison

Notebook vs Jot Down

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

Jot Down

Create visually appealing sticky notes and to-do lists with customizable colors and fonts. Sync your notes seamlessly across all Apple devices using iCloud. Organize tasks with checkpoint options directly from your home screen widgets.

Highlights
  • Customizable sticky notes
  • To-do list functionality
  • Homescreen widgets
  • iCloud sync across Apple devices
  • Variety of font styles
  • Gradient color options
Features
Read full description

Sticky notes that stay where you look. Jot Down is a focused text-note app for quick thoughts, reminders, and everyday writing. Pin notes to Home or Lock Screen widgets, style them your way, and keep them synced through your private iCloud. WHY JOT DOWN • See important notes without opening the app • Start a new note from Home or Lock Screen • Dictate text with on-device speech recognition • Add reminders to a note • Organize with folders, favorites, colors, fonts, and wallpapers • Sync across iPhone, iPad, and Mac • No subscription or in-app paywall HOW IT WORKS 1. Capture a thought 2. Style or organize it 3. Pin it to a widget when it needs to stay visible Jot Down creates text notes only. It does not include the task, audio, scanner, drawing, focus, or countdown editors from Mini Notes. Download Jot Down and keep the next idea in sight.

Screenshots

Notebook4 screens
Jot Down4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Notebook at Free against Jot Down's $1.99. Notebook also leads on ratings volume (24K vs 5) and update cadence (every 6 days vs monthly). Jot Down's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 65%) and in-app purchases (none vs 8). On rating, ads 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

Notebook is free to download; Jot Down costs $1.99 up front. Notebook sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $2.49 per month. Jot Down asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Notebook against 4.8 for Jot Down. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notebook has 24K ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 65% of Notebook's written reviews are positive against 100% of Jot Down's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Notebook ships an update every 6 days, Jot Down monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Notebook versus Jot Down: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotebookJot Down
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating4.7 (24K ratings)4.8 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews64.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings24K — better5
Update frequencyEvery 6 days — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS16.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size220 MB61 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZoho CorporationMohini Sharma

Customer experience

Notebook

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

Jot Down

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

Jot Down

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
None

Jot Down

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Notebook free?
Notebook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Jot Down free?
Jot Down costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Notebook or Jot Down?
Jot Down is rated higher. Notebook averages 4.7 out of 5 from 24K ratings, while Jot Down averages 4.8 from 5 ratings.
Do Notebook or Jot Down have ads?
Neither Notebook nor Jot Down shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Notebook or Jot Down?
Notebook ships an update every 6 days, and Jot Down monthly. Most recently, Notebook was updated on September 26, 2026 and Jot Down on September 21, 2026.

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