Comparison

Notebook vs Zipnote

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

Zipnote

This app offers a straightforward way to capture thoughts and lists quickly. It automatically saves your single note, allowing for immediate use without complex features. Export your notes and adjust text size for a personalized experience.

Highlights
  • Single note for maximum simplicity
  • Automatic saving
  • Note export functionality
  • Dark Mode support
  • Customizable text size
  • Clean and simplistic design
Read full description

Need to take a quick note? Then try Zipnote; just simply open the app and start typing! It’s as simple as, open Zipnote, type, done. Zipnote is great for taking quick notes; and only uses one note, for maximum simplicity and efficiency. Your notes save automatically so you never have to worry about losing a note because you forgot to save it. While Zipnote is best for those notes you need to take in a hurry, it’s also great for any kind of note, such as, to do lists, reminders, grocery lists, and even longer notes like, school notes, or summaries. You also have the ability to export your notes directly from the app. Zipnote also supports Dark Mode for the best viewing experience in low light. Zipnote even allows you to customize the text size to your liking, so it’s easier to see. Zipnote is designed to be very clean and simplistic, so anyone can use it! It gives a premium feel without sacrificing simplicity or usability. You can use Zipnote for whatever kind of note you need; the possibilities are endless!

Screenshots

Notebook4 screens
Zipnote3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Zipnote at none against Notebook's 8. Zipnote also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and review sentiment (75% vs 64%). Notebook's advantage is ratings volume (24K vs 5) and update cadence (every 6 days vs fortnightly). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Zipnote asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Zipnote holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. 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 point the same way: 64% of Notebook's written reviews are positive against 75% of Zipnote's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Notebook ships an update every 6 days, Zipnote fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Notebook versus Zipnote: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotebookZipnote
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (24K ratings)5.0 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews64.4% of reviews75.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings24K — better5
Update frequencyEvery 6 days — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS16.015.2 — better
Further details — not scored
Size220 MB0 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZoho CorporationLogan Gwinup

Customer experience

Notebook

All ratings23,850 ratings
Positive93.2%
Neutral3.1%
Negative3.7%
Written reviews607 reviews
Positive64.4%
Neutral10.5%
Negative25.0%

Zipnote

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%

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

Zipnote

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

Zipnote

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Notebook free?
Notebook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Zipnote free?
Zipnote is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Notebook or Zipnote?
Zipnote is rated higher. Notebook averages 4.7 out of 5 from 24K ratings, while Zipnote averages 5.0 from 5 ratings.
Do Notebook or Zipnote have ads?
Neither Notebook nor Zipnote shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Notebook or Zipnote?
Notebook ships an update every 6 days, and Zipnote fortnightly. Most recently, Notebook was updated on October 14, 2026 and Zipnote on September 21, 2026.

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