Notebook vs PaperLens
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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
PaperLens
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PaperLens turns your phone into a powerful document intelligence tool — without ever sending your files to the cloud. Scan any document in seconds with automatic edge detection, perspective correction, and contrast enhancement. Then go further: extract text with blazing-fast OCR, translate into 50+ languages offline, sign PDFs, redact sensitive information, and lock private files behind Face ID. Everything runs on your device. No account. No internet required. No data ever leaves your phone. FEATURES SMART SCANNING Auto-detect edges and enhance scans in one tap. Scan multi-page documents and export as PDF or image. OCR TEXT EXTRACTION Extract text from any scanned document instantly. Copy, search, share, or edit — all offline. OFFLINE TRANSLATION Translate extracted text into 50+ languages using on-device ML. Works in airplane mode. DIGITAL SIGNATURES Draw, type, or import your signature. Place it precisely on any PDF page and export instantly. REDACTION Permanently black out sensitive names, numbers, or information before sharing documents. PDF POWER TOOLS Merge multiple PDFs, split by page range, and compress files for email. SECURE FOLDERS Lock sensitive documents behind Face ID or Touch ID. SMART EXTRACTION Automatically parse receipts, business cards, and tables. Export contacts or data instantly. BACKUP & RESTORE Export a complete backup of all your documents to iCloud, Google Drive, or anywhere you choose. PRIVACY FIRST All processing happens entirely on your device using Google ML Kit. No documents or personal data are ever transmitted to any server. No analytics. No ads. No tracking. PaperLens Pro unlocks all features. Start with a 7-day free trial. Terms of Use: https://playpalapps.github.io/PaperLens/privacy-policy.html Privacy Policy: https://playpalapps.github.io/PaperLens/privacy-policy.html
Screenshots
Verdict
Notebook and PaperLens are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Notebook sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $2.49 per month and PaperLens sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
| Parameter | Notebook | PaperLens |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (24K ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 64.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 24K — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 6 days | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 220 MB | 112 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Zoho Corporation | Naveen Raj |
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
PaperLens
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Notebook
- Notebook Pro$2.491 Month
- Notebook Pro Plus$3.991 Month
- Notebook AI$4.991 Month
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- Notebook Personal$14.991 Year
- Notebook Pro2 variants$24.991 Year
- Notebook Pro Plus$39.991 Year
- Notebook AI$49.991 Year
PaperLens
- Monthly Pro7 Days trial$1.991 Month
- Annual Pro7 Days trial$9.991 Year
- Lifetime Access$39.99









