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Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
User consensusAlternativesIs it worth it?
Better options than

HyNote alternatives

HyNote users often seek alternatives due to high subscription costs, issues with app stability, and unreliable syncing. Many also report problems with customer service and the cancellation process. Alternatives like Notability and Goodnotes offer robust note-taking features, while others focus on specific AI-driven functionalities.

Why users look for alternatives to HyNote

The alternatives

Notability
4.8★ · 450,896 ratings · Free

Notability is a long-standing tool for annotating scripts, marking up drafts, and diagramming, with users appreciating its ease of creating folders and files, and its comprehensive in-note tools for teaching or taking classes R52. It also allows recording audio directly into documents R52.

Better for: Notability is better for users who prioritize robust handwriting tools, PDF annotation, and the ability to record audio directly into notes for academic or professional use, especially for those who need to organize many documents R52. However, recent updates have introduced syncing issues across Apple devices, frequent crashes, and a push towards Notability Cloud that some users dislike R53R54R56.

Head-to-head: HyNote vs Notability
Goodnotes
4.7★ · 435,357 ratings · Free

Goodnotes is highly praised for its note-taking and studying capabilities, with users finding it amazing for creativity and worth the money . It offers good basic writing tools, the ability to recognize and search handwriting, and features like making notecards with pictures R67R72.

Better for: Goodnotes is better for students, teachers, or doctors who need a reliable app for digital handwritten notes, PDF annotation, and studying with features like flashcards R72. While it has introduced AI features, some users prefer its core handwriting functionality and wish it would stick to that R66R67. Users should be aware of potential bugs like deleting written content, slow launch times, and performance issues with large text documents .

Head-to-head: HyNote vs Goodnotes
Freenotes®
4.7★ · 54,936 ratings · Free

Freenotes® is appreciated for its user-friendly interface and ease of use, allowing users to create different notebooks and combine typing with handwriting . It offers rich features and customizable tools .

Better for: Freenotes® is better for users who enjoy the feel of writing digitally and want an easy-to-use app for creating multiple notebooks for different purposes R80. However, despite its name, many users are disappointed that it is no longer truly free, requiring subscriptions for more features and limiting the number of notebooks without payment R79R81R85R87.

Head-to-head: HyNote vs Freenotes®
Gemini Notebook
4.9★ · 49,831 ratings · Free

Gemini Notebook is praised as an amazing tool for consolidating and presenting ideas, particularly useful for studying and teaching R94. Users find it easy to use and helpful for breaking down concepts, with features like slides and podcasts . It also supports uploading a ton of resources .

Better for: Gemini Notebook is better for students and educators who benefit from AI-powered tools to learn and understand concepts, especially those who appreciate collaborative features and the ability to process multiple resources R94. Some users report issues with AirPods disconnecting and the app being clunky when adding sources R93.

Head-to-head: HyNote vs Gemini Notebook
Summary
4.7★ · 43,116 ratings · Free

Summary is an AI note-taker that users find makes their job more enjoyable and provides largely accurate summaries . It is considered an excellent tool for note-taking, despite minor spelling and grammar mistakes .

Better for: Summary is better for professionals who need an AI-powered tool to transcribe and summarize meetings, making their work easier . However, users should be aware that it can be buggy, especially with features like naming speakers and downloading transcripts, and customer support can be slow R110. Many users also find the app's incessant requests for feedback annoying R107.

Head-to-head: HyNote vs Summary
Stick with HyNote if

You should stick with HyNote if you are a student, especially in fields like nursing or medical coding, and find its AI features for transcribing, summarizing, creating to-do lists, study guides, and flashcards to be highly effective for your learning process and worth the subscription cost . Some users have had a positive experience with its ease of use and accuracy .

Evidence note: None of the alternatives had too-thin evidence.

Frequently asked

Why do users consider HyNote expensive?
Users consider HyNote expensive because it requires a credit card to sign up, with minimum plans starting at $15 per month and some users paying as much as $199 per year, often without full access during a 'free trial' or after a limited number of recordings R7R9R19R21.
Does HyNote have issues with saving or syncing notes?
Yes, HyNote users have reported issues with notes and recordings not saving after being put into the program, and difficulty with syncing across devices R3R11.
What are the main complaints about Notability?
The main complaints about Notability include frequent app crashes, especially when inserting text boxes, syncing issues across Apple devices, and a decline in performance and ease of use after recent updates R53R54R56R57.
Is Goodnotes suitable for handwriting and PDF annotation?
Yes, Goodnotes is highly suitable for handwriting and PDF annotation, with users praising its basic writing tools, ability to recognize and search handwriting, and capacity to download and work with large PDFs R67R72.
Is Freenotes® actually free to use?
Despite its name, Freenotes® is not entirely free; users report that it has become a paid application requiring a subscription for more features and limiting the number of notebooks one can have without paying R79R81R85R87.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R7] HyNote 1/5 · US Credit card REQIRED: They make you create an account and sign up and then show you their very expensive plans. The minimum is $15 per month. There are a ton of good notetaking apps out there not to mention apples free notes.
  2. [R9] HyNote 1/5 · US Expensive: This app is good for studying but it’s so expensive for a subscription
  3. [R19] HyNote 2/5 · US Maddi: This app is terrible because you literally have to pay for it just to record 5 minutes downloading this app was just a waste of storage.
  4. [R22] HyNote 5/5 · US Worth the $199 year subscription! :): Phenomenal app! Worth the $199 and couldn’t be happier. Thank you so much. Makes my life so much easier when it comes to meetings and just note taking. Keep up the good work and seriously looking forward to any new additional updates and additions. All I ask is, please don’t mess this app up. You’ve got something great going on here. Thank you again!
  5. [R3] HyNote 3/5 · US New to your app: I was enjoying your app today. I had a voice recording of a meeting. I put it in your program. It gave me the transcript, summary, to do list. But when I went back Later I could not find the transcript or recording. Does your app not save ?
  6. [R6] HyNote 3/5 · GB Some youtube transcript has been cut too short: I think it is a great app by the way and love it so far. But today I did few youtube videos that I want a full transcript for each video. I added a special Instructions to tell it to write word by word transcript and it did. But it does not understand when I saw a very long paragraph so I asked it to spilt into new paragraph when it is over 4 lines a
  7. [R11] HyNote 2/5 · US SYNC DIFFICULT: As mentioned by last review it’s so hard barely syncs
  8. [R13] HyNote 2/5 · US Was great - now lacking: When I first downloaded the app, everything worked perfectly. A few mistakes here and there, but easy to correct. Now? SO MANY MISTAKES! Major grammar issues, missing punctuation, no capitalization of letters. This app has gone to trash in the last month!
  9. [R1] HyNote 1/5 · US Scammy and illegal: Such a shame to have a decent product but take illegal measures. to retain consumer money. There is no reason why I should need to email to cancel my subscription. Make an in app option to cancel IMMEDIATELY, none of this shady stuff. It is ILLEGAL.
  10. [R23] HyNote 1/5 · US Scam company: I was charged for a year and I don't even know what this app is
  11. [R33] HyNote 1/5 · US TEMPORARY ISSUE!!!: i’ve had this less than a day and paid for a subscription of almost $18 a month to use this for college and it won’t let me log in.. this is a scam. it deleted my first day of schools lecture recordings the day i recorded them. SCAM!!!
  12. [R31] HyNote 2/5 · US Worrisome Developments: App recently and randomly changed name. Websites don’t work. Price for the Bluetooth recording device also went up overnight without any warning. This has “rug pull” written all over it. It’s all very suspicious.
  13. [R52] Notability 5/5 · US A Perfect Tool - Best in Class!: I an a stage director. I have been using Notability daily, since it first appeared in the App Store, to annotate scripts, notate edits, mark-up new drafts, diagram blocking, etc. It is an INVALUABLE and ESSENTIAL tool in my work. Best of all, when I’m working on new musicals, I can record the demos or instrumental tracks right into the document! Thank you, Notabili
  14. [R53] Notability 3/5 · US This app crashes all the time: This app makes annotating very easy and has a great interface but I’ve been using it regularly for over a year and it crashes A LOT, especially when inserting a text box. It happens several times in an hour sometimes and is very frustrating because it is a paid subscription service…
  15. [R54] Notability 2/5 · US Increasingly frustrating: App is getting more and more buggy while useless AI features get pushed. The syncing flatly does not work across all devices. It’s infuriating to want to switch between tablet and computer while working and there’s no way to get the information to actually send. I’ve sent notes to myself in email because the sync functionality is so bad.
  16. [R55] Notability 5/5 · US Happy: Update: The glossy effect went away when I clicked it Please remove the animated "Explain This" button in the quiz feature. It's too eye catching with the glossy/animated effect and I can't focus :( Great Improvements!: My old review had some pretty critical comments. Now, everything works amazing! I love the beta AI test maker, but I'm hoping that I am able to opt for more questions in t
  17. [R65] Goodnotes 1/5 · US Annoying App: I DO NOT want Goodnotes 6. Please stop interrupting my work by constantly pushing me to upgrade in the middle of working.
  18. [R66] Goodnotes 5/5 · US 🤩The way the AI works 🤩: The AI helps me with writing a story
  19. [R67] Goodnotes 3/5 · US Doesn’t Need AI; wish it just stuck to handwriting: Love the basic writing tools and ability to recognize and search your handwriting. GenAI integration is wholly unnecessary, I’m only interested in its capacity for digital handwritten notes and pdf annotation. I bought lifetime access for GN6 (I do not pay for subscription), but likely will move away from this app once I find a suitable replaceme
  20. [R68] Goodnotes 1/5 · US Terrible: Not only does it not work it’s not even compatible with the new pencil
  21. [R79] Freenotes® 2/5 · US I can’t buy a subscription: I’ve always used this application, it’s wonderful, very convenient. Recently I found out that the application has become paid (you need to buy a subscription to have more features). I think, well, okay, I will buy myself a subscription, I don’t want to leave this application. I’m trying to pay, but nothing works. I can’t find a place to contact support. I’m very upset.
  22. [R80] Freenotes® 5/5 · US Worth a try ! For sure: Like how it feels to write on it! Many cool features too!
  23. [R81] Freenotes® 1/5 · US Terrible app: It says free notetaking it’s not free
  24. [R82] Freenotes® 4/5 · US I thought this was goodnotes: ^
  25. [R93] Gemini Notebook 2/5 · US Constant AirPod Issues: I’ve been using NotebookLM for over six months and I have constant glitches with my connection to my AirPods. First, I can’t control audio start and stop reliably with my AirPods. Second, if an alarm goes off on my iPhone, audio connection to NotebookLM disconnects and I have to restart the app. Third, all randomly get garbled audio from NotebookLM and have to restart my iP
  26. [R94] Gemini Notebook 5/5 · US Amazing: What an amazing way to consolidate and present ideas, brilliant.!!
  27. [R95] Gemini Notebook 3/5 · US Lo máximo: Excelente herramienta
  28. [R96] Gemini Notebook 1/5 · US owners review: it always does what ever it can to try and stop me instead just share with mr
  29. [R107] Summary 1/5 · US So annoying: I don’t like it, always force me to leave comment. I can’t enjoy the app
  30. [R108] Summary 5/5 · US Worth the 💰💵: Read the title
  31. [R109] Summary 3/5 · US So much to chose and create: This app really is like the bridge that brings the two wedges together. You know you got a bridge you got a big wedge and things just aren’t getting done or someone forgot to do this or whatever whatever whatever this is like I haven’t even played with it that much but I’m already impressed so maybe it’s a hook I don’t know but it’s pretty cool and I’m not a big tech g
  32. [R110] Summary 2/5 · US Mediocre for the price: There are hundreds of apps that can transcribe and summarize meetings so if I’m paying I expect more than just a decent summary. The app is so buggy when trying to use features like naming speakers, and downloading transcripts. Basic functionality that I’d expect to work. Then when I reach out to support they take forever to respond and when they do their assistance is u
  33. [R21] HyNote 1/5 · US No free trial: If you're going to offer a three day trial, then you need to allow access to the app… I was really frustrated because I want to try to see if your app works for my needs and yet you don't allow any access to the app without forcing your customer to end the free trial and to be immediately charged ! What's the point of offering a free trial if you don't give access to your entire app
  34. [R56] Notability 3/5 · US App always freezing and M4 iPad overheating: I used to love this app and used it through my masters program with every class. Now, after the update, it is completely nonfunctional on both of my iPads. The app freezes almost instantly and will not let me do anything until I close and reopen it. Even then, it freezes again within seconds. I can’t work on new notes and all my old notes are inaccessib
  35. [R57] Notability 1/5 · US New Update Ruined It: This new update is terrible. I miss the old app I foolishly paid $100 for. The most annoying ****ing thing is not being able to erase stuff as quickly and effortlessly as before. Now it takes way too damn long and makes it harder for me to keep up with note-taking in lectures. Completely defeats the purpose of the app. Why try fixing something that isn’t broken? Now this is
  36. [R72] Goodnotes 4/5 · US Really satisfied, until today but won’t ever switch to anything else: You can make notecard with pictures and label them, download pdf and big ones with the premium, and easily. Today I downloaded a big pdf and it messed up some stuff on the pdf. Only happened this one time
  37. [R85] Freenotes® 2/5 · US Not satisfied: The name is free note but I need to pay seriously not satisfied with this app poor application
  38. [R87] Freenotes® 1/5 · US Free notes more like Greed notes: Change your name to paid notes or something. At least we could add notes by watching ads now you changed that too

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store