Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Notability vs Freenotes®

Notability 4.8★ · Free + IAP 75
Winner Notability
Freenotes® 4.7★ · Free + IAP 60

Notability is the better choice for serious note-takers due to its more robust feature set and established reliability, despite recent user frustrations, while Freenotes® struggles with its transition from a free to a paid model.

Full reviews: Notability · Freenotes®

Notability offers a comprehensive and reliable note-taking experience with advanced features like AI quizzes and PDF annotation, though recent updates have caused stability and usability issues for some users. Freenotes®, while praised for its ease of use and handwriting-to-text conversion, has alienated many long-time users by introducing significant paywalls and limiting free features.

Head to head

Features edge: NotabilityR2R11R15R23
Notability Notability is praised for its extensive tools for handwriting, PDF annotation, and AI-powered quiz generation, making it ideal for students R2R11R23. Users appreciate its low Apple Pencil latency and customization options . However, some users report issues with typing functionality, missing features like custom templates, and a desire for better text wrapping R15.
Freenotes® Freenotes® users highlight its fast and accurate handwriting-to-text conversion and good variety of writing tools . It also offers AI search and explanations . However, users note missing features like Notability's templates, a zoom box for writing, and the inability to search handwritten notes (OCR) . Sticker syncing across devices is also reported as an issue .
Ease of Use tieR2R8R12R22
Notability Many users find Notability intuitive and easy to use, especially for handwriting notes R8. However, recent updates have introduced frustrations, such as changes to the Apple Pencil squeeze gesture for erasing, making it less efficient R12R22. Some also find the control bar obstructive R2.
Freenotes® Freenotes® is generally considered easy to use, particularly for students . However, some users find the tools interface too busy and confusing, with many choices reducing efficiency . There are also requests for a more thorough tutorial for new users .
Reliability edge: NotabilityR1R3R5R6
Notability Notability has a history of being reliable for many long-term users R5R8. However, recent updates have led to significant reliability issues, including frequent app crashes, freezing, notes becoming blank or inaccessible, and sync problems across devices or with cloud services R1R3R6R10.
Freenotes® Freenotes® has generally been reliable for its core functions, but recent changes have caused issues with account access and syncing of premium features . Users also report that stickers do not sync across devices .
Price/Value edge: NotabilityR7R13R23R24
Notability Notability operates on a Free + IAP model, with a subscription required for full features. Many users, especially students, find the annual subscription worthwhile for its features R23. However, the free tier is very limited, allowing only a few notes before requiring payment R7R24R54. Some long-time users who were grandfathered into a 'classic' license are annoyed by constant upsell attempts . There are also complaints about unexpected charges for trials R13.
Freenotes® Freenotes® also operates on a Free + IAP model, but its transition from being completely free to a subscription model has caused significant user dissatisfaction. Many long-time users feel betrayed, as features that were once free or accessible via ads are now behind a paywall, including limiting the number of notebooks to 3 R63R64R67. The price of around $10/year is considered too high by some R63.
Support & Privacy tieR4R19R34R37
Notability Notability users report difficulties with tech support, often being routed through AI with little hope of data recovery . There are significant privacy concerns regarding Notability's forced migration to its own cloud service, with users worried about their notes being used for AI training and losing the option for iCloud sync R4R19R37. Login issues are also a problem for some R34.
Freenotes® Freenotes® users report issues with logging into accounts and losing premium access despite previous payments or lifetime subscriptions . There are no specific mentions of privacy concerns or direct support interactions in the provided reviews.
Pick Notability if

You are a student or professional who needs advanced note-taking features, PDF annotation, and AI study tools, and are willing to pay for a subscription despite recent stability and privacy concerns R23.

Pick Freenotes® if

You prioritize fast handwriting-to-text conversion and a generally easy-to-use interface, and are comfortable with a limited free tier or paying for a subscription, especially if you are a new user not affected by the 'free to paid' transition .

Evidence note: Notability's recent reviews are heavily skewed negative due to updates affecting reliability, privacy, and usability, which contrasts with its higher lifetime rating. Freenotes® also faces strong negative sentiment from long-time users regarding its shift from a free to a paid model, making its lifetime rating somewhat misleading for current experience.

Frequently asked

Is Notability free to use?
Notability offers a free version, but it is very limited, allowing users to create only a few notes before requiring a paid subscription for full functionality R7R24R54.
What are the main complaints about Notability's recent updates?
Recent Notability updates have led to frequent app crashes, freezing, notes becoming inaccessible or blank, sync issues, forced migration to Notability's cloud service with privacy concerns, and changes to Apple Pencil gestures that users find less efficient R1R3R6R10.
Why are Freenotes® users upset about its pricing?
Many Freenotes® users are upset because the app, which was originally completely free, has introduced significant paywalls and limits, such as restricting users to only 3 notebooks unless they pay a subscription, which some find misleading given the app's name R63R64R67R73.

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. [R2] Notability 4/5 · US Please develop a way to hide the control bar (tools like pencil, scissors, etc.)!!!: I absolutely love Notability, it is very useful for me as a college music student. I take a lot of notes there, and I load music into it as pdfs to read and play off of. So far the experience has been wonderful, EXCEPT that there is no way to hide the controls at the top, which sometimes blocks some of the music.
  2. [R11] Notability 5/5 · US Nursing School: This has been the best thing ever for note taking and lectures
  3. [R15] Notability 3/5 · US Great for writing notes; but terrible for typing: I love and hate this app at the same time. I love using this app when taking notes with my apple pencil. However, to use it like Microsoft Word, it is absolutely buggy and frustrating. There are just way too many bugs to type with this app. (on the MacBook Pro and on the iPad both have many bugs for typing. If you want the best handwriting app, the
  4. [R23] Notability 5/5 · US Use it if you’re in school!: This is one of the coolest apps if you’re in undergrad or graduate school. I’m able to download professors slides right into the app, mark it up, take notes that AI will use to create a quiz, etc. just a very cool app that bridges the traditional note taking for me-pen to paper, which is how I retain information-but also adds really cool technology features in a mindfu
  5. [R8] Notability 5/5 · US Excellent: I’ve been using it for years, and I love it. Much easier to study.
  6. [R12] Notability 3/5 · US bad update: reverse the apple pencil update PLEASE or give a option to change it back. it’s not more convenient it’s actually quite annoying
  7. [R22] Notability 1/5 · US Fix squeeze gesture!: Recent update ruined the squeeze gesture by forcing you to interact with a palette to switch to the eraser tool instead of allowing you to auto-switch to eraser. This makes you do an odd movement with your wrist to reach and select the eraser tool, which SIGNIFICANTLY slows down your work progress. I’m seriously questioning why the palette was introduced as a mandatory featur
  8. [R1] Notability 1/5 · US Lost all my notes: Literally lost everything and all my notes r blank
  9. [R3] 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…
  10. [R5] Notability 5/5 · US Always reliable: I have been using Notability since its creation. I love using this app.
  11. [R6] 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
  12. [R7] Notability 1/5 · US AWFUL: I used to use this often during school and I decided to get it on my iPad just because I wanted to use it, but I can’t even use the text box. I have to do random stuff you can only make like six or five notes before you have to pay like $15 which I wasted so much time trying to curate notes when I literally didn’t even realize I had to pay so that sucks you guys are literally just money dea
  13. [R13] Notability 1/5 · US Free trial charges $100 immediately- no warning !!!!: Wanted to try the new feature to see if it was worth upgrading - instead of getting to try it I was changed immediately and I have no idea if I can get it refunded. DO NOT TRUST THIS APP!!!!!!!!!
  14. [R24] Notability 3/5 · US It’s alright: It’s nice but only with the paid features. My school uses it with subscriptions but at home I use it without subscription and it’s pretty bad without paying for subscription. With subscriptions it’s pretty good tho. Unless you’re planning to pay for an app, I would just use the basic Apple notes app.
  15. [R4] Notability 1/5 · US DO NOT USE THIS APP: I do not understand why I need a notability account to use this app. If you do care the personal information, not using this app. I just want an app to write the notes and keep my notes only on my device.
  16. [R19] Notability 1/5 · US Stealing our notes for their cloud service: They're now forcing us to move to their garbage cloud service that has carve outs in their privacy policy allowing them access to notes and use for ai training. There's no opt out. Previously you could use encrypted storage on iCloud for cloud storage. Notability didn't like that. Now they're forcing everyone over to their own cloud to steal our document
  17. [R34] Notability 1/5 · US Constant log-ins delay the note taking activity for too long to be useful: Have been using Notability on iPhone and iPad for years, have been recommending it to so many people. With some recent update, it requires me to log-in every time, instead of just opening. Mail with code takes way too long to be delivered. When I want to take a note, the app needs to be ready immeaditely, not take minutes o
  18. [R37] Notability 1/5 · US For over a Decade: I have been using Notability forever. I paid for the full version and then I started subscribing. As a subscriber I decided to use Notability Cloud syncing. I was surprised that I could not also use Apple iCloud sync and backup. This is a deal breaker. And now, I cannot revert back to Apple iCloud sync and backup. WHY? Please allow me to do both or at least allow me to go back t
  19. [R54] Notability 3/5 · GB Useless if you don’t pay: Notability is a good app, however, very quickly you cannot make anymore edits to your notes. This app would be a lot better if they allowed unlimited note making for free as otherwise it’s useless very quickly.
  20. [R10] Notability 1/5 · US Cloud Service Not Working: As of Tuesday, July 7 2026 at about 12:30pm Atlantic Standard Time, the web version of the app has stopped working. This is not only affecting myself, but it's affected the rest of the users at my school. It is not a connectivity issue because it has persisted even when peers have gone home and tried accessing the service (it is now 5:42pm at the time of writing). On to
  21. [R63] Freenotes® 3/5 · US Oh man it's no longer free free: It used to be awesome. But now it's no longer free free. Ppl say if you used to own it then you can get a lifetime membership, but I thought I have it and it's still not working? Man I pained 1.99 for this year, not too sure about 9.99 next year tho. Sadddd
  22. [R64] Freenotes® 2/5 · US Not satisfied: The name is free note but I need to pay seriously not satisfied with this app poor application
  23. [R67] 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
  24. [R73] Freenotes® 2/5 · US Disappointing: I’ve used this app for years now and at first it was free. Then they added ads, however it end still useable and very nice. Now, they have added a limit on how many notebooks you can have unless u pay 9 dollars a month. I’m personally disappointed and will be uninstalling.

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