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

Coconote vs Notes

Coconote 4.8★ · Free + IAP 75
Winner Tie
Notes 4.8★ · Free to download 75

Coconote is better for users needing advanced AI-powered transcription and summarization for professional or academic use, while Notes is a reliable, free, and simple note-taking app for general use.

Full reviews: Coconote · Notes

Coconote excels in AI-driven transcription, summarization, and mind-mapping, making it ideal for detailed meeting notes and academic study, but it faces significant criticism for its aggressive subscription model and occasional reliability issues. Notes, a free system app, is praised for its simplicity, ease of use, and reliability for basic note-taking, lists, and general organization, though some users report performance glitches with longer notes and missing features.

Head to head

Features: Transcription & Summarization edge: CoconoteR5R7R13R15
Coconote Coconote is highly praised for its accurate transcriptions, detailed summaries, and the ability to generate mind maps, which users find extremely helpful for meetings, classes, and studying R5R7R13R15. It allows users to be present during lectures without frantically writing everything down .
Notes Notes is a more traditional note-taking app, with users appreciating its simplicity for writing down ideas, lists, and general information . It supports handwritten notes and organization into folders, with some users wishing for more advanced features like a web clipper or more highlighter colors .
Ease of Use edge: NotesR1R3R6R15
Coconote When paid, Coconote is described as easy to use and effective for capturing information R6R15. However, the free tier is very limited, forcing users to pay quickly R1R3.
Notes Notes is consistently praised for being easy to use, simple, and intuitive for various purposes like lists, stories, and general notes . Users appreciate its straightforward interface and lack of distractions .
Reliability & Performance tieR4R12R16R18
Coconote Coconote users report significant issues with losing notes and recordings R16R18. Some also note problems with math transcription and AI distinguishing between speakers R4R12. There are also reports of the app not working or showing errors .
Notes Notes generally works well and is reliable for many users . However, some users experience glitches, especially when highlighting large sections or with longer notes, leading to lag, overheating, and loss of control R53R59R61. Critically, some users have reported entire pages of handwritten notes and annotations disappearing R71.
Price & Value edge: NotesR1R3R8R10
Coconote Coconote is a paid app with a very limited free trial, which users feel quickly forces them into a subscription R1R3R20R45. Many users find the yearly subscription expensive, especially given reported issues, and there are significant complaints about predatory subscription practices, accidental sign-ups, and denied refund requests R8R10R12R14. However, many paying users consider it worth the money for its advanced features .
Notes Notes is a free, built-in app, which is a major advantage for users seeking a no-cost solution . Users appreciate that it's readily available on their devices and offers good functionality without any cost .
Customer Support & Subscription Management tieR8R10R14R16
Coconote Coconote receives strong criticism for its customer service, with users reporting unresponsiveness to emails and denied refund requests even after accidental yearly subscriptions R8R10R14. Users also complain about not receiving reminders for subscription renewals R16. However, one user praised the developer's responsiveness .
Notes Reviews for Notes do not frequently mention customer support, likely because it is a system app. Issues tend to be reported as bugs or feature requests rather than direct support interactions.
Pick Coconote if

Pick Coconote if you need advanced AI-powered transcription, summarization, and mind-mapping features for professional meetings, academic lectures, or extensive study, and are willing to pay for a subscription despite potential reliability and customer service issues R5R7R13R15.

Pick Notes if

Pick Notes if you need a free, simple, and reliable app for basic note-taking, lists, quick ideas, and general organization, and prefer a built-in solution that is easy to use and available across devices .

Evidence note: Coconote's reviews show a strong split between highly satisfied paying users who praise its AI features and highly dissatisfied users who criticize its pricing, subscription model, and reliability. Notes, being a free system app, has a vast number of reviews, with most being positive about its simplicity, but a notable minority report significant bugs and data loss.

Frequently asked

Is Coconote truly free?
No, Coconote offers a very limited free trial, after which it quickly forces users to pay for a subscription to continue using its features R1R3R20R45.
Does Coconote offer refunds for subscriptions?
Users report significant difficulty in obtaining refunds for Coconote subscriptions, with some claims of requests being denied twice even after accidental yearly sign-ups R10R14.
Can Notes handle long documents or handwritten notes?
Notes supports handwritten notes and can be used for long documents, but some users report that longer notes can lead to lag, overheating, and glitches, especially on iPads, and there are critical reports of handwritten annotations disappearing R53R59R61R71.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 100 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. [R5] Coconote 5/5 · US Love this app!: I love using this app for any meetings, classes, or interactions that I may need to review later. Excellent translations and the summaries are really helpful!
  2. [R7] Coconote 5/5 · US Beyond thankful: I downloaded Coconote to take notes when visiting my husband’s oncologist. He has stage four cancer and I’m not able to remember everything. The doctor says this has been so helpful for me to go back and look and see the progress or if I’m missing something. I’m so thankful for this app.
  3. [R13] Coconote 5/5 · US Amazing Notetaker: As a Strategist Agency we need as detailed information as possible. This is a business tool you must have, I’ve used several note takers but this one is leading the way. Love the detailed summary and visuals with mind maps of the things I need to do. Love it!!!
  4. [R15] Coconote 5/5 · US Life-saver: This app made my life as a teacher so much easier! All I had to do was speak into my phone and it took the notes down for me, instead of me having to completely stop what I’m doing to write it all down.
  5. [R1] Coconote 1/5 · US Barely can use free: Amazing app but you can barely use it for free. I mean I took maybe two notes with Coconote and after that it stopped working and it started forcing me to pay so amazing app if you want to put down some money and it is really a good app it really did help me and it made me really well just the fact that you can never use it if you don’t wanna pay it’s kind of sad
  6. [R3] Coconote 3/5 · US Good but not totally free: ok so i am looking for some apps to study for my exams and this one is good i like it so much it’s better than others but it has that problem that if your in trial you can’t study more it has like a limit and you have to obligatorily pay for the anual planner and that’s kinda annoying, because normally my exams are like last minute and i download the app and it doesn’t l
  7. [R6] Coconote 1/5 · US excelente app: muy efectiva
  8. [R4] Coconote 1/5 · US Math missprint: Whenever it transcribes math, it won’t use the symbols for like calculus like integration symbols, and it won’t put like a fraction one above the other vertically it is prints out very weird
  9. [R12] Coconote 1/5 · US Alternatives are better: This app is not fleshed out. Alternatives do a much better job of transcribing and summarizing. It’s also way too expensive, especially for a not polished product. You won’t get a refund either. The AI seems to have a hard time distinguishing between speakers a lot. Even when one is a man and one is a woman so clearly different voices.
  10. [R16] Coconote 1/5 · US Keep loosing my notes/recordings: This is the second time that this app has lost my notes/recordings. Also, they don’t send reminders that your subscription will be renewed on such date or send notification that your subscription had been automatically renewed. For the amount of money that I spent for this app it’s very frustrating especially when you need those notes!!
  11. [R18] Coconote 2/5 · US Started experiencing many errors: The app worked perfectly in the past but now i have many mishaps where i lose my recordings. It's terrible when you're relying on its ability to record meetings.
  12. [R8] Coconote 1/5 · US Terrible service.: I paid in full for year subscription - I cancelled my subscription because I didn’t want to forget to cancel in the future. It claims my account will remain active until Dec. 12 but conveniently it doesn’t recognize me and customer service will not respond to my email.
  13. [R10] Coconote 1/5 · US Predatory subscription process: I accidentally signed up for a yearly subscription because the pricing wasn’t clearly presented. I genuinely thought I was selecting a monthly plan. After realizing the mistake when I was charged over $100, I reached out to request a refund but my request was denied, twice. This was frustrating, especially since it felt like an easy misunderstanding that could happe
  14. [R14] Coconote 1/5 · US Unnecessary charge: They charged me $130 for the yearly subscription when I only signed up for a free trial. This is genuinely a freaking scam because why didn’t they notify me when it was ending. It’s a money grab and the refund policy is so ridiculous like bruh. Having to write a whole damn essay for a refund and they don’t give me anything back. I want my money back now
  15. [R20] Coconote 5/5 · US Review 2026: The best app ever currently in 2026. Definitely recommend. Although I wonder how many times I can use it free until I have to start paying.
  16. [R45] Coconote 5/5 · US Not bad but not Amazing: For me loading takes a while i was expecting this to be free but not really not many things were available as a free to play player
  17. [R53] Notes 3/5 · GB Needs Optimisation: Longer notes seem to take up a lot of processing power and become laggy on my iPad Air M3, even leading to overheating. I’m using Notes to study for an exam where there is a lot of revision material, and it seems like my very powerful iPad is struggling to process all of my handwritten notes and is slowing down. Functionality and features of the app are okay, though nothing spe
  18. [R59] Notes 2/5 · GB Highlighting large sections error: When ever I try to highlight a large section of writing on my phone it glitches so badly and it looses control everytime and scroll down to the end and the highlight is gone and for someone that needs to highlight and repeatedly to copy and paste information it is extremely frustrating another feature that is good but is buggy and not always very accurate is the
  19. [R61] Notes 2/5 · GB Helpful but not helpful: I am using this app for MANY things, But I use one for song writing and I try to get to a song to copy and paste it, and then it starts going crazy and teleporting me to the top and it take me one minute to get to the bottom and it keeps happening, so I don’t know what to do now, can you please fix it please? 🥺 🙏 But I love the fact that I can remember things like 1- I wan
  20. [R71] Notes 1/5 · GB My notes keep on getting deleted: Absolutely disgraceful app. Apple Notes just deleted HOURS of handwritten annotations and work from my PDF the night before my exam. Entire pages of writing completely gone for no reason. I trusted this app with important study material and it failed at the worst possible time. I spent hours making notes, highlighting, and annotating PDFs only for everything to s

Synthesized from 100 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store