Notability vs Noteful
We give Notability a 3.8 GPA and Noteful a 3.2, out of 4.0. Notability grades higher on features and platforms. Noteful grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Notability
Handwritten notes with synced audio, transcripts and AI study tools
Noteful
Handwritten notes and PDF markup for iPad, with tags and layers
How we grade them
| 3.8GPANotabilityExcellent | 3.2GPANotefulVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | ALite is $14.99 a year and Plus is $19.99 a year, in a category where paid plans typically start at $5.99 a month. Don't want a subscription? Classic is $49.99 once. Pay yearly, though: Lite by the month is $4.99, which is $59.88 over a year. | ANoteful Pro is $6.99 once on the US App Store, for life. Paid plans in this category typically start at $5.99 a month, so that's about five weeks of somebody else's subscription. |
| Free plan and trial | BStarter is free with every editing tool, PDF import and 20,000+ templates. But it's 5 notes and that's your lot. The only free trials are 30 days on the Business plans. | AFree with no time limit: handwriting, PDF and Office import, tags, audio recording and PDF export. Only layers and sync between your iPhone and iPad are held back for Pro. On one iPad, most people could stay free. |
| Features | AHandwriting, typing and PDF markup on one page, with audio recorded and transcribed alongside. Plus turns your notes into up to 400 quiz and flashcard questions a month, and Pro adds live summaries and a chat about your notes. Notes can be shared and edited together live. | BVector ink built for Apple Pencil, markup on PDFs and Office documents, tags you write as #tag anywhere on a page, and audio that plays back in step with your notes. Pro adds layers you can hide and rearrange. Solid, but the listing shows no collaboration and no AI tools. |
| Ease of use | A4.8 from about 457,000 App Store ratings. The plan list takes some reading, mind: six of them, with different features on each. | A4.8 from about 24,000 App Store ratings. There are no plans to puzzle over either: it's the free app or the one $6.99 upgrade. |
| Platforms and integrations | AiPad, iPhone, Mac, Windows, Android and the web, with iCloud, YouTube and school device managers like Jamf and Mosyle. Not everything travels: handwriting recognition and audio playback sync are marked iOS and Android only, and YouTube conversion is web only. | DiPad and iPhone only, on iOS or iPadOS 16.4 or later, which we grade the same as an app that's Android only. The App Store marks it as not verified for macOS, and there's no Android, Windows or web version. |
| Best for | lecture notes with the audio attached | handwritten notes on an iPad for a one-time $6.99 |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Notability and Noteful. How we grade
Where they differ
- Notability starts at $14.99 per year, or $4.99 per month (Lite). Noteful starts at $6.99 one-time purchase (Noteful Pro, Lifetime).
- Only Notability lists a web app.
- Only Notability lists macOS, Windows and Android apps.
- Notability also covers transcription and templates.
At a glance
| Notability | Noteful | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $14.99 per year, or $4.99 per month (Lite) | $6.99 one-time purchase (Noteful Pro, Lifetime) |
| Free plan | Starter plan: 5 notes with all editing tools, PDF and document import, access to 20,000+ templates and 7-day version history. | Free with no time limit: handwriting, PDF and Office import, tags, audio recording and PDF export. Layers and sync between iPhone and iPad need Noteful Pro. |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial on the Business and Business Pro plans. | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Ginger Labs | Noteful Technologies Limited |
| Price read from | notability.com | apps.apple.com |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Notability
- Students recording lectures alongside handwritten notes
- Turning class notes into flashcards and quizzes
- Annotating PDFs, slides and forms with a stylus
- Schools that manage devices, where Notability for Education is free
Noteful
- iPad users who write with Apple Pencil and prefer to pay once
- Annotating PDFs, slides and textbooks on separate layers
- Organizing handwritten notes by tag as well as by folder
Worth knowing
Notability
- The free Starter plan is limited to 5 notes.
- Audio transcription and the AI quiz and flashcard tools start at Plus; real-time summaries, note chat and unlimited transcription are listed under Pro.
- Third-party backups are iOS only, and YouTube link-to-note conversion works on the web only.
- The plan comparison marks handwriting recognition, math conversion and audio playback sync as iOS and Android only.
Noteful
- Made for iPad and iPhone only. The App Store shows it as "Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS", and no Android, Windows or web version is offered.
- Layers and sync between devices are locked until the Noteful Pro upgrade is bought.
- The App Store listing requires iOS or iPadOS 16.4 or later.
Key features
Notability
- Handwriting, typing and document markup
- Notes combine handwriting, typed text, images and sketches on one page, and PDFs, documents and slides can be imported and written on.
- Audio recording with transcripts
- Lectures and meetings are recorded alongside your notes and transcribed, and playback follows the moment each note was written. Live transcription is unlimited on Pro.
- AI flashcards and quizzes
- Practice questions, quizzes and flashcards are generated from your notes: up to 400 questions a month on Plus and unlimited on Pro.
- Summaries and chat with your notes
- Pro generates real-time summaries of notes, imported documents and recordings and answers questions about a note in a chat. Meeting notes can also yield action-item checklists.
- YouTube link-to-note
- On the web, a YouTube link is converted into a note with a transcript and summary: 100 conversions a month on Plus, unlimited on Pro.
- Collaboration and shared libraries
- Notes can be shared by link and edited together live. Business plans add shared note libraries, centralized user admin and admin-based feature controls.
Noteful
- Vector ink for Apple Pencil
- A custom ink engine turns strokes into high-resolution vector ink, with ballpoint pen, fountain pen and highlighter brushes and recognition of geometric shapes.
- PDF and document markup
- PDFs and Microsoft Office documents import into a notebook for annotation alongside images, shapes and typed text, and the annotated pages export as PDF.
- Tags and nested tags
- Writing #tag or #nested/tag anywhere in a notebook files it. Notebooks and pages can be browsed by tag, and tags can be renamed, deleted or reassigned.
- Layers
- Annotations can sit on separate layers that are hidden, shown and rearranged independently, leaving the original content unchanged. Layers are a Noteful Pro feature.
- Audio recording
- Audio can be recorded while taking notes, and the playback position is synced with the notes written at that moment.
- Sync across iPhone and iPad
- Noteful Pro syncs notebooks between a user's iPhone and iPad devices. The listing says notebooks synced with iCloud are encrypted via account-based keys.
Plans
Notability
Starter$0
5 notes with all editing tools, PDF and document import, 20,000+ templates and 7-day version history.
Lite$4.99
per month, or $14.99 per year
Unlimited notes and third-party backups (iOS only), with 7-day version history.
Plus$7.99
per month, or $19.99 per year
Adds audio recording and transcription, handwriting search, up to 400 AI quiz and flashcard questions and 100 YouTube conversions a month.
Pro$19.99
per month, or $99.99 per year
Unlimited live transcription, real-time AI summaries, quizzes, flashcards and YouTube conversions, chat with your notes and 90-day version history.
Classic$49.99
one-time purchase
Unlimited notes with handwriting recognition and search, math conversion to LaTeX, live collaboration and Notability Cloud sync.
Business$6
per user / month, or $60 per user / year
Shared note libraries, central admin and billing, AI summaries and transcription. Business Pro is $18 per user / month or $180 per year.
Noteful
Noteful$0
Free to use without a time limit, minus the features the App Store listing marks as Pro: layers and sync across iPhone and iPad.
Noteful Pro, Lifetime$6.99
one-time in-app purchase on the US App Store
Unlocks the Pro features for good, including layers and sync to all of a user's iPhone and iPad devices.
Ways to pay less
Notability
- Annual discount
Yearly plans cost far less than paying monthly
Lite is $14.99 per year against $4.99 per month ($59.88 over a year), Plus $19.99 against $7.99 per month and Pro $99.99 against $19.99 per month. Business is $60 per user yearly or $6 monthly.
- Lifetime license
Classic one-time purchase
The Classic plan is a one-time purchase, regularly $49.99, with unlimited notes, handwriting recognition, live collaboration and Notability Cloud sync and no subscription.
- Education
Free for schools that manage devices
Schools managing devices through an MDM such as Jamf or Mosyle can use Notability for Education at no cost. It is similar to the Plus subscription and configurable by administrators.
- Other savings
Back-to-school sale: up to 20% off all plans
At the time of checking, the pricing page showed sale prices of $11.99 (Lite), $15.99 (Plus) and $79.99 (Pro) per year and $39.99 for Classic. No end date is stated.
Noteful
- Lifetime license
Noteful Pro as a one-time purchase
The App Store listing says Noteful Pro is a one-time purchase that unlocks its features forever, listed in the US as Noteful Pro, Lifetime at $6.99.
