Notability vs Notewise

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

Notewise

• Students and professionals who mix handwriting, PDFs and recordings
• People who move between an iPad and an Android phone or tablet
• Handwriting-only users who prefer a one-time purchase

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.

Notewise

• Apps are offered for iPhone, iPad and Android; browser access is for viewing synced or shared notes and needs a Notewise Cloud subscription.
• Classic Unlimited has no AI, sync or collaboration, and its license is tied to the Apple ID or Google Play account it was bought with.
• AI features share a monthly credit allowance and pause when it runs out; Basic gets about a third of Starter's allowance.
• When a subscription ends, cloud notes are kept for a 30-day grace period and then permanently deleted.

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.

Notewise

Mixed-source notes

A single note can hold typed text, audio recordings and transcripts, handwriting, PDFs, documents, slide decks, images and website links, and AI works across all of them.

Handwriting canvas

A freeform canvas with pens, brushes, highlighter, lasso, shapes, tables, sticky notes, rulers and connectors for diagrams. The advanced canvas tools need a paid plan.

PDF and document annotation

PDFs, slides and other documents of up to 1 GB import for highlighting, comments and drawing: up to 50 pages per document on Classic Free and 3,000 on paid plans.

Transcription and AI chat

Subscriptions transcribe recordings in 20+ languages and answer questions about one note, all notes or a meeting still being recorded, pointing to the passage an answer came from.

Interactive Tabs

Captured notes can be turned into flashcards, quizzes, action items, decision logs or a custom format. Guided AI podcasts are limited to Starter and Pro.

Sync and collaboration

Subscriptions sync notes between iOS and Android with 1 GB to 100 GB of cloud storage, and add real-time collaboration on canvas and sharing by link with viewing in a browser.

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.

Notewise

• Classic Free$0

  Up to 10 canvases of 50 pages each, with PDF, slide and document import. No advanced canvas tools, AI, sync or cloud storage.

• Classic Unlimited$16.99

  one-time purchase on the website (Android); $19.99 in the iOS app

  Unlimited offline canvases of up to 3,000 pages, advanced canvas tools and no watermark. No AI, sync or collaboration.

• Basic$2.42

  per month, billed yearly ($28.99); $4.99 billed monthly

  AI notes, chat, transcription and handwriting recognition with 0.3x AI credits, 1 GB of cloud storage, cross-device sync and real-time collaboration.

• Starter$3.08

  per month, billed yearly ($36.99); $6.99 billed monthly

  Everything in Basic with 1x AI credits, 10 GB of cloud storage and guided AI podcasts. Includes the 7-day free trial.

• Pro$10.83

  per month, billed yearly ($129.99); $15.99 billed monthly

  Everything in Starter with 3x AI credits and 100 GB of cloud storage, for heavy AI use and large note libraries.

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.

Notewise

• Annual discount

  Save 32% to 56% with yearly billing

  Basic, Starter and Pro cost $28.99, $36.99 and $129.99 a year against $4.99, $6.99 and $15.99 a month, which works out about 52%, 56% and 32% lower over twelve months.

• Lifetime license

  Classic Unlimited as a one-time purchase

  Classic Unlimited is bought once and does not renew: $16.99 on the Notewise website for Android, with iOS users buying it inside the app, where the US App Store lists $19.99.

• Other savings

  Volume licenses for schools and businesses

  Organizations can buy discounted one-time Notewise Unlimited licenses for a verified email domain, starting with a minimum of 20 licenses. Cloud sync is not included.