Notability vs RemNote

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

RemNote

• Students who want notes and flashcards in one app
• Exam preparation built on spaced repetition
• Studying from PDFs and lecture slides

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.

RemNote

• The Free plan allows only a few uses of each Pro feature: 3 annotated PDFs, 5 image occlusion cards, 1 handwritten document and 1 exam.
• AI credits reset each month and do not carry over, and the frontier models in the AI tutor need the Pro with AI plan.
• The Life-Long Learner license covers Pro server features, such as larger uploads and AI credits, for 5 years rather than for life.
• Subscriptions bought in the iOS or Android app cannot use discounts, and the App Store lists Pro Monthly at $14.99.

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.

RemNote

Flashcards inside notes

Cards are written in the same outline as the notes, in types that include question and answer, fill in the blank, lists and image occlusion.

Spaced repetition and exam scheduler

Cards come back for review on a spaced schedule. The exam scheduler sets a daily practice plan around an exam date; the Free plan allows 1 exam.

PDF and slide annotation

Upload PDFs and slides and mark them up with highlights, drawings and shapes next to your notes. Free accounts can annotate 3 documents.

Handwritten notes

Write by hand on a tablet, add sketches and convert handwriting to text. The Free plan includes 1 handwritten document.

AI study tools

Generates flashcards, quizzes and summaries from notes and PDFs, explains cards and answers questions in a tutor chat, all metered in monthly AI credits.

Offline mode and sync

The desktop and mobile apps keep working without a connection and sync when back online. Every plan syncs an unlimited number of devices.

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.

RemNote

• Free$0

  Unlimited notes, flashcards and synced devices, plus a few uses of each Pro feature: 3 annotated PDFs, 5 image occlusion cards and 250 AI credits a month.

• Pro$8

  per month, billed yearly ($96); $10 billed monthly

  Unlimited PDF annotation, image occlusion, tables, exam scheduling and handwritten notes, with 1,000 AI credits a month.

• Pro with AI$18

  per month, billed yearly ($216); $20 billed monthly

  Everything in Pro with 20,000 AI credits a month, covering AI flashcards and quizzes from PDFs, the lecture recorder and AI grading.

• Life-Long Learner$395

  one-time purchase

  Local Pro features for life, with Pro server features and 1,000 AI credits a month included for the first 5 years.

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.

RemNote

• Annual discount

  Save 20% on Pro with yearly billing

  Pro costs $10 a month when billed monthly or $96 when billed yearly, which works out to $8 a month.

• Education

  25% off Pro for students, faculty and staff

  People at an academic institution get 25% off Pro subscriptions, applied when the account uses an institutional email. It excludes Life-Long Learner, AI credits and app-store subscriptions.

• Lifetime license

  Life-Long Learner one-time license

  A single $395 payment gives local Pro features for life, plus Pro server features and 1,000 AI credits a month for 5 years.