Notein vs Noteshelf

Notein

• Android tablet and stylus users who want handwritten notes
• Students annotating PDFs and slides while recording lectures
• Building linked notes into a personal knowledge base

Noteshelf

• Students and teachers taking handwritten notes with a stylus
• Marking up PDFs, slides and scanned documents
• Planners and journals built from ready-made templates

Notein

• The free tier stops at 3 notebooks; unlimited notebooks, AI features and cloud sync need VIP.
• Android only, and not listed on the US Play Store: US users are sent to a separate app, Orion Notes, and must export and re-import their notes.
• No price list is published. Billing runs through Google Play, and the US Orion Notes listing shows $5.99 per item without a billing period.
• The Play listing says the AI features are available in select regions only.

Noteshelf

• The Free tier is limited to 3 notebooks, and handwriting recognition and search require Premium.
• Pricing differs by platform: $7.99 on the Microsoft Store, a $9.99 one-time upgrade on Android, and subscriptions or a lifetime purchase on the App Store.
• The App Store shows several yearly Premium prices between $19.99 and $49.99, so the price offered inside the app may vary.
• Sync uses iCloud on Apple devices and Google Drive on Android; the listings do not describe syncing between the two.

Notein

Infinite canvas and A4 notes

Two paper sizes: an infinite canvas for freeform sketching and A4 pages, with auto-shape, 3D shapes, color sets and a template library.

PDF and document annotation

Imports PDFs, images, Word and PowerPoint files to highlight, comment and draw on, with merge and split, an in-app split screen, dictionary lookup and translation.

Bidirectional links

Links connect notes and pages in both directions across all Notein documents, for study guides, planners or a personal knowledge base.

Layers

Handwriting, shapes and highlights can sit on separate layers, so part of a page can be revised without erasing the rest.

Audio-synced notes

Records a lecture or meeting while writing. Tapping handwriting jumps to that moment in the recording, with speed control, silence skipping and looping.

Sync and backup

Notebooks sync through Google Drive or OneDrive, with automatic and local backups. Cloud sync is part of the VIP plan.

Noteshelf

Handwritten notes

Write with pens and highlighters modeled on real ones, turn rough strokes into clean shapes, and use a zoom box for precise writing.

Handwriting recognition

Converts handwriting to text and searches handwritten notes in 65 languages. Recognition and search are part of Premium.

PDF and document annotation

Import PDFs, documents, slides and images, then highlight, underline and write on them. A built-in scanner digitizes paper documents.

Audio recording

Record lectures or meetings while taking notes and replay them later. The Apple version can also record from an Apple Watch.

Noteshelf AI

Generates handwritten notes on a topic, summarizes pages, translates text and explains terms, drawing on a monthly allowance of AI credits.

Sync and backup

iCloud sync across iPhone, iPad and Mac, Google Drive sync between Android devices, and automatic backup to Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox or WebDAV.

Notein

• Free$0

  Up to 3 notebooks with all handwriting tools, editor features, page management and document organization.

• VIP$5.99

  per in-app item on Google Play (US); billing basis not shown

  Unlimited notebooks, AI features and cloud sync, offered monthly, yearly or as a lifetime purchase. The US listing, named Orion Notes, shows a single in-app price.

Noteshelf

• Free$0

  3 notebooks with unlimited pages, hundreds of templates and Noteshelf AI for text with 30 monthly credits.

• Noteshelf for Windows$7.99

  one-time purchase on the Microsoft Store

  The Windows app for stylus devices, with handwritten and typed notes, audio recording, PDF annotation and handwriting search.

• Premium (Android)$9.99

  one-time purchase; local pricing may apply

  Unlimited notebooks, configurable digital diaries, handwriting recognition and search, and 100 monthly AI credits.

• Premium (iPhone, iPad and Mac)$7.99 to $49.99

  in-app purchase: weekly, monthly, yearly or lifetime

  The US App Store lists Weekly at $7.99, Monthly at $9.99, Yearly at prices from $19.99 to $49.99, and a Lifetime purchase at $14.99.

Notein

• Lifetime license

  VIP as a lifetime purchase

  Notein's help center lists a Lifetime option beside the monthly and yearly VIP plans: a one-time payment with no recurring charges. It does not state the price.

Noteshelf

• Lifetime license

  One-time Premium purchase

  Premium is a one-time $9.99 fee on Android, and the US App Store lists a Lifetime Premium in-app purchase at $14.99 next to its subscriptions.

• Education

  Reduced prices for schools and businesses

  Noteshelf 3 is offered to schools and businesses at reduced prices through Apple School Manager and Apple Business Manager.

• Other savings

  30% off Premium for Samsung Galaxy users

  The Android page advertises 30% off the Premium upgrade as an offer exclusive to Samsung Galaxy users.