Notein vs Notewise

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.