Notein vs Squid

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

Squid

• Students and teachers writing by hand on Android tablets or Chromebooks
• Marking up, grading or signing PDFs with a pen
• People who want notes kept on the device with no account

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.

Squid

• Squid is an Android app only. It also runs on Chromebooks that have the Play Store; no iPhone, iPad, desktop or web version is offered.
• PDF import, the highlighter, true eraser, shapes, typed text, premium backgrounds and cloud backup are all paid features.
• Google Play gives in-app prices only as a range of $1.00 to $14.99 per item, without saying which is monthly, yearly or one-time.
• Purchases are tied to the app store account used to buy them and apply only on the same platform and app store.

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.

Squid

Vector ink engine

Strokes stay sharp at any zoom level and can be selected, moved, resized, recolored and reweighted later. A stroke eraser removes whole letters or words at once.

Active pen support

On devices with an active pen, such as Samsung devices with S Pen, the pen writes and a finger erases, with pressure sensitivity and quick actions on the pen's side button.

Paper types and sizes

Pages are infinite by default or sized as letter, legal or A4. Blank, ruled and graph paper are free; math, engineering, music, sports and planning backgrounds need Squid Premium.

PDF markup

A premium feature that imports a PDF as a note to annotate, fill in or sign, then exports the result as a new PDF. It is also sold on its own as an in-app purchase.

Presentation mode

Casts a note to a TV or projector so a tablet works as a virtual whiteboard, or shows imported slides that can be written on during a talk.

Export and cloud backup

Notes export to PDF, PNG, JPEG or Squid Note format. Squid Premium adds backup at set intervals and bulk PDF export to Google Drive, Dropbox or Box.

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.

Squid

• Squid$0

  Base features with no account: vector ink, blank, ruled and graph paper, stroke eraser, image import, folders and export to PDF, PNG or JPEG.

• Squid Premium and in-app purchases$1.00 - $14.99

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

  Covers the monthly or yearly Squid Premium subscription and the one-time PDF Import and Tool Pack purchases. The listing does not price each item.

• Education bulk licenseCustom

  Discounted bulk Squid Premium licenses for Google Workspace for Education accounts, quoted on request and assigned in the Google Admin console.

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.

Squid

• Education

  Discounted bulk licensing for schools

  Squid's help center offers discounted bulk licensing of Squid Premium for Google Workspace for Education accounts, by quote, with a trial available on request.

• Annual discount

  Discounted yearly subscription

  Squid Premium is sold monthly or yearly, and the help center describes the yearly option as the discounted price. It does not state the amounts.

• Other savings

  6 months of Squid Premium on eligible Chromebooks

  Eligible Chromebooks get 6 months of Squid Premium free through the Chromebook Perks page, redeemed against the monthly subscription option on Google Play.