Notes Writer vs Noteshelf

Notes Writer

• Students who record lectures and annotate course PDFs on an iPad
• Writers and researchers drafting in Word, Markdown or LaTeX beside their notes
• People who want a one-time Pro unlock in place of a subscription

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

Notes Writer

• The site publishes no prices. The US App Store lists Notes Writer Unlock All and AI at $3.99 and $14.99 without a billing period.
• On a Mac it runs as the iPad app and needs Apple silicon; no Android, Windows or web version is offered.
• The AI Assistant is optional, needs an internet connection, and its included usage depends on the plan.
• A separate paid app, Notes Writer Pro: Beyond PDFs, is listed at $14.99 on the US App Store with its own AI Assistant add-on at $3.99.

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.

Notes Writer

Handwriting with Apple Pencil

Pens, pencils, fountain pens, markers and watercolor tools with an eraser, lasso and ruler, plus shapes, typed text and images alongside handwriting.

PDF annotation

Highlights, ink, comments, signatures and audio on PDFs, with form filling, page organization, text redaction in supported PDFs and measurement of distance and area to scale.

Document editors

Creates and edits DOCX, RTF, Markdown, LaTeX and plain text documents. LaTeX compiles to a typeset PDF with a preview beside the source.

Voice notes with transcripts

Records lectures, interviews or meetings, generates transcripts that can be searched, and attaches recordings to PDF notes and whiteboards.

Study Projects

A tree-like Binder organizes subjects, sources and drafts, a Corkboard plans sections, and selected parts compile into a finished document or ebook.

Math Notebooks and charts

Math Notebooks mix explanations and calculations with Python cells and plot output, and Chart documents turn a data table into column, line, pie or scatter charts.

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.

Notes Writer

• Free$0

  The free download. The site describes Pro, Lifetime Pro and AI-inclusive options as optional upgrades without listing the free limits.

• Weekly$1.99

  per week, as labelled on the US App Store

  An in-app subscription listed only as Weekly; the listing does not say which upgrade it covers.

• Notes Writer Unlock All and AI$3.99 - $14.99

  per item on the US App Store; billing basis not shown

  Listed twice, at $3.99 and $14.99, with no period for either. The site says included AI usage depends on the plan.

• Lifetime Pro Full Unlock$14.99

  one-time in-app purchase on the US App Store

  One-time Pro unlock. The site presents Lifetime Pro and the AI-inclusive options as separate choices.

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.

Notes Writer

• Lifetime license

  Lifetime Pro as a one-time purchase

  The site lists a Lifetime Pro option among its in-app upgrades, and the US App Store shows Lifetime Pro Full Unlock at $14.99.

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.