Noteshelf vs ZoomNotes

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

ZoomNotes

• iPad users who want fine zoom control for dense notes or sketches
• Building or annotating hyperlinked digital planners
• People who prefer a low one-time price to a subscription

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.

ZoomNotes

• The iPhone and iPad app and the Mac app are separate purchases, at $7.99 and $6.99 on the US stores.
• ZoomNotes Lite has a single pen type; extra pens, sub-pages, images, sound, bookmarks and handwriting recognition are in-app purchases.
• It is offered for iPad, iPhone and Mac only; no Android, Windows or web version is listed.
• iCloud sync is elective: each document has to be set to share individually in its properties.

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.

ZoomNotes

Unlimited zoom and whiteboard mode

Pages zoom in and out without fixed limits, including rotated views, and a whiteboard page style gives an unbounded surface for mind maps, tree diagrams and flow diagrams.

Eight pens and handwriting recognition

Gel, nib, italic, pencil, watercolour and other pens with any line thickness. Handwritten notes can be searched by keyword and selected handwriting converted to text.

PDF and Office annotation

Write over PDFs and, via Google Drive, over Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. A second document can be opened side by side in split screen.

Sub-pages, layers and links

Pages can hold pages within them, including whole PDFs. Layers control what is visible, and links join pages and documents to build indexes or planners.

Digital planners

Create a planner for any year or import a PDF planner. Planner pages can show events and reminders from the Calendar and Reminders apps.

Sound recording and presentations

Recordings are linked to the strokes drawn while they were captured. Bookmarks animate through a document for AirPlay, an external screen or export to video.

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.

ZoomNotes

• ZoomNotes Lite$0

  One pen type, unlimited zoom, PDF markup, split screen, planners and layers. Other features cost $0.99 to $2.99 each, or $7.99 for all of them.

• ZoomNotes Desktop$6.99

  one-time purchase on the Mac App Store (US)

  The Mac app, compatible with documents from the iPhone and iPad versions. Requires macOS 10.13 or later.

• ZoomNotes$7.99

  one-time purchase on the US App Store

  The full iPhone and iPad app, equivalent to the Lite version with every in-app purchase. Family Sharing covers up to six family members.

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.

ZoomNotes

No public discounts listed.