# Notability

> Handwritten notes with synced audio, transcripts and AI study tools

Notability is a note-taking app for handwriting, typing and marking up documents, with audio recording that stays in sync with what you write. Paid plans add transcription and AI tools that turn notes into summaries, flashcards and quizzes. It runs on iPad, iPhone, Mac, Windows, Android and the web, with a free Starter plan limited to 5 notes and a one-time Classic purchase offered alongside the subscriptions.

- **Category:** Note-Taking Apps
- **Made by:** Ginger Labs
- **Website:** https://notability.com
- **Runs on:** iOS, macOS, Windows, Android, Web
- **Facts last checked:** Oct 5, 2026

## Pricing

Notability has a free plan. Paid plans start at $14.99 per year, or $4.99 per month (Lite).

- **Pricing model:** Free plan
- **Free plan:** Starter plan: 5 notes with all editing tools, PDF and document import, access to 20,000+ templates and 7-day version history.
- **Free trial:** 30-day free trial on the Business and Business Pro plans.

| Plan | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Starter | $0 | 5 notes with all editing tools, PDF and document import, 20,000+ templates and 7-day version history. |
| Lite | $4.99 per month, or $14.99 per year | Unlimited notes and third-party backups (iOS only), with 7-day version history. |
| Plus | $7.99 per month, or $19.99 per year | Adds audio recording and transcription, handwriting search, up to 400 AI quiz and flashcard questions and 100 YouTube conversions a month. |
| Pro | $19.99 per month, or $99.99 per year | Unlimited live transcription, real-time AI summaries, quizzes, flashcards and YouTube conversions, chat with your notes and 90-day version history. |
| Classic | $49.99 one-time purchase | Unlimited notes with handwriting recognition and search, math conversion to LaTeX, live collaboration and Notability Cloud sync. |
| Business | $6 per user / month, or $60 per user / year | Shared note libraries, central admin and billing, AI summaries and transcription. Business Pro is $18 per user / month or $180 per year. |

Read from https://notability.com/pricing on Oct 5, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Notability before buying.

## Ways to pay less

- **Yearly plans cost far less than paying monthly** (Annual discount): Lite is $14.99 per year against $4.99 per month ($59.88 over a year), Plus $19.99 against $7.99 per month and Pro $99.99 against $19.99 per month. Business is $60 per user yearly or $6 monthly. Source: https://notability.com/pricing
- **Classic one-time purchase** (Lifetime license): The Classic plan is a one-time purchase, regularly $49.99, with unlimited notes, handwriting recognition, live collaboration and Notability Cloud sync and no subscription. Source: https://notability.com/pricing?interval=one-time
- **Free for schools that manage devices** (Education): Schools managing devices through an MDM such as Jamf or Mosyle can use Notability for Education at no cost. It is similar to the Plus subscription and configurable by administrators. Source: https://notability.com/education
- **Back-to-school sale: up to 20% off all plans** (Other savings): At the time of checking, the pricing page showed sale prices of $11.99 (Lite), $15.99 (Plus) and $79.99 (Pro) per year and $39.99 for Classic. No end date is stated. Source: https://notability.com/pricing

## Key features

- **Handwriting, typing and document markup:** Notes combine handwriting, typed text, images and sketches on one page, and PDFs, documents and slides can be imported and written on.
- **Audio recording with transcripts:** Lectures and meetings are recorded alongside your notes and transcribed, and playback follows the moment each note was written. Live transcription is unlimited on Pro.
- **AI flashcards and quizzes:** Practice questions, quizzes and flashcards are generated from your notes: up to 400 questions a month on Plus and unlimited on Pro.
- **Summaries and chat with your notes:** Pro generates real-time summaries of notes, imported documents and recordings and answers questions about a note in a chat. Meeting notes can also yield action-item checklists.
- **YouTube link-to-note:** On the web, a YouTube link is converted into a note with a transcript and summary: 100 conversions a month on Plus, unlimited on Pro.
- **Collaboration and shared libraries:** Notes can be shared by link and edited together live. Business plans add shared note libraries, centralized user admin and admin-based feature controls.

## Good for

- Students recording lectures alongside handwritten notes
- Turning class notes into flashcards and quizzes
- Annotating PDFs, slides and forms with a stylus
- Schools that manage devices, where Notability for Education is free

## Worth knowing

- The free Starter plan is limited to 5 notes.
- Audio transcription and the AI quiz and flashcard tools start at Plus; real-time summaries, note chat and unlimited transcription are listed under Pro.
- Third-party backups are iOS only, and YouTube link-to-note conversion works on the web only.
- The plan comparison marks handwriting recognition, math conversion and audio playback sync as iOS and Android only.

## What people say

- **App Store rating of the iPhone and iPad app:** 4.8 out of 5 from 457,460 ratings in the United States, read Oct 7, 2026. This is the store's rating of the app, not a score from ToolGPA. Source: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id360593530

## Works with

iCloud, YouTube, Jamf, Mosyle, Microsoft Intune

**Tags:** Notes, AI features, Transcription, Templates, Real-time collaboration, One-time purchase

## Alternatives

- [Goodnotes](https://toolgpa.com/tools/goodnotes): Handwritten notes, PDF markup and whiteboards with an AI assistant. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/goodnotes-vs-notability)
- [Noteshelf](https://toolgpa.com/tools/noteshelf): Handwritten note-taking and PDF annotation for stylus devices. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/notability-vs-noteshelf)
- [CollaNote](https://toolgpa.com/tools/collanote): Handwriting and PDF markup notes for iPad, iPhone and Mac. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/collanote-vs-notability)
- [Microsoft OneNote](https://toolgpa.com/tools/microsoft-onenote): Microsoft's free digital notebook for typed, inked and audio notes. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/microsoft-onenote-vs-notability)
- [Apple Notes](https://toolgpa.com/tools/apple-notes): Apple's free notes app for iPhone, iPad, Mac and the web. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/apple-notes-vs-notability)

## Sources

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 5, 2026:

- https://notability.com
- https://notability.com/pricing
- https://notability.com/pricing?interval=monthly
- https://notability.com/pricing?interval=one-time
- https://notability.com/pricing/compare
- https://notability.com/apps
- https://notability.com/education
- https://notability.com/business
- https://apps.apple.com/us/app/notability-ai-notes-planner/id360593530

Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/notability
Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).