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App Imp

Note-taking apps.

Sync & data runs in 11 of the 12 apps here — nobody on this shelf has fixed it.

12 apps · 3,972 reviews held · 1,710 negative · 2026-08-24 snapshot

80/100 opportunity

6 of 6 factors · not advice
Nobody's fixed it11 of 12 apps92
How far above typical14.4% vs 2.2% typical100
How angrystar2.2 · 247 reviews54
People in the market1,680,543 ratings74
Room to enterleader holds 38% of ratings62
Willingness to pay10 of 12 charge · $6.95 entry83

Mostly solved: login & auth. 10 of 10 apps run below the store’s typical rate on it — while 11 of 12 still carry sync & data complaints.

How this is scored

Weighted mean of the sub-scores, weights re-normalized over whatever is computable (nobody's fixed it 25 · how far above typical 20 · how angry 15 · people in the market 15 · room to enter 15 · willingness to pay 10). Fixed anchors map each count to 0–100: breadth and willingness-to-pay are straight shares; the gap’s heat tops out at 4times the store’s typical rate; anger scores star3 as 0 and star1.5 as 100; reach runs 104 to 107ratings on a log scale; room to enter is one minus the leader’s share of shelf ratings. A factor that cannot be counted is dropped and named — never imputed. The site’s one composite (#115, owner decision 2026-08-15); cited industry benchmarks are never blended in.

5 gaps.

01

Sync & data — unfixed in 11 of 12 apps

extreme · 14.4% of this shelf’s 1,710 negative reviews, against 2.2% typical store-wide, at 2.19star average anger.

What they said · 247 reviews
  • Sync fails between devices21 of 247
  • Everything gone at once17 of 247
“Doesn't Sync Across Devices — My notebooks don't sync across my ipad and iphone 90% of the tube, and when they do, it syncs the outdated version. Then I have to manually restore my notes from my most recent backup. I also have to manually back up my notes because the auto backup function also doesn't work. Not worth the lifetime purchase.”Freenotes®: AI Notes Taking · 1star · Aug 18, 2026
“My notes keep disappearing — I write my notes and then when screen is off or if I reopen app, my notes disappear.”Notes · 2star · Aug 11, 2026
“Lost my old whiteboards — No way to contact, email or take any guidance how to revive”Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDF · 1star · Aug 11, 2026
How it compares
this shelf
14.4%
247 of 1,710
store-wide
2.2%
typical
breadth
92%
11 of 12 apps
02

Limits & caps — unfixed in 10 of 12 apps

high · 8.0% of this shelf’s 1,710 negative reviews, against 2.8% typical store-wide, at 2.44star average anger.

What they said · 137 reviews
  • Core feature locked behind the paywall5 of 137
“Horrible! Locked behind a paywall — Notes used to be free and the only feature you had to pay for was the AI chatbot but now you cant even make notes without premium. Ruined this app so bad. Freenotes but its not even free anymore. Used this app for a year and now its useless.”Freenotes®: AI Notes Taking · 1star · Aug 23, 2026
“Not enough shapes — The shapes are limited to pentagon and can’t go passed that if you try to make a hexagon it doesn’t work”Notes+ : Notes for Pencil · 1star · Aug 23, 2026
“Can’t Even Test the Free Version Before Subscribing — I am trying to test Goodnotes before committing to a subscription, but every time I try to open a new notebook, I get the message, “Empty your trash bin to make sure deleted notebooks aren't counting towards your quota, or upgrade for unlimited notebooks.” The problem is that I have zero notebooks (or anything else) in my account, and I cannot”Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDF · 1star · Aug 12, 2026
How it compares
this shelf
8.0%
137 of 1,710
store-wide
2.8%
typical
breadth
83%
10 of 12 apps
03

Performance — unfixed in 12 of 12 apps

elevated · 26.5% of this shelf’s 1,710 negative reviews, against 16.9% typical store-wide, at 2.19star average anger.

What they said · 453 reviews
“It’s regularly crushing — Hello I am trying to open a PDF file and trying to search a keyword in the PDF but it cannot maintain its stability. It repeatedly crashing when I try to find out something something it closes and I have to do from the first so it is repeatedly crashing kindly solve this as soon as possible?.”Notes+ : Notes for Pencil · 1star · Aug 24, 2026
“Was very good, not a fan anymore — I wanted a free note taking app that had alot of great benefits and I’ve had this app for about a year or 2 and everything was great until over time the app would glitch and most recently you now have to pay for their in app notebook and planners.. I am not deleting the app”Notes+ : Notes for Pencil · 1star · Aug 18, 2026
“It doesn’t accept my subscription to the membership — I’ve tried to subscribe to both memberships, the pro, and the plus but neither one will accept me. Not the annual monthly or weekly payment. It just throws me an error and has been for weeks.”Freenotes®: AI Notes Taking · 1star · Aug 15, 2026
How it compares
this shelf
26.5%
453 of 1,710
store-wide
16.9%
typical
breadth
100%
12 of 12 apps
04

UX — unfixed in 11 of 12 apps

3.2% of this shelf’s 1,710 negative reviews, against 2.9% typical store-wide, at 3.21star average anger.

What they said · 54 reviews
“Clunky and unable to use AI credits — This seemed like a cost-effective solution for getting summaries from a weekly in-person meeting. I have an Essential plan with AI credits showing as available but when I try to use them, it doesn’t do it. Instead it tries to upsell me the AI plan. Highly frustrating. Without the summary, this tool is worthless to me.”Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDF · 1star · Aug 9, 2026
“Not a replacement for Goodnotes — The beautification of hand writing is clunky and inconsistent. Everything just falls short”Freenotes®: AI Notes Taking · 1star · Jul 28, 2026
“Every update makes a worst notability, I am switching to good notes. — New wrist section failures, tip sudden disconnections, change bottom layouts, can’t export to google drive anymore, new over heating. Notability one year ago was peak.”Notability: AI Notes & Planner · 1star · Jul 18, 2026
How it compares
this shelf
3.2%
54 of 1,710
store-wide
2.9%
typical
breadth
92%
11 of 12 apps
05

Support — unfixed in 12 of 12 apps

8.4% of this shelf’s 1,710 negative reviews, against 9.2% typical store-wide, at 2.24star average anger.

What they said · 143 reviews
“What happened? — I’ve enjoyed using Notability for years until the most recent Cloud migration. My planner is no longer functioning. It lags so bad that it barely opens. Tech support is slow and offers the most basic/pointless tips. Not good.”Notability: AI Notes & Planner · 1star · Aug 15, 2026
“Can’t Even Test the Free Version Before Subscribing — I am trying to test Goodnotes before committing to a subscription, but every time I try to open a new notebook, I get the message, “Empty your trash bin to make sure deleted notebooks aren't counting towards your quota, or upgrade for unlimited notebooks.” The problem is that I have zero notebooks (or anything else) in my account, and I cannot”Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDF · 1star · Aug 12, 2026
“Just use a different app — I pay for it and it doesn’t work, lecture notes fail to load as well as quizzes, contacting support is slow and they don’t have any resolutions”Notability: AI Notes & Planner · 1star · Aug 11, 2026
How it compares
this shelf
8.4%
143 of 1,710
store-wide
9.2%
typical
breadth
100%
12 of 12 apps

Is there a market for a new note-taking app?

12 apps compete on this shelf, holding 3,972 App Store reviews — and the widest unfixed complaint, sync & data, runs in 11 of 12 of them at 14.4% of negative reviews against 2.2% typical. Those are counts, not a verdict — the page shows what is unfixed, not whether to build.

What do users complain about most in note-taking apps?

1. Sync & data — in 11 of 12 apps, 14.4% of negative reviews; 2. Limits & caps — in 10 of 12 apps, 8% of negative reviews; 3. Performance — in 12 of 12 apps, 26.5% of negative reviews; 4. UX — in 11 of 12 apps, 3.2% of negative reviews; 5. Support — in 12 of 12 apps, 8.4% of negative reviews.

How many note-taking app reviews did App Imp count?

3,972 US App Store reviews across 12 apps, 1,710 of them negative — counted on the 2026-08-24 snapshot, never estimated.

Searched on the App Store.

Apple’s own suggestions for note-taking apps terms, in their order.

ai notes takercute notes freenote taking app for studentsnote taking apps freenote-taking apps similar to goodnotes 6paper plannerai notes & voice recordercute notes widget

Searched, but no app on this shelf says it in its name.

Who’s in it

All 12 apps counted on this shelf · 2026-08-24.

App
Notes630,43119%4%25%1%
Notability: AI Notes & Planner452,97826%5%39%3%
Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDF443,54513%5%29%4%
Freenotes®: AI Notes Taking57,7486%24%3%3%
Penbook: Paper Planner & Notes44,94713%3%20%7%
Noteful: Notes & PDF Markup22,9699%12%9%3%
CollaNote: Notes & PDF Markup13,4788%22%31%2%
Noteshelf 3: AI Digital Notes6,22610%2%17%3%
QuickNotes X: Notes, AI & PDF3,7506%2%33%4%
Notes+ : Notes for Pencil3,07117%3%29%3%
Notegpt - Note Taking AI786——24%6%
SuperNotes Note Taking App61411%—22%—

Each cell: that app’s share of its own negative reviews. Bold from 1.15 times the store’s typical rate for that complaint, and only where an app holds 20+ negative reviews. Click a column to sort.

What they charge, and what it costs them

Prices from Apple’s public pages; the share counts payment-mechanics language only.

AppMoney complaints
Noteshelf 3: AI Digital Notes$7.99–$49.99 · 10 tiers8.3% of 158
Freenotes®: AI Notes Taking$1.99–$39.99 · 7 tiers3.6% of 165
Penbook: Paper Planner & Notes$4.99–$49.99 · 7 tiers3.5% of 142
Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDF$0–$35.99 · 8 tiers2% of 349
Notability: AI Notes & Planner$5.99–$99.99 · 8 tiers1% of 394
Noteful: Notes & PDF Markup$6.99–$6.99 · 1 tiers0% of 33
CollaNote: Notes & PDF Markup$6.95–$13.90 · 4 tiers0% of 178
Notes+ : Notes for Pencil$7.99–$24.99 · 10 tiers0% of 35
Notegpt - Note Taking AI$14.99–$49.99 · 2 tiers0% of 17
SuperNotes Note Taking App$4.99–$29.99 · 4 tiers0% of 9

What each one owns, where each is exposed

Notability: AI Notes & Planner

Owns. Largest reach (451K+ ratings); decade-long brand trust

Exposed. 69% negative; forced cloud migration wiped 300+ notes; sync fails in finals week; crashes ignored for a week

Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDF

Owns. 438K+ ratings; strong handwriting/whiteboard feature set

Exposed. 59% negative; billing via third-party 'Paddle' traps users; account lockouts cut off paid notebooks; macOS lag

Freenotes®: AI Notes Taking

Owns. 56K+ ratings; once-beloved free tier built large student base

Exposed. 49% negative; retroactively paywalled previously-free features; ads on open; limits imposed without notice

CollaNote: Notes & PDF Markup

Owns. 13K+ ratings; PDF markup; relatively lower anger at 45%

Exposed. Free-tier limits changed without notification at critical moments; glitches when paying premium

Notes

Owns. 620K+ ratings; free, zero-friction, platform-native

Exposed. 35% negative but no advanced features; no handwriting/PDF workflow; users outgrow it

Noteful: Notes & PDF Markup

Owns. 10% negative — lowest anger in set; simple one-tier IAP ($6.99)

Exposed. 22K ratings; small reach; minimal feature surface; limited differentiation headroom

Browse the apps behind these counts

Every app we count, with the complaint it runs furthest above the store’s typical rate.

Open the app library
How this is counted

Every number is arithmetic over the reviews we hold, re-counted weekly — nothing modelled, nothing scored. Themes come from a frozen pattern classifier rather than a model reading reviews, so the same review always lands in the same bucket. A shelf rate is pooled across every app here; the store rate is the same count across 12,122 apps. A complaint is only called a gap when at least half the shelf carries it and at least 20 reviews are behind it — a problem concentrated in one app is that app’s bug.