Is there a good app for take handwritten notes?
Too Expensive: 44 apps already serve this, and 20 data points mined from real user reviews across 4 sources show where they fall short. The job is solved but priced beyond a segment. Undercut with a cheaper tier.
Data refreshed July 20, 2026 · scores recompute weekly as new reviews are mined, so re-check before you build.
What users complain about
The most common complaints behind apps that try to take handwritten notes, mined and clustered from real reviews:
| Complaint area | Type | Mentions | What a user said |
|---|---|---|---|
| note printing | missing-feature | 2 | you can't print the notes |
| photo capture in notes | missing-feature | 1 | solo estaría perfecta si tuviera incluida el tomar fotos |
| cannot take notes while recording | missing-feature | 1 | you will think you can take notes while it records, but no |
| offline note editing | missing-feature | 1 | no net no text write |
| no search for handwritten notes on iPad | missing-feature | 1 | Please enable search on handwritten notes I take from iPad |
| designated notes section | missing-feature | 1 | would be cool to see like some form of a designated notes section |
| usage limit locks handwritten notes to read-only | price | 1 | I hit a "usage" limit when taking basic hand written notes... My app is now in read only mode |
| not built for typed notes | missing-feature | 1 | Not built for typed notes. |
| widget can't create notes directly | missing-feature | 1 | Desde la ventana del widget no se puede crear una nota |
| no standalone notes feature | missing-feature | 1 | I would love if a notes feature could be added to the app |
| iPad version takes too many steps to make a note | ux | 1 | the iPad version is awful... I don't wanna have to go through numerous steps |
| weaker handwriting adjustment and organization vs Goodnotes | ux | 1 | it was much better at adjusting handwriting, convenient erasing, and better organization |
Apps that already serve this
| App | Rating | Ratings | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notes | 4.8 | 614,456 | Free |
| Notes - Professional | 4.4 | 40 | $2.99 |
| Voicenotes AI Notes & Meetings | 4.8 | 6,590 | Free |
| SuperNote Notes Recorder+Photo | 4.9 | 4,461 | $19.99 |
| AudioNote™ | 4.2 | 117 | $12.99 |
| Easy Notes - Note Taking Apps | 4.7 | 411,496 | Free |
| Handwritten email | 4.3 | 58 | $0.99 |
| Notebooks: Write and Organize | 4.7 | 1,051 | $17.99 |
Should you build it?
The job is solved but priced beyond a segment. Undercut with a cheaper tier. Opportunity here scores 53 out of 100 — a function of demand, how crowded the field is, and how badly the existing apps perform. Use the live map to compare it against adjacent tasks.
Who has tried building this
| Project | Status | Stars | Stack |
|---|---|---|---|
| flxzt/rnote | active | 11,340 | Rust |
| bhngupta/Notes-to-Notes | stale | 5 | CSS |
Open-source projects that attempted this task — active ones show today's bar; abandoned ones are a signal to validate why earlier attempts died.
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