For a student taking 4 hours of notes per day? No. You will burn through 250 edits in roughly 20 minutes of heavy lecture note-taking. For a casual user who reviews one PDF a week? Yes, it is plenty.
| Feature | Notability (Free) | Apple Notes (Free) | OneNote (Free) | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | | ✅ (No transcription) | ❌ | ✅ (Desktop only) | | Edit Limit | ⚠️ 250/month | ❌ Unlimited | ❌ Unlimited | | PDF Import | ✅ | ✅ (Limited) | ✅ | | Cross-Platform | ❌ (iOS/Mac only) | ❌ (Apple only) | ✅ (Win/Android/Web) | | OCR Search | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | notability free version features
The search function is fully operational in the free version. Notability indexes both typed text and handwritten notes. Free users can search their entire library to find specific keywords within their handwriting. For a student taking 4 hours of notes per day
Notability has transitioned to a "freemium" model where the serves primarily as a trial for casual users or students to explore the interface. While it offers access to essential writing tools, it is heavily gated by a monthly "Edit Limit" that restricts long-term, intensive note-taking. Core Features of the Notability Free Version For a casual user who reviews one PDF a week
: Use the standard sidebar system of "Dividers" and "Subjects" to categorize your work.
You get the full toolbox: