Review Insights · App Store
Notebook - Notes, Notepad
Zoho Corporation · 23,841 ratings · ★ 4.7
4.7
★★★★★
23,841 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 43 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"notes"
16 negative reviews mention this · 37% of all complaints
★★★★★ "keeps disappearing. I keep typing stuff out and I even click the check mark and my notes still keep disappearing This new update is trash, I’m going to have to move to a new app I don’t understand why the changes they made were put in. It works worse now and …" - Darbus1
2
"paid"
12 negative reviews mention this · 28% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Search in PDF and images doesn’t work. Title says it all. Paid for the pro level and they lied about it being able to do OCR and search images and PDFs. Tried in the web interface and on IOS. Support links on their website don’t work. Google search that linked to help dot zoho d…" - Goldzero-
3
"update"
10 negative reviews mention this · 23% of all complaints
★★★★★ "keeps disappearing. I keep typing stuff out and I even click the check mark and my notes still keep disappearing This new update is trash, I’m going to have to move to a new app I don’t understand why the changes they made were put in. It works worse now and …" - Darbus1
4
"been"
10 negative reviews mention this · 23% of all complaints
★★★★★ "What a shady company. Update: 4.15.26 - the company agreed to delete my account following written notice triggering EU privacy policies. If you aren’t in the EU, don’t use this app. They use your notes however they see fit and won’t delete your account and data …" - Johnny Guierrmo
5
"features"
8 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "What a shady company. Update: 4.15.26 - the company agreed to delete my account following written notice triggering EU privacy policies. If you aren’t in the EU, don’t use this app. They use your notes however they see fit and won’t delete your account and data …" - Johnny Guierrmo
6
"note"
8 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "keeps disappearing. I keep typing stuff out and I even click the check mark and my notes still keep disappearing This new update is trash, I’m going to have to move to a new app I don’t understand why the changes they made were put in. It works worse now and …" - Darbus1
7
"find"
8 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Please stop glitching. I recently started using this app again to study for an exam and am getting so incredibly frustrated. I’m taking notes on a slide deck and I can’t go through more than 2-3 slides without the app glitching and lose all of the notes I took si…" - Pauli730
8
"years"
8 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "AI ruins another favorite. Since rolling out the new AI features I've had innumerable issues with my notes (mainly saving, but even within the note while I type font size randomly changes or isn't as displayed, among other issues). I'm not a fan of AI but I won't sto…" - Neimiria
9
"free"
7 negative reviews mention this · 16% of all complaints
★★★★★ "What a shady company. Update: 4.15.26 - the company agreed to delete my account following written notice triggering EU privacy policies. If you aren’t in the EU, don’t use this app. They use your notes however they see fit and won’t delete your account and data …" - Johnny Guierrmo
10
"subscription"
7 negative reviews mention this · 16% of all complaints
★★★★★ "What a shady company. Update: 4.15.26 - the company agreed to delete my account following written notice triggering EU privacy policies. If you aren’t in the EU, don’t use this app. They use your notes however they see fit and won’t delete your account and data …" - Johnny Guierrmo
11
"premium"
7 negative reviews mention this · 16% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Paid for Premium on 12/21/25…. My app is still the basic, even though the money was deducted from my account." - Rachel Elizabeth 33
12
"zoho"
6 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Search in PDF and images doesn’t work. Title says it all. Paid for the pro level and they lied about it being able to do OCR and search images and PDFs. Tried in the web interface and on IOS. Support links on their website don’t work. Google search that linked to help dot zoho d…" - Goldzero-
📋 All 43 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
Useless
D dictation terrible. It’s their way or the highway. I can’t even figure out what to do with it. That helps me besides make a long list of what I need to do and it won’t even do that.
Search in PDF and images doesn’t work
Title says it all. Paid for the pro level and they lied about it being able to do OCR and search images and PDFs. Tried in the web interface and on IOS. Support links on their website don’t work. Google search that linked to help dot zoho dot com doesn’t work.
What a shady company
Update: 4.15.26
- the company agreed to delete my account following written notice triggering EU privacy policies. If you aren’t in the EU, don’t use this app. They use your notes however they see fit and won’t delete your account and data absent a fight (ie, I genuinely believe I emailed the company 10 times over a 3 week period before they agreed to delete my account). Stay away from
I paid for the Pro Notebook with AI features (ie., around $7 or $8/month) and immediately began experiencing problems as I continually had to restore my subscriptions on iOS otherwise I was treated as a free user. Further, I couldn’t even restore my subscriptions on the web or on macOS which were huge disappointments because it’s far easier to use this tool on either of those platforms. Well, I contacted the developer and it took about 3 days to respond with a nonsense answer; I responded the same day and then waited 4 days for a response that effectively said “we can’t help you.” I responded to this and said “close my account” to which the developer said I needed to contact Apple which I did and Apple helped me close it on my end but then told me that I also needed to have Zoho close it on their end…well, I went to their website which said, for all intents and purposes, “after ending your subscription with Apple, click here to close it on our end” so I clicked the link and immediately received an error message along with a note to contact customer support. I tried a few times that day from other browsers and again over the next 2 days or so but no luck so I contacted support via email and provided screenshots showing that all requisite closure steps had been taken but that I still was being blocked from closing my account. The first person responded with something to the effect of “let me look into this…”….days passed and I received another message echoing the same sentiment and then this week - a month after subscribing and 28 days after fist contacting Zoho - I receive another message indicating that they are still exploring options for me.
Absolutely pathetic company that shouldn’t have any products on the App Store!
- the company agreed to delete my account following written notice triggering EU privacy policies. If you aren’t in the EU, don’t use this app. They use your notes however they see fit and won’t delete your account and data absent a fight (ie, I genuinely believe I emailed the company 10 times over a 3 week period before they agreed to delete my account). Stay away from
I paid for the Pro Notebook with AI features (ie., around $7 or $8/month) and immediately began experiencing problems as I continually had to restore my subscriptions on iOS otherwise I was treated as a free user. Further, I couldn’t even restore my subscriptions on the web or on macOS which were huge disappointments because it’s far easier to use this tool on either of those platforms. Well, I contacted the developer and it took about 3 days to respond with a nonsense answer; I responded the same day and then waited 4 days for a response that effectively said “we can’t help you.” I responded to this and said “close my account” to which the developer said I needed to contact Apple which I did and Apple helped me close it on my end but then told me that I also needed to have Zoho close it on their end…well, I went to their website which said, for all intents and purposes, “after ending your subscription with Apple, click here to close it on our end” so I clicked the link and immediately received an error message along with a note to contact customer support. I tried a few times that day from other browsers and again over the next 2 days or so but no luck so I contacted support via email and provided screenshots showing that all requisite closure steps had been taken but that I still was being blocked from closing my account. The first person responded with something to the effect of “let me look into this…”….days passed and I received another message echoing the same sentiment and then this week - a month after subscribing and 28 days after fist contacting Zoho - I receive another message indicating that they are still exploring options for me.
Absolutely pathetic company that shouldn’t have any products on the App Store!
Terrible!
Don’t sign up as a business. It will tell you that you don’t have access to do anything including contact them. You can’t close the account either, you’re not authorized to. Very stupid. Close this account!!! I AM The administrator, it’s my business, how stupid!
Please stop glitching
I recently started using this app again to study for an exam and am getting so incredibly frustrated. I’m taking notes on a slide deck and I can’t go through more than 2-3 slides without the app glitching and lose all of the notes I took since the last time it saved.
I’m genuinely getting behind on my studying because I have to keep going back and rewriting material I’ve already been through. I would’ve given up on the app had it not forced me to pay for the subscription once I got to annotating my 4/5th PowerPoint. (The issue became more frequent after having paid. Convenient.)
I’d even accept there being a save button so I could save after every slide but it takes a solid 20-30 seconds if you try to back out and save the pdf which is even more time wasted.
This isn’t even accounting for how after every glitch it takes me back to the very first slide of a 200+ slide deck and I have to manually find the page I was last on.
I’ve tried updating the app, updating/restarting/charging my iPad, nothing works.
PLEASEEEEE fix it I’m so stressed
I’m genuinely getting behind on my studying because I have to keep going back and rewriting material I’ve already been through. I would’ve given up on the app had it not forced me to pay for the subscription once I got to annotating my 4/5th PowerPoint. (The issue became more frequent after having paid. Convenient.)
I’d even accept there being a save button so I could save after every slide but it takes a solid 20-30 seconds if you try to back out and save the pdf which is even more time wasted.
This isn’t even accounting for how after every glitch it takes me back to the very first slide of a 200+ slide deck and I have to manually find the page I was last on.
I’ve tried updating the app, updating/restarting/charging my iPad, nothing works.
PLEASEEEEE fix it I’m so stressed
Impossible to open
I love this app but since yesterday it is impossible to open. Screen blinks and nothing else happens
Paid for Premium on 12/21/25…
My app is still the basic, even though the money was deducted from my account.
Don’t do it
It’s glitchy and they make it super hard to cancel
Not smart like other note apps.
When having a checklist and you check it, Zoho notes doesn’t line through and put completed tasks below. Don’t use for organizing thoughts or note. Otherwise it’s fine.
Limit view to enter info / data
Recent update(s) make it hard to view what in being entered as the access or option to view. What happened?
Stop with the ai
Just stop already.
I give up
This app keeps creating new versions of notes instead of syncing and updating the note. It will not sync to its own app or the desktop version. If I update a note, the update disappears. I’ve uninstalled and reinstalled it but nothing helps. I give up. I will not reinstall.
Can nt share note with gmail
Guess this application might be great if you write yourself stuff but for sharing with other application; what happen, you attempt to share to other application by scroll; for example, sharing window closes and I am stuck with note written that I can send or forward nowhere that benefits my effort expended creating my note. I have canceled my paid subscription.
Перестал работать
Виснет через 3 секунд
This app is spyware
This app is spyware. It will embed a viewport into your device
Stopped Working
I really loved this app, until I realized that it erases things I write down. I have several chronic illnesses, and I began using this app to track my medication times. It has began to erase my entries/times. I’ll have to find something else more reliable.
Paywall over previously free simple feature
I use this app to set reminders to repeat with different important items. Was wondering why all my reminders suddenly stopped and now I’m told I need to pay for pro. This is after over a year of data and notes. Wish this was a paid option from day one so I would I have never used this app in first place !!! Now I have to go back to my regular notes app and manually move all the data.
New Update is NOT WHAT I PAID FOR!
I hate it. Just signed up for a year, and you do this? Ugh!
‼️Beware! They stole ALL my notes‼️
I really liked this app til it just froze when I updated. Now I can’t access all my notes!! Lost everything ! 😭 ‼️Beware‼️ I will NEVER use a Zoho product ever again GIVE ME BACK MY NOTES! Like others here it comes on and flashes and then locks!!! GIVE ME BACK MY NOTES!!
Messed up
The latest update is messed up and buggy. Unlike before, the startup screen is a bunch of options. Have to go through steps to get to my notebooks. Then, when I select a file, it does not open the app freezes.
None of this makes sense.
None of this makes sense.
Not Interesting in having AI shoved down my throat
Rather than installing this new update I’ll be deleting and switching to an app that does not have AI. Very disappointed to see yet another app trying to force AI on us.
Avoid this app
27 MAY 2025
Their phone support does not answer the phone. Their chat support button is broken. Do not pay to use these “premium” features.
DEC 2024
I use this app for work. Part of it is uploading a series of pictures into each note. From time to time, I will go back to a previous note and find there is a missing picture here and there. The pictures basically get replaced with a broken link. This is such a critical failure on this app that I will have to move my notes to a different one. I really like the nested notes concept, but this bug makes my work harder. This wastes time.
This app also crashes so much, especially when it’s syncing. This also wastes time.
Their phone support does not answer the phone. Their chat support button is broken. Do not pay to use these “premium” features.
DEC 2024
I use this app for work. Part of it is uploading a series of pictures into each note. From time to time, I will go back to a previous note and find there is a missing picture here and there. The pictures basically get replaced with a broken link. This is such a critical failure on this app that I will have to move my notes to a different one. I really like the nested notes concept, but this bug makes my work harder. This wastes time.
This app also crashes so much, especially when it’s syncing. This also wastes time.
GREED!!!!
I have used this app and only this app for notes for years! If you think that now because you want to charge for a premium upgrade that I’m going to pay for that just to be able to move my notes around on a page you are sorely mistaken!There’s too much out there to choose from to pay for such a simple act to be able to perform in an app. Big mistake!!!!! Your app has been getting increasingly more difficult to get to perform the simplest of operations that it is supposed to be able to do. It can’t even move simple words around on a page in a note. And now you want to take away previously free options and charge to get them back. Good time for me to hit the delete app option!!!!!
paywall
Used o be a good app. now you have to pay to reorganize your notes. There so greedy. Should be free. Going have to look for another app.
Lost all Files
Be careful if want to back up or download its two step process and deadline
Ruined app
App was good.
Now the app is trying to force you to pay for it.
I am going to find something
Now the app is trying to force you to pay for it.
I am going to find something
Disingenuous
They recently moved the ability to “re-order” notes behind a paywall, which prompted a number of negative reviews. The developer has responded to each review by claiming they have reinstated the custom order feature for everyone. I have the latest app update, and their claim is false. They still want you to pay to “re-order”, which is a basic function of any notes app. I have used this app for years, but I will find a new option. I refuse to pay for basic functions, and I find it incredibly disingenuous to provide false responses in an attempt to counter negative feedback.
So.. the changes…
Honesty I love this app so much. I’ve been using it for years to organize all of my thoughts and ideas. I even use this app to write since I’m a writer! But.. the reason I’m giving this app a 1 star review is because of all the changes recently. I can’t change the imagine of my folder without paying for a stupid upgrade.. AND NOW I CANT EVEN REORGANIZE MY NOTES IN MY FOLDER WITHOUT PAYING FOR A STUPUD SUBSCRIPTION?? That’s so dumb.. if any more major stuff like this changes to hide behind a money wall.. I’m deleting the app. Doesn’t make it fun anymore to use this app.
Broken
The app keeps frozen after I log in to the acc , and then won’t let me do nothing on the app , I send a email about that but still no answer
Money grab
I’ve used this app for several years. I paid for the yearly pro membership but when I decided to not renew they turned my pro membership completely off even though I’ve still got 3 months left…I decided to contact them to let them know but you can’t CONTACT them without having a pro membership(which I technically should still have).
Took away my ability to sort, to force me to pay
Today I open the app and find all of my notebooks in alphabetical order, not how they have always been, custom. They ripped away time and effort of mine to try to force me to pay their yearly fee. I will find another app.
Punishing the longtime users that granted their success
I’ve been using this app for many years, but suddenly even basic features are hidden behind paywalls, thereby punishing the longtime users that granted their success.
Grandfather in longtime users or you’re going to lose us while gaining a bunch of 1 star reviews upon our exit.
Grandfather in longtime users or you’re going to lose us while gaining a bunch of 1 star reviews upon our exit.
Longtime User - Paywalls!
As a writer and developer myself, it’s been a great tool. However, it is very corny that the developers decided to put the reminder feature behind a paywall, as well as several other old features. This is just expediting my process of exporting my notes off this app. :)
keeps disappearing
I keep typing stuff out and I even click the check mark and my notes still keep disappearing
This new update is trash, I’m going to have to move to a new app I don’t understand why the changes they made were put in. It works worse now and has extra unnecessary steps.
This new update is trash, I’m going to have to move to a new app I don’t understand why the changes they made were put in. It works worse now and has extra unnecessary steps.
Syncing no longer works
I paid for upgraded service on Notebook and syncing among my (Apple) devices used to be fast and seamless but no longer works-still awaiting responses from Zoho support following 2 inquires submitted so far-disappointed long-time user here.
Sooo Buggy
There’s a lot to love but oh my there are so many bugs. I have the premium account and it takes several tries with the sync button to sync across my devices. If I click on one note it opens a different one. If I click on a linked note, it opens so many different windows I can’t get to what I opened. On the web version on my laptop, there is no way to delete anything. Zoho, you’ve been around a while. Fix this or give me my money back.
No help
Got this app so that I could have my audio notes transcribed. Upon getting the app I found that I had to pay a subscription to do anything. Agreed to do the free trial thinking it would yea slate my audio recording, but it keeps saying that the file is not available for transcription. Tried to contact someone with the app, but you have to UPGRADE to a premium subscription just to speak with someone! Total waste of time and money. Not at all what it appears to be, in my opinion.
AI ruins another favorite
Since rolling out the new AI features I've had innumerable issues with my notes (mainly saving, but even within the note while I type font size randomly changes or isn't as displayed, among other issues). I'm not a fan of AI but I won't stop supporting a company just because they use it; that said, I'm sad to see how my favorite app has tanked. I've been using this app for years and I recommend it to everyone I know, but that will probably change. A paid service for AI is fine because I simply won't use it, but for it to affect my regular note taking just blows.
Only way I can message you.
App continuously freezes. Impossible to use. I am a paid member.
I cannot use many of the added features eg. emailing to the app
VERY DISAPPOINTING!
I cannot use many of the added features eg. emailing to the app
VERY DISAPPOINTING!
Can’t customize order unless premium
I have enjoyed this app for years. However, the recent update won’t allow me to rearrange the order of my screen unless I upgrade. Guess it’s time to find a new one.
Disappointed
I’ve been using this app for years. I searched for the perfect app to keep my life in order and this one was everything I needed. The most important notebook I created was to keep my bills organized. Every month I create a new folder with the name of the month and check off when the bill was paid and the amount . It keeps me organized, aware, & accountable. I’m paying bills today and I realize I now have to PAY to be able to move my folders where I want them to go. They are arranged in order by month and I can no longer do that in the free version. I’m so disappointed. I will have to find another app because this method works for me and I need to be able to continue with my system.
No customizations without a subscription
This app is great due to its simple interface, logical formatting, and the ability to group notes together in a folder. The basic free version used to be fantastic, but unfortunately they’ve moved to charging users for some of the previously free, basic functions. I understand charging users for additional premium features, but I don’t understand taking away features that were previously available for free (like customized notebook covers). As someone who doesn’t need any of the other premium features, it would be silly to pay $24.99/year for features that were previously included at no cost. I’d consider paying a small one time fee to get all the features that were once included in the free version, but a subscription is absurd considering what you can get from other similar apps with only a one time fee or no fee at all.
New update locked features behind a subscription paywall
Honestly really liked this app, but some really nice features are locked behind a paywall now. I’m fine paying for something I know I’ll use often but why not add a lifetime option? Even at $50 or $100 I’d buy it. I don’t want to keep paying forever
Sentiment summary
93%
Positive (4-5★)
3%
Neutral (3★)
4%
Negative (1-2★)