Comparison - Handwritten notes and planner app

Winy vs Noteshelf

Noteshelf is a paper-like notebook for writing, planning and PDFs; Winy is an infinite canvas where your own coding agents run live beside your ink.

Noteshelf is a handwriting app for iPad, iPhone and Mac, with versions for Android and Windows, that combines Apple Pencil notes, PDF annotation, audio recording, planners and Noteshelf AI.

Winy is a native infinite-canvas notebook for Mac, iPad and iPhone where real agent sessions such as Claude Code and Codex live as cards next to your notes, Pencil ink and images.

The real difference is the shape of the page: Noteshelf gives you paper-like notebooks with 200+ templates and is far ahead on handwriting and PDFs, while Winy gives you one infinite board with your agents on it.

At a glance

Question	Winy	Noteshelf
What it is	Infinite-canvas notebook with live agent cards	Paper-like notebooks, planners and PDF markup
Platforms	Mac, iPad and iPhone	iPad, iPhone and Mac; also Android and Windows
Handwriting	Pencil ink at full frame rate	Pencil ink, handwriting to text in 65 languages
PDF annotation	Not built in	Annotate PDFs, Word, PowerPoint and images
Templates	Not built in	200+ planner, journal and paper templates
AI	Your own agents: Claude Code, Codex, any CLI	Noteshelf AI: summarize, explain, translate, generate
Live terminals and agents	Yes, as cards on the board	Not built in
Sync	Local-first over your own network; no cloud	iCloud; backup to Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, WebDAV
Pricing	Early access waitlist; no public pricing	Free for 3 notebooks; Premium unlocks the rest

Which one is for you

Choose Noteshelf if

You want notebooks that feel like paper, with covers, planners and stickers.
You annotate PDFs, Word files and slides, and scan paper documents.
You want handwriting search, audio recording and password-locked notes.
You want a free start with up to 3 notebooks.

Choose Winy if

You want Claude Code or Codex running live on the board, not an assistant inside a page.
You want to draw with the Pencil straight across a running terminal or a note.
You think on one infinite canvas rather than fixed pages.
You want your agents to see the notes, ink and images around them.

Questions

What is a good Noteshelf alternative for iPad?

For handwritten notes and PDFs, Noteshelf is already strong. If you want an infinite canvas where Claude Code and Codex run as live cards next to your Pencil ink, Winy is built for that on iPad, Mac and iPhone.

Is Noteshelf free?

Noteshelf is free to start with up to 3 notebooks and core pens. Noteshelf Premium adds unlimited notebooks, all templates, handwriting recognition, auto-backup and 100 monthly AI credits.

Does Noteshelf have AI?

Yes. Noteshelf AI can summarize handwritten pages, explain terms, translate text and generate notes. Winy takes a different approach: your own agent sessions run on the board itself.

Does Winy have planner templates or PDF import?

No. Winy has no templates, planners or PDF annotation today.

Is Winy available now?

Winy is in early access. You can join the waitlist on winy.ai.

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