What to use instead of Notability

alai's makers wrote this page, and alai is one of the apps on it. alai is a notes app for iPad and the web with Ally, an adaptive AI tutor. Facts about the other apps come from their own websites, help pages and App Store listings, checked on November 5, 2026, with US prices. We haven't tested them side by side, so they aren't ranked. They're grouped by why you might leave Notability.

You write by hand on a Windows laptop

Ginger Labs' article on Notability's Windows app, dated August 25, 2026, says it records meetings, turns them into a transcript and combines that with your typed notes. The article doesn't mention handwriting. These let you write by hand there:

• Goodnotes. Goodnotes is in the Microsoft Store, and Essential, $11.99 a year, covers Windows too. On November 5, 2026, its Windows page said the Windows app doesn't offer the full range of iPad features, and its FAQ said syncing with an iPad or iPhone requires Goodnotes Cloud, which comes with Pro, though its Windows page still called iPad sync coming soon.
• OneNote. In OneNote on Windows you pick a pen on the Draw tab, and Ink to Text turns handwriting into typed text, Microsoft's help page says. Its iPad listing says OneNote is free on iPhone and many other devices.
• Nebo. MyScript's app keeps the name Nebo on Windows and syncs with MyScript Notes on iPad and Android. It's built around turning handwriting and math into typed text.
• Xournal++. Xournal++ is open-source software for Windows, macOS and Linux. It works with pressure-sensitive styluses, annotates PDFs, and records audio linked to your notes.
• alai (ours). alai's web app runs in a browser such as Chrome or Edge, so it works on a Windows laptop or a Chromebook, and it syncs with alai's iPad app, which isn't on the App Store yet. You write with a stylus or a mouse, and Notability notes come in with the handwriting as ink you can keep editing.

You're on a Chromebook or an Android tablet

Ginger Labs brought Notability to Android in August 2026, and its Android FAQ says it runs on Android 12L or later, works with a stylus including the S Pen, and syncs through Notability Cloud. The web app works in all major browsers, though Ginger Labs says some features may be limited on tablets, so try it with your own stylus first. Other options:

• Goodnotes is on Google Play for Android devices and Chromebooks, and Goodnotes for the web offers 3 months of Goodnotes free on eligible Chromebooks.
• MyScript Notes has an Android app, though Chat and Study sets are iOS-only for now, MyScript says.
• alai works in Chrome on a Chromebook but has no Android app.

You want audio tied to your writing

Notability's recording guide, dated August 24, 2026, says recordings are linked to what you write, so tapping anything in a note during playback jumps to that point. These also tie a recording to your notes:

• Goodnotes. Its audio guide says notes you write while recording are synchronized with the recording, and its Replay mode works on iOS and macOS.
• Noteful. Noteful records while you take notes and keeps the playback position synced with them. Pro is a one-time $6.99.
• CollaNote. CollaNote's site says you can tap a word afterward and playback jumps to the moment you wrote it, and AI turns the recording into a transcript.
• alai. Record class records audio while you write, and tapping your notes plays that moment. Free records 20 minutes per note; paid plans have no limit. alai doesn't transcribe recordings, and recordings in Notability notes don't come over when you import them.

The subscription is the reason

On November 5, 2026, Notability's pricing page listed Lite at $14.99 a year, Plus at $19.99 and Pro at $99.99, each 20% off that day ($11.99, $15.99 and $79.99). To pay once instead:

• Noteful Pro is $6.99 once and adds layers and syncing between iPhone and iPad.
• CollaNote lists Lifetime Premium at $13.90 on the App Store, with real-time collaboration.
• Goodnotes sells a one-time Special Edition for Apple devices, $35.99 in its App Store listing, though Goodnotes says it doesn't include Goodnotes Cloud.

alai is a subscription too.

You want it free

• Apple Notes is free. Its App Store listing says you can sketch with Apple Pencil in a note or on a PDF inside it, record and transcribe audio, and search your handwriting.
• OneNote is free on iPad and iPhone.
• Xournal++ is open source.
• Free plans. Notability's Starter keeps 5 notes, Goodnotes' three notebooks, and alai's 10 files with 30 minutes of Ally.

You want a tutor in your notes

alai is built around Ally, an adaptive AI tutor. In Homework help, Ally checks each step you write about two seconds after the pen lifts and stays quiet while the work is right. At the first step that doesn't follow, Ally highlights it and asks a short question. Ally learns which kind of help works for you and remembers what was tricky last time, and you can see, edit or delete what Ally remembers. Tutoring covers math through calculus, physics, chemistry and Spanish present-tense verbs, and the study tools work for any class. Ally can misread messy handwriting or judge a step wrongly. Ally and the AI note tools come with Pro, $14.99 a month on alai's pricing page, with 10 hours of Ally a month per learner. Free and Essential get 30 minutes, once, to try Ally.

At a glance

"Not listed" means the app's own pages didn't mention it on November 5, 2026. It doesn't mean the app can't do it. Microsoft's Copilot help says Copilot might not come with every Microsoft 365 subscription.

What Notability still does well

• Audio is at its center, with recordings linked to your writing and tap-to-jump playback.
• Transcripts and study tools. Pro has unlimited live transcripts and AI summaries, and Plus and Pro make quizzes and flashcards from your notes.
• More devices than before: iPad, iPhone, Mac, Android since August 2026, and the web, synced through Notability Cloud.
• Backups. From Lite up, Notability can back up to other cloud services on iOS, and its Note format keeps your audio.

If you record most classes on an iPad, staying with Notability may be the right call. It had 4.8 stars from 459K ratings on the App Store.

How to move your notes

Ginger Labs' sharing guide, dated August 21, 2026, gives the export steps:

1. For one note, open it, open the Options menu, choose Export Options and pick a format. For several, open the Options menu in the Library, choose Select Notes, pick them and tap Export.
2. Choose Note, Notability's own format, or PDF, and save the files to Files or a cloud drive. Ginger Labs' backup guide says the Note format includes audio and a plain PDF doesn't.

Then bring them in:

• alai. Open Bring your notes and choose the .note files, or a .zip of the folder they're in. Your handwriting comes in as ink you can keep editing, and folders stay folders. Recordings don't come over. The Free plan keeps 10 files of up to 5 MB, so a full library needs Essential, $2.99 a month, which takes imports of any size.
• Goodnotes. In the Documents tab, tap New, then Import, select the files and tap Open. Its import guide lists PDFs, images, Word and PowerPoint files and its own format, so bring Notability notes over as PDFs.
• Noteful imports PDFs and Office documents into a notebook.