head to head
Nooka vs Paper
Paper is the closest thing to a direct competitor Nooka has — both cut, collage, draw, and keep the results in books. Here is where they genuinely differ, including the places Paper is the stronger choice.
The short answer
Paper is the more mature app and the better sketching tool, with sync across devices and over a decade of refinement. Nooka is built around photo cutouts and a bookshelf you style. If you mostly draw and want work synced, pick Paper. If you mostly assemble photos and want them kept somewhere that feels like a shelf, pick Nooka.
Disclosure: Nooka is our app, so read this with that in mind. Every figure below comes from the App Store listing for each app, checked on 11 August 2026. Prices change — confirm before buying.
Side by side
| Nooka | Paper | |
|---|---|---|
| Made by | Bagl Limited | Evernote (originally FiftyThree) |
| On the App Store since | March 2026 | March 2012 |
| Platforms | iPhone and iPad (iOS 17+) | iPhone and iPad (iOS 13+) |
| Price | Free, with an optional Nooka Pro subscription | Free; optional Paper Pro subscription |
| Built for | Assembling photos into scrapbook pages | Sketching and note-taking, with collage tools |
| Where files live | On your device, optional iCloud Backup | Synced across devices via an account |
| Organises work into | Pages, books, and a styled bookshelf | Journals |
| Account required | No | Yes, for sync |
| App Store category | Photo & Video | Productivity |
Nooka is free to download, with no ads and no account. Exact Nooka Pro prices are on the pricing page, and Paper’s are on its own site.
Where Paper wins
Paper has been on the App Store since 2012, and its own listing claims over 30 million people have used it. Nooka launched in March 2026. On maturity, polish, and track record there is no argument to make — Paper wins, and if a long history of updates is what you are weighing, that settles it.
Paper is also the better pure sketching tool. Its gesture-driven canvas hides the menus, and the pencils and brushes have had a decade of tuning. And its journals sync across devices automatically, which Nooka does not do — Nooka backs up to your own iCloud, but it does not sync a page you started on a phone onto a tablet mid-edit.
Where the two actually diverge is what the app assumes you are starting with, and where your files end up living.
Sketching first versus photos first
Paper's App Store category is Productivity, and that is the right read. It descends from note-taking and sketching: the fastest thing to do in Paper is draw. Collage and cutting are tools it added around that centre.
Nooka's category is Photo & Video, which is also the right read. The fastest thing to do in Nooka is import a photo and cut a subject out of it. Drawing is something you do over that material.
Both apps can do both things. The difference is which one takes one tap and which takes several, and over a hundred pages that compounds into two quite different habits.
Sync versus local-first, and what each costs you
Paper syncs your journals across devices through an account. Start on an iPhone, pick it up on an iPad, and the work follows you. That is genuinely convenient, and it is the thing Nooka does not do.
Nooka stores files on the device and requires no account at all. Nothing is uploaded, and the app works fully offline. iCloud Backup is optional and goes to your own iCloud, not to a server we run.
Neither model is better in the abstract. Sync costs you an account and a dependency; local-first costs you cross-device continuity and puts backup responsibility on you. Which trade you prefer is the actual decision here, and it is worth being clear with yourself about it before picking.
Journals versus a bookshelf
Both apps group pages into books rather than leaving them in a flat pile — Paper calls them journals, Nooka calls them books. On that much they agree, and it is why they get compared.
Nooka takes it a step further into decoration. Books have covers, spines, and titles you design, and they sit on a shelf you style with colours, backboards, planks, plants, and small objects. That is either the best part of the app or completely beside the point, depending entirely on the person.
If you want a clean container for your sketches, Paper's journals do that with less fuss. If arranging the shelf is part of the appeal, Paper has nothing equivalent.
What each free tier actually gives you
Both apps are free to download with an optional subscription, and both gate meaningfully behind it. Paper Pro unlocks additional tools, features, and journals; the subscription renews on a six-month cycle, and its price varies by region.
Nooka's free tier includes a guided first page with every tool unlocked, then one book and one canvas of your own, with one photo import per page and the drawing tools. Nooka Pro removes those limits and adds cutouts, layer control, book styling, shelf decorations, and iCloud Backup. Current prices are on the pricing page.
Worth stating plainly: cutouts are a Pro feature in Nooka, and cutouts are the tool that most distinguishes it. The free tier is enough to decide whether you like making pages, not enough to judge the cutout workflow.
Which one is for you
Choose Paper if
- You mostly sketch and draw rather than assemble photos
- You want work synced across devices automatically
- You want the longest track record and the largest user base
- You prefer a minimal, gesture-driven canvas with hidden menus
- You already keep notes in the Evernote ecosystem
Choose Nooka if
- Your pages start from photos in your camera roll
- Cutting subjects out of photos is a step you do constantly
- You want covers, spines, and a decorated shelf, not just a container
- You want no account and everything stored on your own device
- You want to work fully offline without a sync dependency
Can you use both?
Yes, and the seam is clean in one direction: export a sketch from Paper as an image and import it into a Nooka page, where it behaves like any other element you can layer and resize. Going the other way works too — Nooka exports finished pages as images. What does not exist is a live link between them, so anything you move is a copy rather than a sync.
questions
Frequently asked questions
Is Nooka a Paper alternative?+
For the collage and book-keeping side, yes — both cut, layer, and group pages into books. For sketching and note-taking, Paper is the more established tool with a longer history and a larger library of drawing features. Nooka is the closer fit if your pages start from photos rather than from drawing.
Who makes Paper?+
Paper was built by FiftyThree and launched in 2012. WeTransfer acquired FiftyThree's assets in 2018, and the App Store listing now shows Evernote Corporation as the publisher. The app is still called Paper: Sketch, Draw & Create.
Does Paper or Nooka sync between iPhone and iPad?+
Paper syncs journals across devices through an account. Nooka does not sync — it stores files on the device and offers optional iCloud Backup to your own iCloud account for restoring on a new device. If mid-edit continuity across devices matters, Paper handles it and Nooka does not.
Is Paper free?+
Paper is free to download with an optional Paper Pro subscription that unlocks additional tools, features, and journals. The subscription renews on a six-month cycle and its price varies by region, so check the App Store listing for your country.
Which is better for junk journaling?+
Nooka, in most cases. Junk journaling is mostly layering found images, scraps, and photos rather than drawing from scratch, which is what Nooka's cutout tool is built around. Paper handles it, but you will spend more time cutting by hand.
Does either app need an account?+
Paper needs one for sync. Nooka needs no account at all — there is no sign-up, and nothing is uploaded to a server we run. That is a deliberate trade: no account also means no cross-device sync.
Keep reading: Best scrapbook apps for iPhone, Nooka as a junk journal app, and Nooka vs Procreate.