A Notability alternative for Windows and Chromebook
Notability only runs on iPad, iPhone, and Mac. If your school gave you a Windows laptop or a Chromebook and you need to write on a PDF worksheet, here is a free tool that actually opens there.
Free. No account, no sign-up, no upload — your file stays on your device.
Why Notability isn’t an option here
Notability is built by an Apple-focused developer, for Apple hardware. There has never been a Windows or Chromebook release, and nothing about how it is built lets it run there — not a settings toggle, not a workaround, it simply is not available on those devices.
That leaves a real gap for the huge number of students whose school issues a Windows laptop or a Chromebook rather than an iPad. Botple Notes was not built to clone Notability feature-for-feature — it was built for the specific job most students actually need: open a PDF worksheet, write your answers on it, hand it in.
Three steps
Where this genuinely isn’t Notability
Notability is a full digital notebook: freeform handwriting anywhere on a blank page, notes organized into subjects, and audio recordings synced word-for-word so tapping a sentence jumps straight to that moment in the recording. Botple Notes doesn’t do general note-taking — it is built around one document at a time, specifically a worksheet you were handed.
If what you need is exactly that — a worksheet, some answers, a file to hand in — it does the job well and costs nothing. If you want a everyday digital notebook across every subject, that is a genuinely different kind of tool, and it would be dishonest to claim otherwise.
Common questions
Can I record audio like Notability does?
Yes — record a voice note directly onto the page, and Botple Notes can transcribe it to searchable text. It is not synced word-for-word playback, but it covers narrating an answer instead of typing it.
Do I need to install anything or make an account?
No. It runs in the browser with no install and no account, and keeps working offline after the first load.
Does it work on a Chromebook too?
Yes — if it runs in a browser at all, it runs Botple Notes. See using it on a school Chromebook if yours is locked down.
What if my worksheet is a scan or photo, not a real PDF?
That has its own answer — see typing on a scanned worksheet.
What does it cost?
Nothing. Notability charges a subscription; Botple Notes is free for students and stays that way.