Penjo: Pencil Journal, Planner appears to be a legitimate app. The AppsHunter Legitimacy Score for Penjo is 85 out of 100 points across 7 verification signals from App Store and developer data.

Penjo User Reviews

Name: Penjo: Pencil Journal, Planner
Rating: 4.7 (257 reviews)

Penjo: Pencil Journal, Planner

Zafer ARICAN

🌟 Lifestyle

📊 Productivity

Customer Experience

Positive experience80.6% of reviews

Neutral6.5% of reviews

Negative experience12.9% of reviews

~ Based on 93 written reviews from the US App Store.

What users say

Summarized from real user reviews of Penjo. Based on 257 reviews and a 4.7/5 average, it highlights the 12 positives and 12 negatives reviewers mention most about this Productivity app.

Positive things

✍️Excellent Apple Pencil integration and handwriting experience
📅Seamless calendar and reminders integration
💰One-time lifetime purchase option (no subscriptions)
🎨Clean, minimalist, and intuitive user interface
⚡Fast and responsive performance
📱Works flawlessly across iOS and iPadOS devices
🖼️Easy image insertion and manipulation on pages
🔍Handwriting search functionality
👨‍💼Responsive and helpful developer support
🎯Focused design that avoids unnecessary clutter
📖Perfect for daily journaling and note-taking
🔄Cloud syncing capability (when working properly)

Negative things

🐛Unreliable cloud sync across multiple devices
💳Confusing payment model and paywall messaging
🔐Missing security features like screen lock
📱Limited macOS support (Intel Macs incompatible)
🎨Limited customization options for colors and themes
📄Cannot export entire notebooks as PDF
🖊️Text selection and editing tools are clunky
❌Restore purchases button broken for some users
⚠️Automatic app updates without user permission
🔗Broken support page links
📊Limited page layout and template options
🎯Calendar-centric design limits non-daily use cases

Is Penjo Safe?

Penjo: Pencil Journal, Planner appears safe based on user ratings. AppsHunter Safety Score for Penjo is 92/100.

This assessment is based on 257 user ratings, with an App Store average of 4.7/5.

Safety Analysis

93.4% of ratings point to a safe experience

1.6% of ratings suggest some concerns

5.1% of ratings point to a risky experience

~ Based on 257 App Store ratings for Penjo.

Is Penjo Legit?

Penjo: Pencil Journal, Planner appears to be a legitimate app. AppsHunter Legitimacy Score for Penjo is 85/100.

Based on 85 of 100 points across 7 verification signals from App Store and developer data.

Top reviews

Most Recent Highest Rated Lowest Rated

Gone through Plenty of Planners

I have gone through plenty of planners and given up after finding too many things I didn’t like about it. Hassles of changing from day to month to week to year, the ability to go from the screen to the next to add a grocery list or things to do list the ability to synchronize with Apple calendar. This one has it all. There are a few things I wish it would do, but those are not big enough to dissuade me from marrying this Penjo Journal/planner.

Run2pat

22 days ago

Response from developer

Thank you so much for your thoughtful review! We’re very happy to hear that Penjo has made planning easier after you tried so many other apps. We’d also be glad to hear about the features you still wish Penjo had. Please feel free to contact us anytime at support@penjoapp.com and share your suggestions.

Best journaling experience.

I used to journal all through my childhood and teens but had stopped recently due to privacy concerns. I am so glad someone made this excellent app where I could jump back into journaling like I did back in the day right of the bat. One of the best things I like about this app as you can make a one time purchase instead of a subscription. It definitely needs an option to lock individual journals with dedicated passcodes. Also needs an option to change the spacing between lines.

Sonicastle

a month ago

Response from developer

Thank you for your thoughtful review! We are especially happy to hear that Penjo helped you return to a habit you enjoyed for many years. Dedicated passcodes for individual journals are already on our roadmap and will be included in one of our upcoming major releases. Regarding line spacing, you can already customize it in the Paper Type settings under Customize in the journal settings (tap the three-dot icon on the journal card). Feel free to reach out anytime at support@penjoapp.com.

Update. I’ve figured out my issue.

Best journaling app on iOS. This one lets you use Apple Pencil to write; not very many have this feature. You can only type.

TheUnCoolAid

3 months ago

Cross platform Day Timer Replacement!

Responsive developer! Super simple with lots of basic features. Was exactly what I was looking for in a daily business journal.

Felixtheengine

3 months ago

My daily double

So much fun. Use it daily as a food journal as well a journal journal: daily life stuff, I mean. Easy to organize pages. Easy to add graphics. GREAT customer service!

Iagreetotally

3 months ago

Excellent iPad planner app

I did a lot of research and experimenting with different planner/journaling apps before I settled on this one. Excellent app, love the calendar integration and ability to write or add text, photos, etc.
the developer also seems very invested in continuing to improve while welcoming communication from users! Awesome experience thus far.

RLBlaker

4 months ago

Elegant Journal App

I am pretty sure I’ve tried almost every planner or journal application in the App Store and have come away feeling like the annual subscriptions and templates hosted on app specific storefronts weren’t worth the money. On top of that, it always felt slow and clunky to get to the part where I can just write stuff down. Then, I’d have to deal with menus and buttons in the way of my writing and by the time I’d get adjusted to where I was ready to jot my thoughts down, the moment would already be passed. Penjo is different. It’s simple, fast, and stays out of my way. It incorporates the best of native iOS and macOS features and expands in all the areas Apple fell short. I don’t regret buying the lifetime license at all and encourage anyone on the fence to support this tool.

Hekk247

4 months ago

Response from developer

Thank you for the kind words and detailed review! Getting you to the page as fast as possible, with nothing in the way, is the core design principle behind Penjo, so it means a lot to hear it landing that way. We appreciate your lifetime support and have plenty more in the works.

My favourite app!

The one time payment of 20 dollars for unlimited EVERYTHING… WAS SUCH AN EASY PAYMENT FOR ME. I ADORE THIS APP!

T3ay_

5 months ago

Sub

Trying to charge me but I don’t even have a subscription

bsiensiw

5 months ago

Tried it again

I redownloaded it and it works perfectly now

Devilewis88

5 months ago

Syncs with Apple calendar

I NEVER review apps. But this one is worth reviewing for! I was looking for a planning app that synced with my apple calendar and couldn’t find ANY where I could create a drawing of my day and see it along side my calendar. Then I came across a Reddit post recommending Penjo. So far, it has made daily planning easy and FUN. Although it’s great the way it is, I really hope that it gets enough traction to keep improving.

Rileyysavage

6 months ago

Response from developer

Thank you so much for this beautiful review. The fact that you never review apps and chose to write one for Penjo truly means a lot to us. It makes us happy to hear that you were looking for a way to draw your day and see it alongside your Apple Calendar and that Penjo gave you exactly that. Making daily planning feel personal, creative, and fun is the heart of why Penjo exists. And thank you for your hope that Penjo keeps growing. We are constantly working on improvements and new ideas, and support like yours is what keeps us inspired to continue building with care. If you ever have suggestions or ideas, please feel free to reach out at support@penjoapp.com. We would love to hear from you.

Great Planner

This is a great planner. I would suggest adding new page templates such as two column pages. Another great functional template would be a daily planner page. Each page might show the days events in the corner so you can see your day while marking up the page.

Dudebroswag

6 months ago

This is the one!

I have been looking for a note taking app that has the same fountain pen as the one in Apple’s notes. I have gone through sooo many and paid for more just to get the “pro” versions and they all were disappointing. But lo and behold, Reddit to the rescue! I couldn’t believe this little app had my beloved fountain pen! I gave them my money immediately! I have been using them since, faithfully. My writing is flawless and doesn’t distort like Apple notes app after hours of case study reviews. I have just two suggestions. Allow for the ability to lock our screen. I am sure zooming the page in and out is useful for some tasks, but for just writing or journaling, it does move more than I like when my arm hits the screen or my hand makes contact during writing. I have seen others with that function and it is wonderful keeping the page at the size you want and stable. Second, I may be missing this, I honestly may be missing the first suggestion, as in the ability exists and I am overlooking it but, I would love to have all of the Apple Pencil options, esp. the highlighter. If I am overlooking these things, I would love to be directed to them. Other than that, chef’s kiss! 10/10 no notes!!

Clipseangel

6 months ago

Response from developer

Thank you very much for your through review and kind words. Happy to hear that Penjo meets your expectations. Regarding the zoom lock, it is a great idea and we immediately decided to include it in the next update and here it is!. Penjo v3.6.14 now includes zoom locking. When set from the context menu in the note, the zoom will be fixed to that current level to reduce the effect of possible palm touch. Thanks again for the suggestion. Regarding the all pencil options. You can switch between the default and favorite one from the pen icon on the right in tool picker. You can add remove pencils to your favorite toolpicker. Feel free to check FAQ in penjoapp.com or contact us last support@penjoapp.com Thanks again for your kind words and suggestions.

Perf, just some suggestions

Rlly absolutely love I cannot tell u how absolutely amazing this is. One suggestion I do have is if there could be some templates or daily prompts to write about to enhance the journaling experience would be cool.

Ooo what about some themes too? Like I recently used free notes and colla notes and rlly love how their icons for the pencil features look n all since I use penjo everyday and I’m kinda wanting a different theme at some days.

Oh and since there’s numbers telling me how many pages I’ve used, it would be great if I could see a glimpse of all the pages at once in that specific day so I could go to a specific page when I need it

Umme R.

6 months ago

Response from developer

Update: Thank you for your review update. Good news! Changing color of a handwritten section is already available. Just select the handwritten note with the lasso tool in the pencil tool picker then choose a color from the tool picker. You will see the color of the drawing/note changes. Feel free to reach out anytime at support@penjoapp.com for any questions, feedback or suggestions. ---------------------- Update 2: We also added indicators for multi sheets in the same day to show number of sheets for the same day. Update: We added an indicator showing number of pages for each day in week, month and list views in Penjo v3.6.7. Thanks again for your suggestion. Thank you for your feedback! We’re glad you enjoy journaling in Penjo. Showing page numbers or an indicator for how many pages a day includes is a great idea and we’ve noted it for future updates.

Tools not working

The writing experience has been great. However, I recently paid for the lifetime license access and I am still unable to lock the journal, add files, delete, and bookmark, etc. The cloud syncing does work but it is not automatic.

The aforementioned tools were why I purchased the license and if I do not have access to them, I want my money back. Thanks.

Rhythmisn0thin

7 months ago

Out of words, just wow

No cuz this is literally such a great tool not just for journaling but for taking notes for schoolwork as well. I’ve recently started using this app to take notes on after buying the upgraded version and lemme tell u it’s so good, especially that feature where u want to see a random day of what u wrote as a way for me to remember and memorize.

One suggestion, it would be cool to have a book version of it as well like turning a page if i don’t wanna swipe down for this specific journal to see my notes for that specific day. Oh and changing the page and color layout for one specific day would be cool too.

Umme R.

7 months ago

Response from developer

Best journal app for iPad

It is surprisingly difficult to find a journal app that works flawlessly with Apple Pencil. Most apps, including the native journal app, are buggy or feel like they were designed with typing first in mind. Penjo is the first app I’ve found that feels like it puts the Apple Pencil experience first. It is refreshingly simple. The extra integrations like with the calendar and reminders add to the experience instead of making it more cluttered. When I add photos to an entry, I get to easily drag them to a space on the actual page (instead of existing outside of or seperate from the entry like other journal apps have it). This has everything I need, in just the way I want to use it! I am a lifetime user for sure.

Brockj10

7 months ago

Response from developer

Thank you for this thoughtful review and for your kind words. It’s great to hear that Penjo’s simplicity and Pencil-first approach fit so well with what you were looking for. Ease of use and creating a real-journal feeling have always been at the core of our motivation, and features like Apple Calendar & Reminders integration and flexible photo placement are designed with exactly this in mind. We’re really pleased to see that this approach resonates with you. Knowing that you consider yourself a lifetime user is incredibly motivating for us. Thank you for your support and for taking the time to share your experience.

Finally!!!!

This app has been something I’ve needed for a long time and I am so happy I was able to come across it. This app just allows you to download and write as though you were writing in an actual journal. It works so well with the Apple Pen and it’s a great addition to my IPad! Just the fact that there are no subscriptions is amazing you just download and start writing. For someone who likes to journal I highly recommend this app!

MissMynxi

7 months ago

Response from developer

Thank you so much for this wonderful review. We’re really happy to hear that Penjo feels like a real journal and that you’re enjoying writing with Apple Pencil on your iPad. Creating a simple and natural writing experience has always been important to us, so your words truly mean a lot. Thank you for recommending Penjo, and happy journaling.