Comparison

Task Writer vs Pencil

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Task Writer

Handwrite tasks, to-do lists, or even draw them as pictures without needing a keyboard. Get precise minute-by-minute notifications for due dates. Works with a stylus or your finger.

Highlights
  • Handwritten input
  • Draw tasks as pictures
  • Minute-level notifications
  • Stylus or finger input
  • Multi-language support
Features
Read full description

Write, type, draw, and organize your tasks locally and privately with our powerful new On-Device AI Assistant! Task Writer gives you the freedom to build to-do lists your way. Write with your stylus, draw task ideas with your finger, or type them directly using the keyboard. Choose whichever input fits your flow. *** WHAT'S NEW IN VERSION 3.0 *** ON-DEVICE AI ASSISTANT - NATURAL LANGUAGE SCHEDULING: Type or dictate requests (e.g., "remind me to jog tomorrow at 8 AM") to write and schedule tasks completely offline. - SEMANTIC SEARCH: Easily search and filter your tasks using plain English queries. LOCAL HANDWRITING OCR - TEXT SUGGESTIONS: Instantly convert your handwritten strokes on the canvas into digital text. Tap any of the three suggested OCR candidates to auto-fill your tasks without typing. TASK RECURRENCE - RECURRING SCHEDULES: Schedule tasks daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly to stay on top of recurring routines and habits. 100% OFFLINE PRIVACY All AI reasoning, task scheduling, semantic search, and handwriting OCR processing run completely on-device. Your tasks, inputs, and drawings are never uploaded to any servers. *** CORE FEATURES *** - Handwrite, Draw, or Type: Write your tasks naturally in any language, draw sketches to represent goals, or type them directly using your keyboard. - Precise Alerts: Get to-the-minute notifications when a task is due. - Touch Support: Works best with a stylus or just use your finger. Task Writer is a freemium app that is free to use. You can upgrade to Task Writer Premium through an auto-renewable subscription to unlock the following custom styling and ad-free features: - Change Stroke Color - Change Stroke Width - Enable or Disable Advertisements Install Task Writer now and experience private, AI-powered task management. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Pencil

Create beautiful notes, sketch ideas, and annotate PDFs with advanced ink tools and AI assistance. Convert handwriting to text, scan documents, and organize files seamlessly across cloud services. Enjoy a realistic ink-on-paper feel with stylus support.

Highlights
  • Advanced ink tools for writing and sketching
  • AI Assistant for summarization and translation
  • Handwritten notes to editable text conversion
  • Document scanning with automatic frame recognition
  • Cloud service integration for file management
  • Full-text search for PDFs
  • PDF reader with highlighting and read aloud
Features
Read full description

Pencil brings handwriting, sketching, PDF annotation and watercolor painting to iPad and iPhone. Designed especially for Apple Pencil on iPad, it also works with other compatible styluses and your finger. Take notes in class, mark up a document, plan your week or paint an idea while it is still fresh. • Write and sketch your way. Use Apple Pencil on iPad, or write and draw with a compatible stylus or your finger on iPad and iPhone. Start a PDF note from a paper template, choose your ink colors and add typed text, images and shapes. Use lined or grid backgrounds to give your notes structure. • Make your PDFs useful. Highlight passages, add comments, write in the margins and insert your signature. Search inside a document, bookmark important pages and rearrange, duplicate or rotate pages as your work develops. • Keep the conversation with your notes. Record audio directly in a PDF note and play it back alongside the page. Revisit a lecture, meeting or explanation without separating the recording from your written notes. • Type when words come first. Create formatted Text Notes with fonts, colors, lists, checklists, tables and images. Turn a quick thought into a clear set of notes, a plan or a longer draft, then export it as a PDF to share. • Explore watercolor painting. Open a dedicated painting workspace, choose your paper and experiment with brushes, mixed colors and washes. Paint from a reference photo, try guided practice lessons and export your painting as an image or PDF. • Bring paper into your notebook. Scan documents with the camera, import files through the Files app and add photos to your work. Keep notes, PDFs and paintings organized in folders, ready to return to when you need them. • Get help from AI. Ask questions about your documents, summarize a passage, explain an unfamiliar concept or translate selected text. Use AI Chat to work through an idea alongside your notes. Privacy Policy: https://www.noteswriter.com/Kairoos_Privacy_Policy.html Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Task Writer4 screens
Pencil4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Pencil at 4.0 against Task Writer's 3.0. Pencil also leads on update cadence (every 8 days vs every 3 months). Task Writer's advantage is review sentiment (53% vs 25%) and iOS requirement (17.6 vs 26.0). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Task Writer sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $25.99 per year and Pencil sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pencil holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 11 and 4 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 53% of Task Writer's written reviews are positive against 25% of Pencil's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Task Writer ships an update every 3 months, Pencil every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Task Writer versus Pencil: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTask WriterPencil
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (11 ratings)4.0 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews53.3% of reviews — better25.0% of reviews
Number of ratings11 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 8 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.6 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size31 MB504 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJoshua LubinsKairoos Solutions SL

Customer experience

Task Writer

All ratings11 ratings
Positive45.5%
Neutral9.1%
Negative45.5%
Written reviews15 reviews
Positive53.3%
Neutral13.3%
Negative33.3%

Pencil

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive25.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative75.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Task Writer

Subscriptions1
  • Premium$25.991 Year
One-time1
  • Remove Advertisements$59.99
2 purchases

Pencil

Subscriptions1
  • Unlock All and AI Assistant3 Days trial$2.991 Month
One-time1
  • GoodPencil Upgrade$3.99

Questions

Is Task Writer free?
Task Writer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pencil free?
Pencil is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Task Writer or Pencil?
Pencil is rated higher. Task Writer averages 3.0 out of 5 from 11 ratings, while Pencil averages 4.0 from 4 ratings.
Do Task Writer or Pencil have ads?
Neither Task Writer nor Pencil shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Task Writer or Pencil?
Task Writer ships an update every 3 months, and Pencil every 8 days. Most recently, Task Writer was updated on October 9, 2026 and Pencil on October 24, 2026.

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