Gladys vs Pencility Handwritten Planner
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Gladys
This app acts as a drag-and-drop shelf to temporarily store various types of information, like links, text, and images, from any app. It allows for quick saving without switching contexts and offers features like search, annotation, and iCloud syncing. It also supports collaboration and advanced data manipulation for technical users.
- Drag-and-drop item saving
- Search and Spotlight integration
- Home screen/Today widget access
- Item annotation and tagging
- iCloud syncing
- Collaborative editing
- Hex viewer for technical users
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Gladys is a drag-and-drop shelf that holds things you want to set aside, such as links, text snippets, map locations, contacts, images, photos, emails, messages and much more (even if the application that the information came from is removed) It works with any app that supports drag-and-drop, and helps keep you focused by letting you quickly set something aside, without having to consider where it needs to be dropped, or having to constantly switch between apps. • Works with any app that supports drag-and-drop, but also provides an extension for apps that don't yet support it, as well as the ability to paste items to & from the clipboard. • Quickly search for items inside the app or via Spotlight. Access your top items from the home screen / Today widget, your Apple Watch, and even iMessage. • Annotate items with notes, custom titles, and tag items with labels that allow you to easily categorise, browse, and sort your collection. • Take your collection with you on your iPhone, and keep it updated by turning on automatic iCloud syncing. • Invite friends to keep items from your own collection in their own collections, and, if you give permission, even collaboratively annotate and edit them. • Import/export/merge collection archives simply by dragging. • Ideal for bookmarking between apps: For example you can quickly return to dropped email items by selecting 'Open' in their info view, quickly share links between different browsers, or use Siri shortcuts to copy often-used items to and from your clipboard. • Experienced users can get details on dropped items and extract or modify specific data components (e.g. extract the URL of an image link, instead of the whole item, add a new image, or edit the title). • Technical users can inspect binary data using the in-built hex viewer, download items pointed to by web links, and even archive web pages. • Contains no analytics, ratings prompts, or noise.
Pencility Handwritten Planner
This digital planner offers a drawable canvas for each day, allowing users to schedule routines, plan tasks with drag-and-drop functionality, and add images. It syncs seamlessly across devices via iCloud and integrates with native calendar and reminder apps.
- Drawable daily canvas
- Drag-and-drop task scheduling
- iCloud synchronization
- Integration with Calendar and Reminders
- Customizable task visibility
- Handwriting to text conversion (English/Chinese)
- Reusable drawing storage
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Pencility is a digital planner, diary and a time manager for an iPad and an Apple Pencil. It features a drawable canvas for every day, and it is only up to you and your creativity what you write on it. The options are unlimited. Schedule your daily routines. Plan your tasks and reminders just by drag-and-dropping them to the timeline. Never miss a calendar event. Write down the moments worth remembering. Attach images from your library of from the web. Draw some beautiful pictures and sketches. Just take your paper planner and bring it to the iPad. And not only that. What you write into Pencility on the iPad is automatically synced through iCloud to your iPhone as well. Support for the Mac will arrive soon. TIMELINE, THE HEARTH OF THE APP * The timeline is composed of canvases, one for each day. * A canvas shows all of your notes, calendar events, tasks, reminders and pictures. * By default, it displays one day at a time. But if you need more insight, there is the Overview mode available. * Drag-and-drop pictures, tasks or drawings. SYNCHRONIZATION AT ITS CORE * Pencility works with the Calendar and Reminders apps. * If allowed, Pencility presents your events and tasks in the timeline so that you never miss an occasion, or fail to finish an assignment on time. * Any changes made to events and tasks are immediately synced back so that they are up to date on all your devices. * Pencility uploads your timeline content to iCloud to make it available on your iPhone. Support for a Mac will arrive soon. MOVE, RESIZE, RESCHEDULE * Pencility allows you to create, edit or delete events and tasks. * Create a new item by clicking on "Create a task" or on the calendar icon in the top-right corner and filling in the necessary info. * Reschedule an item by long-pressing and then dragging or resizing over the timeline. * Set a task completion date by dragging it into the timeline. * Edit item information by single-tapping on it either in the sidebar on the timeline. STUNNING WRITING EXPERIENCE * Pencility uses Apple's PencitKit to ensure the best writing experience. * A tool picker with different drawings tools (a pen, a pencil, a marker, an eraser and a lasso tool) and a vast pallet of colours is always at your hand on the iPad. * Write into the text areas and see your handwriting transform into typed text. This feature works for English and Chinese language only. DRAW, STORE AND REUSE * Do you find yourself drawing the same object every second day again and again? * Pencility has a solution to that. You create it just once, save it to your drawing storage and drag it back to any place in the timeline. ADJUST WHAT YOU SEE * We get that sometimes there is just too many of those events and tasks. Therefore, Pencility allows you to hide some of your reminder lists or calendars. * You can also customize what types of tasks you see in your task list. * Pencility is versatile and it will adjust to any screen conditions. Landscape or portrait, regular or split-screen, with or without the sidebar. ONE PURCHASE, LIFETIME USAGE * Usually, when buying a planner, you have to get a new one every year. With Pencility, you make only one purchase and use our app as long as your Apple account lives. * You can also benefit from the Family sharing feature and get a planner for all members of your family. We hope you will enjoy using Pencility. May it be a helpful tool for organizing both your professional and personal life. Please keep in mind that some of the features are not always available. Writing works only on those iPads which support Apple Pencil (iPad Pro, iPad 6th generation, iPad Mini 4th generation, iPad Air). Text recognition works only for English and Chinese. With any questions or requests, you can reach us at dev@pencility.app.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Gladys at Free against Pencility Handwritten Planner's $9.99. Gladys also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.8) and review sentiment (84% vs 50%). Pencility Handwritten Planner's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 5) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 16.0). On update cadence, ads and device support 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
Gladys is free to download; Pencility Handwritten Planner costs $9.99 up front. Gladys sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Pencility Handwritten Planner asks for nothing beyond the download.
Gladys holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Gladys has 151 ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 84% of Gladys's written reviews are positive against 50% of Pencility Handwritten Planner's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Gladys | Pencility Handwritten Planner |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $9.99 |
| Rating | 4.7 (151 ratings) — better | 3.8 (10 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 83.5% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 151 — better | 10 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 14.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 22 MB | 13 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Pavlos Tsochantaris | Simon Urbanek |
Customer experience
Gladys
Pencility Handwritten Planner
In-app purchases
Gladys
- Smile Tip$0.99
- Blush Tip$1.99
- Hug Tip$4.99
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- Gasp Tip$9.99
- Scream Tip$19.99
Pencility Handwritten Planner
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Gladys free?
Is Pencility Handwritten Planner free?
Which has better reviews, Gladys or Pencility Handwritten Planner?
Do Gladys or Pencility Handwritten Planner have ads?
Which is updated more often, Gladys or Pencility Handwritten Planner?
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