Comparison

Penman vs Quarterdeck Pro

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

Head to head
About

Penman

Effortlessly convert spoken words into text notes in over 120 languages using advanced speech-to-text technology. Enhance your writing with AI-powered actions and organize your notes with a powerful, intuitive editor. Sync securely across devices and export your work in various formats.

Highlights
  • Speech to text transcription
  • AI-powered writing enhancements
  • Intuitive text editor
  • Note organization and categorization
  • Cross-device iCloud sync
  • Export to PDF, TXT, Image, HTML
  • Multiple language support
Features
Read full description

Penman turns your voice into notes — and your notes into knowledge. Record lectures, meetings, and ideas with real-time voice transcription in 120+ languages, chat with your notes through Spaces AI, and let built-in study tools create flashcards and quizzes for you. VOICE TO TEXT, LIVE - Real-time speech transcription in 120+ languages - Import audio files and transcribe them in minutes - Dictate hands-free, then refine with AI actions (summarize, reorder, rewrite) SPACES — AI CHAT WITH YOUR NOTES - Ask questions and get grounded answers with citations and source cards - Knowledge retrieval across your notes, documents, and recordings - On-device intelligence with Apple Foundation Models AI STUDY TOOLS - Generate flashcards from any note in one tap - Build quizzes automatically and test yourself - Summarize, reorder, and run custom AI prompts SCAN, LISTEN, CREATE - OCR: turn photos and scans into editable text - Text-to-speech playback with word highlighting - Create images with Apple Image Playground EVERYWHERE YOU WORK - iCloud sync across iPhone, iPad, and Mac - Export to PDF, TXT, JPG, and HTML - App Intents and Shortcuts for automation - Rich text editor with fonts and bidirectional writing support PREMIUM Unlock unlimited transcription, all AI features, and every export format with Penman Premium. Download Penman today and turn every conversation, lecture, and meeting into notes that work for you. Subscriptions will be charged to your credit card through your iTunes account, and will automatically renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage your subscriptions in the App Store Account Settings. Terms of Use: https://penmanai.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://penmanai.app/privacy

About

Quarterdeck Pro

This app serves as a centralized workspace for professionals to manage tasks, notes, code snippets, finances, and projects. It offers features like priority task management, rich text notes, financial tracking, and project oversight, all synced across devices.

Highlights
  • Task management with priorities and deadlines
  • Rich text note-taking
  • Finance tracking for income and expenses
  • Code snippet storage
  • Project management
  • iCloud sync across devices
Features
Read full description

Quarterdeck brings notes, tasks, agenda, projects, finance, and code together, with Apple Intelligence for supported devices. Summarize a long note. Pull the action items out of a meeting write-up and turn them into real tasks. Ask what your spending is telling you. These Apple Intelligence features process your content on your device. WRITE THE WAY YOU ACTUALLY WORK • Rich text with headings, lists and checklists • Drop in photos and PDFs — they sit inline, where you put them • Dictate straight into a page and watch the words land as you speak • Scan a document with the camera and keep it as a real page, not a snapshot • Search finds words inside your images, not just the ones you typed • Lock a note behind Face ID or a PIN CAPTURE IT WHEREVER YOU ARE • Share a page from Safari and it arrives as a note, with a preview card • Home Screen widgets for today's tasks and one-tap capture • "Hey Siri, note this in Quarterdeck" • Your original workspace syncs over your own iCloud account across your devices MORE THAN NOTES • Tasks — priorities, due dates, checklists, repeats, and individual reminders • Agenda — your day and week, repeating events, and custom reminders • Projects — plan work and track it to done • Finance — income, expenses, bills with individual reminders, and budgets • Code — a snippet library that explains any snippet back to you FREE, AND HONESTLY FREE Notes, tasks, agenda and projects are free forever — not a trial, not a countdown. You also get five Apple Intelligence runs a month at no charge, so you can judge it on your own notes. Quarterdeck Pro makes AI unlimited and adds dictation, document scanning, unlimited attachments, and the Finance and Code modules. Try Pro free for a week. PRIVACY Apple Intelligence runs on your device. Your notes sync through your own iCloud account. There is no Quarterdeck server, no account to create, and no analytics following you around. Optional dictation uses Apple’s Speech framework and may use Apple’s servers. Safe Reset retains your original workspace locally for recovery; the fresh workspace is local only. Requires an Apple Intelligence–capable device for the AI features. Everything else works on any iPhone running iOS 17 or later. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Penman4 screens
Quarterdeck Pro4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Quarterdeck Pro at 5.0 against Penman's 4.1. Quarterdeck Pro also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 weeks). Penman's advantage is ratings volume (252 vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Penman sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Quarterdeck Pro sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Quarterdeck Pro holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Penman has 252 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Penman ships an update every 2 weeks, Quarterdeck Pro every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Penman versus Quarterdeck Pro: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPenmanQuarterdeck Pro
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (252 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews57.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings252 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size104 MB10 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSER_INTDylan Dalmeida

Customer experience

Penman

All ratings252 ratings
Positive77.8%
Neutral4.4%
Negative17.9%
Written reviews78 reviews
Positive57.7%
Neutral3.8%
Negative38.5%

Quarterdeck Pro

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Penman

Reported bugs

11 issues
  • App crashes on launch or during use
  • Text disappears without user action
  • Transcription halts when device enters sleep mode
  • iCloud sync failures between devices
  • Notes deleted when free trial expires
Show 6 more
  • Highlighting loses color after copy-paste
  • Recording continues but doesn't transcribe after interruption
  • App force closes when deleting notes
  • Restore purchase button non-functional
  • Perpetual onboarding loop after trial signup
  • Transcription accuracy drops after initial sentences

Requested features

10 requests
  • Persistent highlighting tool color selection
  • Export to Markdown (.md) format
  • Custom photo book covers
  • More font options
  • Ability to keep handwritten notes without conversion
Show 5 more
  • Keep phone active during recording
  • Recently deleted folder for recovery
  • Standalone keyboard replacement
  • Unlimited recording time in free version
  • Auto-save and local backup system

Quarterdeck Pro

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Penman

Subscriptions7
  • Monthly Discount Premium7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Monthly Penman Premium7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Yearly Discount Premium$14.991 Year
Show 4 more
  • 6 Months Penman Premium3 Days trial$16.996 Months
  • Yearly Voice to Text plan7 Days trial$19.991 Year
  • Yearly Speech to Text Live6 Months trial$19.991 Year
  • Yearly Speech Voice to Text7 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time3
  • Unlimited Voice to Text$29.99
  • Unlimited Voice to Text$39.99
  • Unlimited Voice to Text$59.99
3 purchases

Quarterdeck Pro

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$7.991 Month
  • Yearly$49.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$89.99

Questions

Is Penman free?
Penman is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Quarterdeck Pro free?
Quarterdeck Pro is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Penman or Quarterdeck Pro?
Quarterdeck Pro is rated higher. Penman averages 4.1 out of 5 from 252 ratings, while Quarterdeck Pro averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Penman or Quarterdeck Pro have ads?
Neither Penman nor Quarterdeck Pro shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Penman or Quarterdeck Pro?
Penman ships an update every 2 weeks, and Quarterdeck Pro every 5 days. Most recently, Penman was updated on November 2, 2026 and Quarterdeck Pro on October 31, 2026.

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