# Penbook vs Craft

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Craft at 85% against Penbook's 58%. Craft also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.6). Penbook's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 10 days) and ratings volume (46K vs 6.6K). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Penbook sells 11 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Craft sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Craft holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Penbook has 46K ratings behind it against 6.6K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 58% of Penbook's written reviews are positive against 85% of Craft's.

Penbook ships an update every 5 days, Craft every 10 days. Both last shipped on October 19, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | Penbook | Craft |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.6 (46K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/penbook-paper-planner-and-notes/id1473064295/reviews) | **[4.8 (6.6K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/craft-notes-documents-ai/id1487937127/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **46K** | 6.6K |
| Positive reviews | 58.0% of reviews | **84.6% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 5 days** | Every 10 days |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 142 MB | 344 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18.1 | **17.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Vision Pro | **iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Pencil Research](https://appshunter.io/developer/1473063859) | [Craft Docs Limited](https://appshunter.io/developer/1487937126) |

## What reviewers say

### Penbook

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/penbook-paper-planner-and-notes/id1473064295)

Create custom digital notebooks with a vast library of stationery or import your own PDFs for annotation. Write naturally with a stylus and organize your notes with dynamic features like live planners and searchable handwriting.

**Highlights:** Live Paper dynamic stationery, Over 400 stationery types, Import and annotate PDFs, Natural handwriting with stylus, Searchable handwritten notes, Shape recognition, Customizable notebook covers

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Family Sharing

**In-app purchases (11)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Penbook Premium | $4.99 | per month |
| Penbook Premium | $7.99 | per month |
| Penbook Premium | $14.99 | per year |
| Penbook Premium | $19.99 | per year |
| Penbook Premium | $29.99 | per year |
| Penbook Premium | $29.99 | per year |
| Penbook Premium | $39.99 | per year |
| Premium Lifetime (Loyalty) | $29.99 | one-time |
| Penbook Premium Lifetime | $49.99 | one-time |
| Penbook Premium Lifetime | $59.99 | one-time |
| Penbook Premium Lifetime | $69.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly interface
- 🎨 Variety of customization options for notebooks
- 📝 Smooth writing experience with Apple Pencil
- 🗓️ Useful calendar integration
- 💡 Innovative features like washi tape and stickers

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional crashes and data loss issues
- 🔒 Lack of password protection or locking feature
- 🔧 Glitchy zooming and ruler functionality
- 🧭 Poor notebook and page management
- 💰 Restrictive free version, expensive subscription

**Reported bugs**

- Sticker resizing issues causing app freezes
- Ruler placement and alignment problems
- Inconsistent behavior when switching between pages
- Calendar sync not working as expected
- PDF import and annotation functionality not reliable

**Requested features**

- Allow custom notebook covers or images
- Add text box and typing capabilities
- Improve organization with folders or tags
- Provide more customization options for templates
- Implement a more intuitive undo/redo system


### Craft

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/craft-notes-documents-ai/id1487937127)

This app helps you organize your thoughts, manage tasks, and boost productivity with an AI assistant. Create structured documents, plan your day, and connect with other tools for a seamless workflow across all your devices.

**Highlights:** AI Assistant for research and writing, Structured document creation, Native task management system, Daily notes and calendar view, Offline access and sync, Integrations with other tools

**Features:** Family Sharing

**In-app purchases (9)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Plus Monthly Subscription | $9.99 | per month |
| Legacy - Monthly Subscription | $10.99 | per month |
| Family Monthly Subscription | $17.99 | per month |
| Team Monthly Subscription | $59.99 | per month |
| Plus Annual Subscription | $95.99 | per year |
| Legacy - Annual Subscription | $99.99 | per year |
| Family Annual Subscription | $179.99 | per year |
| Business Monthly Subscription | $299.00 | per month |
| Team Annual Subscription | $599.00 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Absolutely amazing
- 👍 Beautiful, clean, simple, increasingly powerful
- 👍 Fantastic Essential App
- 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
- 👍 Seamless sync between devices

**What reviewers complain about**

- 💰 Expensive subscription
- 🐛 Crashes after recent update
- 🔍 Lack of customization options (e.g. font size)
- 🔍 Inconsistent and confusing UI conventions
- 🔍 Lack of basic features like tags and tables

**Reported bugs**

- Crashes when using voice control dictation
- Inconsistent behavior when rearranging notes
- Exporting to PDF creates blank first page

**Requested features**

- Add support for tables and columns
- Implement tagging system for better organization
- Improve text editing and formatting options
- Integrate with more third-party apps and services
- Add graph view for visualizing note connections


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Penbook free?

Penbook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Craft free?

Craft is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Penbook or Craft?

Craft is rated higher. Penbook averages 4.6 out of 5 from 46K ratings, while Craft averages 4.8 from 6.6K ratings.

### Do Penbook or Craft have ads?

Neither Penbook nor Craft shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Penbook or Craft?

Penbook ships an update every 5 days, and Craft every 10 days. Most recently, Penbook was updated on October 19, 2026 and Craft on October 19, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*