# Penbook vs Birthing Planner

The clearest difference is price: Penbook at Free against Birthing Planner's $4.99. Penbook also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 13 months) and ratings volume (46K vs 2). Birthing Planner's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 22) and rating (5.0 vs 4.5). On ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Penbook is free to download; Birthing Planner costs $4.99 up front. Penbook sells 11 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Birthing Planner asks for nothing beyond the download.

Birthing Planner holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Penbook has 46K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.

Penbook ships an update every 5 days, Birthing Planner every 13 months. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Penbook | Birthing Planner |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | **Free** | $4.99 |
| Rating | [4.5 (46K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/penbook-paper-planner-and-notes/id1473064295/reviews) | **[5.0 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/birthing-planner/id1584811547/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **46K** | 2 |
| Positive reviews | 57.8% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 5 days** | Every 13 months |
| Monetization | **Free with in-app purchases** | Paid |
| Best chart rank | **#87** | — |
| Size | 142 MB | 28 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18.1 | **11.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Vision Pro | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Pencil Research](https://appshunter.io/developer/1473063859) | [Mark Briggs](https://appshunter.io/developer/603574091) |

## What reviewers say

### Penbook

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

**Currently charting:** #87 Top Free · Productivity (US App Store)

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


### Birthing Planner

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/birthing-planner/id1584811547)

Track breeding, due dates, and birthing results for any animal species. Record offspring details and access historical data. View overall statistics filtered by your preferences.

**Highlights:** Track breeding and due dates, Record birthing results and offspring, Support for multiple animal species, Archive and reactivate past data, View filtered overall statistics, Detailed record keeping

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Penbook free?

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

### Is Birthing Planner free?

Birthing Planner costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Penbook or Birthing Planner?

Birthing Planner is rated higher. Penbook averages 4.5 out of 5 from 46K ratings, while Birthing Planner averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.

### Do Penbook or Birthing Planner have ads?

Neither Penbook nor Birthing Planner shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Penbook or Birthing Planner?

Penbook ships an update every 5 days, and Birthing Planner every 13 months. Most recently, Penbook was updated on October 25, 2026 and Birthing Planner on October 8, 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.*