# Penned vs Forms

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Penned at 50% against Forms's 0%. Penned also leads on rating (4.6 vs 3.8) and in-app purchases (none vs 3). Forms's advantage is price (Free vs $4.99) and update cadence (every 3 days vs every 2 months). On device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Forms is free to download; Penned costs $4.99 up front. Forms sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Penned asks for nothing beyond the download.

Penned holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Penned has 87 ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of Penned's written reviews are positive against 0% of Forms's.

Penned ships an update every 2 months, Forms every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Penned | Forms |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $4.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | **[4.6 (87 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/penned-private-notes/id1480653765/reviews)** | [3.8 (8 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/forms-spreadsheet-integration/id1585552942/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **87** | 8 |
| Positive reviews | **50.0% of reviews** | 0.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Every 3 days** |
| Monetization | Paid | **Free with in-app purchases** |
| Size | 1 MB | 71 MB |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 | **16.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Edwing H Santos Mena](https://appshunter.io/developer/1851857999) | [Pratheesh Bennet](https://appshunter.io/developer/1548251165) |

## What reviewers say

### Penned

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/penned-private-notes/id1480653765)

A minimalist handwriting app designed for privacy, keeping all your notes securely on your device. It features natural writing with Apple Pencil, on-device AI text recognition, and smart tagging for easy searching. Export your notes as PDFs in a clean, distraction-free interface.

**Highlights:** Natural Apple Pencil writing, On-device AI text recognition, 100% private, no cloud, Export beautiful PDFs, Smart tagging and search, Distraction-free interface

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


### Forms

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/forms-spreadsheet-integration/id1585552942)

Instantly create smart forms with AI or design your own. Customize templates, scan paper forms, and export data to Google Sheets, Excel, or PDFs. Offers offline use and professional branding options.

**Highlights:** AI-powered form creation, Customizable form templates, Scan and digitize paper forms, Export data to Google Sheets, Excel, PDF, Offline form building and filling, Add branding elements to PDFs

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Build Unlimited Forms & Fields | $1.99 | per month |
| One-time purchase for lifetime | $4.99 | one-time |
| Unlock Export Features | $19.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Penned free?

Penned costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Forms free?

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

### Which has better reviews, Penned or Forms?

Penned is rated higher. Penned averages 4.6 out of 5 from 87 ratings, while Forms averages 3.8 from 8 ratings.

### Do Penned or Forms have ads?

Forms shows ads; Penned does not.

### Which is updated more often, Penned or Forms?

Penned ships an update every 2 months, and Forms every 3 days. Most recently, Penned was updated on October 10, 2026 and Forms on October 3, 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.*