# Penned vs Contacts Transfer & Backup Pro

The clearest difference is price: Contacts Transfer & Backup Pro at Free against Penned's $4.99. Contacts Transfer & Backup Pro also leads on review sentiment (71% vs 50%) and ratings volume (498 vs 87). Penned's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On rating, update cadence, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Contacts Transfer & Backup Pro is free to download; Penned costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Penned against 4.7 for Contacts Transfer & Backup Pro. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Contacts Transfer & Backup Pro has 498 ratings behind it against 87, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 50% of Penned's written reviews are positive against 71% of Contacts Transfer & Backup Pro's.

Penned ships an update every 2 months, Contacts Transfer & Backup Pro monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Penned | Contacts Transfer & Backup Pro |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $4.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | [4.6 (87 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/penned-private-notes/id1480653765/reviews) | **[4.7 (498 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/contacts-transfer-and-backup-pro/id1589611375/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 87 | **498** |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | **71.4% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Monthly** |
| Monetization | Paid | **Free with in-app purchases** |
| Size | 1 MB | 8 MB |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 | **15.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Edwing H Santos Mena](https://appshunter.io/developer/1851857999) | [DUSKBAY LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1649071166) |

## 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


### Contacts Transfer & Backup Pro

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/contacts-transfer-and-backup-pro/id1589611375)

Easily manage and transfer your contacts with one-click sharing and automatic backups. Securely store your data in iCloud for access across all your devices.  Enjoy a user-friendly and reliable contact management experience.

**Highlights:** One-click contact transfer, Automatic contact backups, iCloud integration, User-friendly interface, Cross-platform accessibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Penned free?

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

### Is Contacts Transfer & Backup Pro free?

Contacts Transfer & Backup Pro is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Penned or Contacts Transfer & Backup Pro?

Contacts Transfer & Backup Pro is rated higher. Penned averages 4.6 out of 5 from 87 ratings, while Contacts Transfer & Backup Pro averages 4.7 from 498 ratings.

### Do Penned or Contacts Transfer & Backup Pro have ads?

Contacts Transfer & Backup Pro shows ads; Penned does not.

### Which is updated more often, Penned or Contacts Transfer & Backup Pro?

Penned ships an update every 2 months, and Contacts Transfer & Backup Pro monthly. Most recently, Penned was updated on October 23, 2026 and Contacts Transfer & Backup Pro on October 21, 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.*