Comparison

Penned vs Greatnotes5 AI Note Taking app

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

Head to head
About

Penned

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
Read full description

Your thoughts deserve privacy. Penned Notes is a minimalist handwriting app that keeps everything on your device. - Natural Apple Pencil writing - AI text recognition (on-device) - 100% private - zero cloud required - Export beautiful PDFs - Smart tagging & search - Clean, distraction-free interface Unlike other note apps, Penned Notes uses Apple's Neural Engine to recognize your handwriting locally and nothing leaves your device. No accounts, no tracking, no subscriptions to complex features you don't need. Perfect for: - Daily journaling - Class notes & studying - Meeting notes - Sketches & brainstorming - Sensitive work documents Privacy-first architecture means your notes stay truly yours. Download Penned Notes.  Where your thoughts are penned, not surveilled.

About

Greatnotes5 AI Note Taking app

Record, transcribe, and organize lectures, meetings, and ideas with AI-powered summaries, instant answers, and quick actions. Export notes as polished PDFs for easy sharing and collaboration.

Highlights
  • Automatic transcription with time-stamps
  • AI-generated summaries and key takeaways
  • Ask AI questions about your notes
  • Quick AI actions: translate, proofread, expand
  • Export notes as PDF
  • Record lectures and meetings
Features
Read full description

Never take notes again. Greatnotes5 records every conversation and automatically creates summaries, word-for-word transcripts, key points and action items in seconds. Who Is Greatnotes5 For? • Professionals taking meeting notes automatically • Students recording lectures and creating study notes • Teams tracking decisions and action items • Journalists recording interviews • Researchers capturing discussions and insights • Anyone who wants AI-powered notes and transcription What Does Greatnotes5 Do? Record meetings and instantly generate: • Meeting transcripts • AI summaries • Meeting minutes • Action items • Follow-ups • Key takeaways • Searchable notes Perfect for team meetings, client calls, interviews, and workshops. Lecture Notes & Study Assistant: Turn lectures and classes into organized study materials. • Lecture transcripts • AI-generated study notes • Lecture summaries • Key concepts • Important highlights • Exam preparation materials Focus on learning while Greatnotes5 handles note taking. Speech To Text Transcription: Convert audio into accurate text. • Meeting transcription • Lecture transcription • Interview transcription • Voice memo transcription • Conversation transcription Every transcript includes timestamps for easy review. Supports 50+ languages. Chat With Your Recordings: Ask questions about meetings, lectures, and recordings. • What decisions were made? • What are my action items? • Summarize this meeting. • What questions were asked? • What are the lecture highlights? • What deadlines were mentioned? Find answers in seconds without searching through recordings. AI Writing Assistant: Improve and organize notes with AI. • Summarize notes • Rewrite professionally • Improve grammar • Translate notes • Generate titles • Create highlights • Continue writing • Change tone • Paraphrase content PDF & Document Support Upload PDFs and documents to: • Generate summaries • Extract key information • Review content faster • Organize research materials Share Anywhere Export notes as PDF and share with coworkers, classmates, teachers, clients, and teams. Frequently Asked Questions What is the best AI note taking app for iPhone? Greatnotes5 records meetings, lectures, interviews, and conversations, then automatically creates transcripts, AI summaries, meeting notes, lecture notes, action items, and searchable notes. Can this app record meetings and create notes automatically? Yes. Greatnotes5 records meetings, converts speech to text, generates meeting minutes, creates summaries, and extracts action items automatically. Can Greatnotes5 transcribe audio into text? Yes. Greatnotes5 converts speech into accurate, time-stamped transcripts for meetings, lectures, interviews, classes, and voice recordings. Can students use Greatnotes5 for studying? Yes. Record lectures, generate study notes, review key concepts, and prepare for exams with AI-powered note taking. Can I chat with my notes? Yes. Ask questions about recordings and instantly find decisions, action items, summaries, and important details. Does Greatnotes5 create AI summaries? Yes. Greatnotes5 generates AI summaries, meeting minutes, lecture notes, highlights, key takeaways, and action items from recordings and documents. How does Greatnotes5 work? Greatnotes5 is an AI note taking app that records meetings, lectures, interviews, voice memos, and conversations, then automatically creates transcripts, AI summaries, meeting notes, action items, key takeaways, and searchable notes. Turn every meeting, lecture, and conversation into organized, searchable knowledge with Greatnotes5. Privacy Policy: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_wdVmWyFuw-bcjgMOr1xqLdBZs47o3anwCtNAM9XUBo/edit?usp=sharing Terms of Usage: https://docs.google.com/document/d/14FDMmPF4e01WpDefHlvt_WyrZwotTlCAlnjeBYPYtPw/edit?tab=t.0 Subscription Terms: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eTLrmLEFdZoJEw6EAV6CH15amxOVuYteuLpKFUmB1I4/edit?tab=t.0

Screenshots

Penned4 screens
Greatnotes5 AI Note Taking app4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Greatnotes5 AI Note Taking app at Free against Penned's $4.99. Greatnotes5 AI Note Taking app also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 2 months) and review sentiment (66% vs 50%). Penned's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 9) and iOS requirement (16.6 vs 18.0). On rating, ads and device support 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

Greatnotes5 AI Note Taking app is free to download; Penned costs $4.99 up front. Greatnotes5 AI Note Taking app sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per 7 days. Penned asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Penned against 4.6 for Greatnotes5 AI Note Taking app. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Greatnotes5 AI Note Taking app has 1.4K 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 66% of Greatnotes5 AI Note Taking app's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Penned ships an update every 2 months, Greatnotes5 AI Note Taking app every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Penned versus Greatnotes5 AI Note Taking app: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPennedGreatnotes5 AI Note Taking app
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.6 (87 ratings)4.6 (1.4K ratings)
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews66.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings871.4K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.6 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB71 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEdwing H Santos MenaKanza Ahmad

Customer experience

Penned

All ratings87 ratings
Positive92.0%
Neutral3.4%
Negative4.6%
Written reviews14 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral21.4%
Negative28.6%

Greatnotes5 AI Note Taking app

All ratings1,417 ratings
Positive88.4%
Neutral3.8%
Negative7.8%
Written reviews56 reviews
Positive66.1%
Neutral5.4%
Negative28.6%

In-app purchases

None

Penned

No in-app purchases

9 purchases

Greatnotes5 AI Note Taking app

Subscriptions7
  • GreatNotes Weekly Premium$3.997 Days
  • GreatNotes 40% Off7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Monthly7 Days trial$6.991 Month
Show 4 more
  • Monthly1 Month trial$9.991 Month
  • Yearly7 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • GreatNotes Yearly Offer7 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • GreatNotes Yearly Premium$59.991 Year
One-time2
  • Lifetime$48.99
  • Lifetime$239.99

Questions

Is Penned free?
Penned costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Greatnotes5 AI Note Taking app free?
Greatnotes5 AI Note Taking app is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Penned or Greatnotes5 AI Note Taking app?
Penned and Greatnotes5 AI Note Taking app are both rated 4.6 out of 5 on the App Store, from 87 and 1.4K ratings respectively.
Do Penned or Greatnotes5 AI Note Taking app have ads?
Neither Penned nor Greatnotes5 AI Note Taking app shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Penned or Greatnotes5 AI Note Taking app?
Penned ships an update every 2 months, and Greatnotes5 AI Note Taking app every 4 days. Most recently, Penned was updated on October 10, 2026 and Greatnotes5 AI Note Taking app on October 17, 2026.

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