# Penned vs Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures

The clearest difference is price: Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures at Free against Penned's $4.99. Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures also leads on update cadence (every 5 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.

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

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Penned against 4.6 for Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures 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 Notes, Lectures's.

Penned ships an update every 2 months, Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Penned | Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $4.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | **[4.6 (87 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/penned-private-notes/id1480653765/reviews)** | [4.6 (1.4K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/greatnotes5-ai-notes-lectures/id1591954297/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 87 | **1.4K** |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | **66.1% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Every 5 days** |
| Monetization | Paid | **Free with in-app purchases** |
| Size | 1 MB | 71 MB |
| Requires iOS | **16.6** | 18.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Edwing H Santos Mena](https://appshunter.io/developer/1851857999) | [Kanza Ahmad](https://appshunter.io/developer/1667956463) |

## 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


### Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/greatnotes5-ai-notes-lectures/id1591954297)

This AI-powered app automatically transcribes lectures, meetings, and conversations into searchable notes, summaries, and action items. It helps users focus on learning or participating by handling note-taking and organizing information. Users can also chat with their recordings and utilize an AI writing assistant to refine their notes.

**Highlights:** Automatic lecture and meeting recording, AI-generated transcripts and summaries, Key points and action item extraction, Chat with your recordings, AI writing assistant for notes, PDF and document summarization, Export and share notes

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

**In-app purchases (9)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| GreatNotes Weekly Premium | $4.99 | per 7 days |
| GreatNotes 40% Off | $4.99 | per month |
| Monthly | $6.99 | per month |
| Monthly | $9.99 | per month |
| Yearly | $29.99 | per year |
| GreatNotes Yearly Offer | $39.99 | per year |
| GreatNotes Yearly Premium | $59.99 | per year |
| Lifetime | $39.99 | one-time |
| Lifetime | $239.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Penned free?

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

### Is Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures free?

Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Penned or Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures?

Penned is rated higher. Penned averages 4.6 out of 5 from 87 ratings, while Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures averages 4.6 from 1.4K ratings.

### Do Penned or Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures have ads?

Neither Penned nor Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Penned or Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures?

Penned ships an update every 2 months, and Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures every 5 days. Most recently, Penned was updated on November 3, 2026 and Greatnotes5 AI Notes, Lectures on November 7, 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.*