# Penned vs AudioAid

The clearest difference is update cadence: Penned at every 2 months against AudioAid's every 8 months. Penned also leads on iOS requirement (16.6 vs 26.0). AudioAid's advantage is price ($1.99 vs $4.99). On ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Penned costs $4.99 and AudioAid $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Penned ships an update every 2 months, AudioAid every 8 months. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Penned | AudioAid |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $4.99 | **$1.99** |
| Rating | **[4.6 (87 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/penned-private-notes/id1480653765/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **87** | — |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 2 months** | Every 8 months |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Size | 1 MB | 7 MB |
| Requires iOS | **16.6** | 26.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, Apple Watch |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Edwing H Santos Mena](https://appshunter.io/developer/1851857999) | [Adam Ballif](https://appshunter.io/developer/1477725940) |

## 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


### AudioAid

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/audioaid/id1627148915)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Apple Watch app, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Penned free?

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

### Is AudioAid free?

AudioAid costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Do Penned or AudioAid have ads?

Neither Penned nor AudioAid shows ads.

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

Penned ships an update every 2 months, and AudioAid every 8 months. Most recently, Penned was updated on October 10, 2026 and AudioAid on October 1, 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.*