# Penned vs Authenticator °

The clearest difference is price: Authenticator ° at Free against Penned's $4.99. Authenticator ° also leads on review sentiment (77% vs 50%) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months). Penned's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 14). On ads and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Authenticator ° is free to download; Penned costs $4.99 up front. Authenticator ° sells 14 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Penned asks for nothing beyond the download.

Authenticator ° holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Authenticator ° has 594 ratings behind it against 87, 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 77% of Authenticator °'s.

Penned ships an update every 2 months, Authenticator ° every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and August 10, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Penned | Authenticator ° |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $4.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | [4.6 (87 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/penned-private-notes/id1480653765/reviews) | **[4.8 (594 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/authenticator/id6446651396/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 87 | **594** |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | **76.7% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Every 2 weeks** |
| Monetization | Paid | **Freemium** |
| Size | 1 MB | 55 MB |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 | **15.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Edwing H Santos Mena](https://appshunter.io/developer/1851857999) | [Bence Kaposzta](https://appshunter.io/developer/1650069302) |

## 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


### Authenticator °

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/authenticator/id6446651396)

This app enhances your online security by generating time-sensitive passwords for two-factor and multi-factor authentication. It offers seamless data synchronization across devices, Apple Watch support, and robust encryption for your sensitive information.

**Highlights:** One-Time Passwords (OTP), Seamless Data Synchronization, Apple Watch Support, End-to-End Encryption, Import/Export Encrypted Backups, Auto-Lock & Biometric Authentication

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (14)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly | $9.99 | per month |
| Monthly | $9.99 | per month |
| Monthly | $9.99 | per month |
| 3 Month | $12.99 | per 3 months |
| 1 Year, 50% off | $19.99 | per year |
| 1 Year Discounted | $22.99 | per year |
| 1 Year, 30% off | $27.99 | per year |
| 1 Year with initial offer | $34.99 | per year |
| Annual subscription | $39.99 | per year |
| 1 Year | $39.99 | per year |
| 1 Year | $39.99 | per year |
| Free Lifetime subscription | Free | one-time |
| Lifetime, intro offer | $0.29 | one-time |
| Lifetime | $59.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Easy to install and use
- 🔒 Secure password management
- 🚀 Efficient and fast
- 👍 Great user interface
- 🔒 Robust security features

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional crashes or bugs
- 🔒 Concerns about cloud storage security
- 🤔 Forced 5-star review before use
- 🤔 Unclear or confusing onboarding process

**Reported bugs**

- List of saved sites/accounts disappearing
- Trouble logging in or resetting password
- Incompatibility with older devices

**Requested features**

- Allow renaming of accounts
- Add pop-up notifications like other authenticators
- Improve sync with desktop/laptop
- Provide more theme/customization options


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Penned free?

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

### Is Authenticator ° free?

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

### Which has better reviews, Penned or Authenticator °?

Authenticator ° is rated higher. Penned averages 4.6 out of 5 from 87 ratings, while Authenticator ° averages 4.8 from 594 ratings.

### Do Penned or Authenticator ° have ads?

Neither Penned nor Authenticator ° shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Penned or Authenticator °?

Penned ships an update every 2 months, and Authenticator ° every 2 weeks. Most recently, Penned was updated on September 22, 2026 and Authenticator ° on August 10, 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.*