Zavala vs Penloop
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Zavala
This app offers a modern approach to outlining, providing a full suite of features. It supports gestures, keyboard shortcuts, and multiple windows for efficient organization and content creation. Easily import and export in various formats, sync across devices, and customize your outlining experience.
- OPML Import & Export
- Markdown Export
- iCloud Syncing & Sharing
- Nested Tags
- Image Embedding
- Keyboard Shortcuts
- Drag and Drop
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Zavala is a modern take on a traditional outliner. It is a full featured app. It takes full advantage of your device by leveraging gestures, keyboard shortcuts, and multiple windows. Other features: * OPML import & export * Markdown import & export * HTML import & export * iCloud syncing * iCloud sharing with other iCloud users * Encrypted outlines and encrypted iCloud sync * Nested Tags for organizing Outlines * Support for embedding images * Print support * Drag and drop * Text formatting * Links * Completed items * Notes * Customizable fonts and sizes * Backlinks * Shortcuts support * Web clipper share extension * Typewriter scrolling * Automatic row numbering including Decimal and Legal numbering
Penloop
This app helps you organize your life by capturing events, todos, notes, and more. It offers a flexible system with calendars, folders, and tags to manage your information privately on your device.
- Capture events, todos, notes, journals
- Organize with calendars, folders, tags
- Private, on-device data storage
- Automatic backups
- Create multiple spaces
- Sync via iCloud Drive
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Penloop isn’t just a tool for storing information—it’s a space for thinking, creating, and growing. It adapts to your needs, so you can focus on what truly matters. Designed for doers, creators, and those who want to make a difference, Penloop is for the ones who are always thinking, moving, and striving to be better. It’s for those who want to live more mindfully and seek more than just an app. It’s for people who value privacy, clarity, and balance—those who are tired of tools that control them, and instead, want something that empowers them. It’s where your life can thrive. Rethink how you organize your life. At its core, Penloop isn’t just a note-taking app. It’s a better way to think, plan, and create. In one place, you can capture everything: • Events — so you’re always on top of your appointments • Todos / Reminders — so you never forget what matters • Notes and Journals — for your ideas and reflections • Timers and Stopwatches — to master your time • Logs — to monitor progress on what matters most • Bookmarks — for inspiration and future plans A system, tailored to you. With Penloop, you’re in control. Organize your world using: • Sleek Calendars — Keep your schedule on track by planning and visualizing events and appointments. Organize your day, set reminders, and never miss an important event, all while boosting your productivity and reducing stress. • Intuitive Folders — Streamline your workflow by grouping related items and reducing clutter. Folders help you stay organized, improve efficiency, and maintain focus, making it easy to find and manage your content. • Powerful Tags — Quickly organize, search, and filter your notes, tasks, and events. Tags help you find related content, track progress, and stay focused, so you can stay organized and effortlessly boost productivity. Privacy, Built Right In. • Your data stays yours. Always. Penloop doesn’t rely on servers. It stores your notes as ‘.space’ files directly on your device. Move them effortlessly between your project folders or sync them via iCloud Drive. This is your digital space—beautiful, flexible, and private. Reliable. Intuitive. Effortless. • With automatic backups and the ability to create multiple spaces, Penloop ensures your notes are safe and ready whenever inspiration strikes. It’s not just a tool. It’s a leap forward in how you organize your life. This is Penloop. Start today.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Zavala at Free against Penloop's $6.99. Zavala also leads on ratings volume (67 vs 3). Penloop's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 88%) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 26.0). On rating, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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
Zavala is free to download; Penloop costs $6.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Penloop holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Zavala has 67 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 88% of Zavala's written reviews are positive against 100% of Penloop's.
Zavala ships an update every 2 weeks, Penloop fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and August 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Zavala | Penloop |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $6.99 |
| Rating | 4.8 (67 ratings) | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 87.7% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 67 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 18 MB | 17 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Vincode, Inc | DynaPlastic Ltd. |
Customer experience
Zavala
Penloop
In-app purchases
Zavala
No in-app purchases
Penloop
No in-app purchases









