# System Activity Monitors vs Penned

The clearest difference is price: System Activity Monitors at Free against Penned's $4.99. System Activity Monitors also leads on review sentiment (76% vs 50%) and ratings volume (774 vs 87). Penned's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and rating (4.6 vs 4.2). On update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

System Activity Monitors is free to download; Penned costs $4.99 up front. System Activity Monitors sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per 7 days. Penned asks for nothing beyond the download.

Penned holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: System Activity Monitors has 774 ratings behind it against 87, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 76% of System Activity Monitors's written reviews are positive against 50% of Penned's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

System Activity Monitors ships an update every 3 months, Penned every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | System Activity Monitors | Penned |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | **Free** | $4.99 |
| Rating | [4.2 (774 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/system-activity-monitors/id386118145/reviews) | **[4.6 (87 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/penned-private-notes/id1480653765/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **774** | 87 |
| Positive reviews | **76.0% of reviews** | 50.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | **Every 2 months** |
| Monetization | **Free with in-app purchases** | Paid |
| Size | 28 MB | 1 MB |
| Requires iOS | **13.0** | 16.6 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Tekton Technologies (P) Ltd.](https://appshunter.io/developer/343534621) | [Edwing H Santos Mena](https://appshunter.io/developer/1851857999) |

## What reviewers say

### System Activity Monitors

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/system-activity-monitors/id386118145)

Monitor your device's health with this comprehensive tool. Track memory, battery performance, storage, and network details. Get detailed camera information and helpful battery-saving tips to optimize your iPhone.

**Highlights:** Memory usage tracking, Battery performance monitoring, Device IP and hardware address, Battery saving tips, Used and free space indicator, Detailed camera information, System and hardware specs

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

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Sysmon Pro | $3.99 | per 7 days |
| Sysmon Pro | $6.99 | per month |
| Sysmon Pro | $29.99 | per year |
| Real Time Graphs | $2.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 💯 Excellent app
- 🎆 Great app
- 🔒 Respects privacy
- 🔋 Helpful battery tips
- 👍 Simple and straightforward

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Buggy updates
- 💰 Subscription-based model
- 🔒 Privacy concerns due to required login
- 🔍 Limited functionality for free version
- 🔍 Inaccurate device information

**Reported bugs**

- Crashes on certain devices
- Login/registration issues
- Incorrect memory/CPU usage reporting

**Requested features**

- Ability to close/manage running apps
- More detailed app-level usage breakdown
- Dark mode option
- Widgets for quick access
- Ability to reclaim memory/free up storage


### 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


## Frequently asked questions

### Is System Activity Monitors free?

System Activity Monitors is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Penned free?

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

### Which has better reviews, System Activity Monitors or Penned?

Penned is rated higher. System Activity Monitors averages 4.2 out of 5 from 774 ratings, while Penned averages 4.6 from 87 ratings.

### Do System Activity Monitors or Penned have ads?

Neither System Activity Monitors nor Penned shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, System Activity Monitors or Penned?

System Activity Monitors ships an update every 3 months, and Penned every 2 months. Most recently, System Activity Monitors was updated on October 1, 2026 and Penned on September 26, 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.*