Comparison

Pen and Paper vs Pocket Note

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Pen and Paper

Create handwritten notes and drawings, annotate PDFs, and add text and shapes. Zoom in for detailed editing, organize content with layers, and import custom fonts and page styles. Share your creations as PDFs or JPEGs.

Highlights
  • Handwritten notes and drawings
  • PDF import and annotation
  • Text and shape insertion
  • Zoom and split view
  • Layer management
  • Custom font installation
  • PDF export
Features
Read full description

Pen and Paper is perfect for hand-written notes on your iPad or iPhone. You can even import and write on PDFs. INK Draw ink with your finger. Resize, recolor, and move your doodles. TEXT Add text and text boxes. Change alignment, fonts, color, and install additional fonts. Perfect for adding comments to PDF. SHAPES Add geometric primitives, arrows, curves, and polygons Use the built in diagram elements and arrows to create diagrams. Create clip art of portions that you wish to reuse. shapes can be colored using gradients and fill with patterns. Use "rough" outline to make it look more like a drawing. ZOOM AND SPLIT VIEW Zoom more than 10 times to edit and draw even tiny details. Use split view (iPad only) to see full page view or look at another page PHOTOS Include photos. You can crop and rotate photos. BOOKMARKS Add bookmarks to navigate in your documents PDF SUPPORT AND SLIDE NOTES Import and annotate PDFs from other apps or Files. Use any of the built-in "Slide Note" templates to annotate presentations. When you are done export as PDF again. Use the "clone" tool to copy a portion a PDF and marker to mark text in the PDF for easy search. SHARING To share your notes with the world, simply email them as PDF. You can also extract individual pages as JPEG images. LAYERS Use the layer list to organize order of shapes and ink on the page PAGE STYLES Pen and paper comes with a variety of page styles, but you can also create your own. Import a PDF of your favourite page style and store it as a "page style" in the app. ICLOUD SUPPORT Documents, clipart and page styles, can be stored in iCloud. FONTS Are the built-in fonts not interesting enough? Install extra Truetype fonts from sites like FontSquirrel and Blambot within the app. Features: • Layers • Pen tool with color and thickness • Marker tool for marking text in PDFs • Smooth pan and zoom • Split-view to see two parts of your documents at the same time • Bookmarks and search • Insert text, arrows, photos, rectangles, circles and polygons easily • Fill shapes with gradients and patterns • Area selection, for moving and resizing large areas of your note • Built-in icon library • PDF import and export (email or other accounts) • Install additional fonts (Truetype) • Various page styles and add your own. • Fullscreen mode • iCloud support SUBSCRIPTION Subscription removes watermark (on export) and enables lasso tool. All other features are part of free version. TERMS OF USE (EULA) Uses Apple's standard terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Pocket Note

Transform your device into a powerful business notepad. Quickly capture ideas with handwriting, typing, and rich media. Organize notes into groups and export them as images or PDFs for easy sharing and printing.

Highlights
  • Handwritten and typed input
  • Customizable pen sizes and colors
  • Paste photos and maps
  • Insert figures and lines
  • Export as image or PDF
  • Organize notes into groups
  • iCloud synchronization
Features
Read full description

Would you like to make your smartphone or tablet PC into a useful business tool?  Pocket Note is a notepad application specially designed for the business scene. With Pocket Note, you can quickly put your ideas together by a straightforward, simple operation. [Major functions] - We provided grid lines and horizontal ruled lines on the notepad to make it easier to organize what you write down.And when you don't need a grid or horizontal lines, you can choose "blank". - You can input either manually or from the keyboard (compatible with Apple Pencil).  For manual input, choose from 2 pens, "regular" or "thick", and an eraser.  For pen size and color, choose from 20 sizes and 25 colors. - You can paste up to 20 photos on each page. - You can paste maps.  With a map, you can do the following:   You can display your current position on the map using GPS.   By continuously pressing down at a given location on the map, you can place a pin at the location.   By inputting a name or address, you can place a pin at that location.   You can also specify the zoom factor as you wish. - By pasting figures and lines, you can display your notes graphically.  For figures, choose from rectangles, triangles or circles.  You can specify their size and shape freely.  Lines may be with or without arrows.  For figures and lines, choose from 25 different colors. - You can save your notes as an image or a PDF file. You can do the following:  Print them out with a printer.  Save them as images in iOS "Photos".  Attach them to emails as images or PDF files.  Share them as images with iCloud Photo Sharing.  Paste them as images in iOS standard "Notes".  Save them as PDF files in iOS standard "iBooks".  They can be uploaded as images to Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Evernote, Flickr, Line, etc.  (If these applications are installed. Also, if the application is compatible with iOS App Extensions, they can be uploaded as images.) - Notes can be organized into groups.  Several groups can be set for each note.  Notes can be displayed by group, or by modified date. - It's compatible with iCloud, so you can share your notes on your iPhone or iPad. - Compatible with Siri Shortcuts. You can use this application for free for 30 days. If you want to use this app from the 31th day onward, please watch the advertisement movie or make In-App Purchase. [Contact us] https://www.studioks.net/en/contact-us/ [Studio K's - Business Applications Maker] https://www.studioks.net/en/

Screenshots

Pen and Paper4 screens
Pocket Note4 screens

Verdict

The call

Pen and Paper and Pocket Note both sit at 4.4 stars, but that hides the real split: 70% of Pen and Paper's written reviews are positive against 33% of Pocket Note's. Pen and Paper also leads on ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (43 vs 14). Pocket Note's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15). On price, rating, update cadence 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Pen and Paper sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Pocket Note sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for Pen and Paper against 4.3 for Pocket Note. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 43 and 14 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 70% of Pen and Paper's written reviews are positive against 33% of Pocket Note's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pen and Paper ships an update every 5 weeks, Pocket Note every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Pen and Paper versus Pocket Note: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPen and PaperPocket Note
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (43 ratings) — better4.3 (14 ratings)
Positive reviews69.7% of reviews — better33.3% of reviews
Number of ratings43 — better14
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS1513.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size50 MB25 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperVivid AppsNAOAKI SEKIGUCHI

Customer experience

Pen and Paper

All ratings41 ratings
Positive80.5%
Neutral9.8%
Negative9.8%
Written reviews145 reviews
Positive69.7%
Neutral17.2%
Negative13.1%

Pocket Note

All ratings14 ratings
Positive78.6%
Neutral0.0%
Negative21.4%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral11.1%
Negative55.6%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Pen and Paper

One-time1
  • Pen and Paper PRO$7.99
1 purchases

Pocket Note

One-time1
  • Pocket Note License$3.99

Questions

Is Pen and Paper free?
Pen and Paper is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pocket Note free?
Pocket Note is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Pen and Paper or Pocket Note?
Pen and Paper is rated higher. Pen and Paper averages 4.4 out of 5 from 43 ratings, while Pocket Note averages 4.3 from 14 ratings.
Do Pen and Paper or Pocket Note have ads?
Pocket Note shows ads; Pen and Paper does not.
Which is updated more often, Pen and Paper or Pocket Note?
Pen and Paper ships an update every 5 weeks, and Pocket Note every 2 months. Most recently, Pen and Paper was updated on November 1, 2026 and Pocket Note on November 3, 2026.

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