Comparison

Pen and Paper vs Preview

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

Preview

Streamline your workflow with tools to create, edit, annotate, and export PDFs and images. Easily access files, scan documents, and make quick edits with Apple Pencil support. Export your work in various formats with customizable resolution and size options.

Highlights
  • Create and edit PDFs
  • Annotate and markup documents
  • Scan documents with camera
  • Edit images
  • Export in multiple formats
  • AutoFill PDF forms
Read full description

Preview makes working with PDFs and images easier than ever, with built-in tools to create, edit, annotate, markup, and export. Access & Scan PDFs Easily find and access all the PDFs and images you have saved in the Files app right from Preview. Or use your camera to quickly scan multiple pages of a document and save it as a PDF. Edit PDFs Markup your PDFs with Apple Pencil on iPad, resize them, or rotate them. You can also use AutoFill to quickly fill out PDF forms with your contact information and details in an instant. Work with Images Create a new image with Apple Pencil on iPad or from images in your clipboard. You can also crop, flip, rotate, and resize images. Export with Ease Export images and PDFs as different file types like HEIC, JPEG, JPEG-2000, PDFs, PNGs, or TIFF. And adjust your exports with different options for resolution and size.

Screenshots

Pen and Paper4 screens
Preview4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Pen and Paper at 70% against Preview's 7%. Pen and Paper also leads on rating (4.4 vs 1.9) and update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 3 months). Preview's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and ratings volume (1.9K vs 41). On price and ads 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 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Preview asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pen and Paper holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 1.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Preview has 1.9K ratings behind it against 41, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 70% of Pen and Paper's written reviews are positive against 7% of Preview's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pen and Paper ships an update every 5 weeks, Preview every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Pen and Paper versus Preview: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPen and PaperPreview
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (41 ratings) — better1.9 (1.9K ratings)
Positive reviews70.5% of reviews — better7.4% of reviews
Number of ratings411.9K — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeks — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size50 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperVivid AppsApple

Customer experience

Pen and Paper

All ratings41 ratings
Positive80.5%
Neutral9.8%
Negative9.8%
Written reviews122 reviews
Positive70.5%
Neutral18.0%
Negative11.5%

Preview

All ratings1,875 ratings
Positive19.7%
Neutral4.3%
Negative76.0%
Written reviews1,023 reviews
Positive7.4%
Neutral3.0%
Negative89.5%

Bugs and requests

Pen and Paper

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Preview

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Black screen issues
  • Inability to preview certain file types
  • Inconsistent behavior when opening files

Requested features

3 requests
  • Integrate with Files app
  • Add support for more file types
  • Improve PDF editing capabilities

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Pen and Paper

Subscriptions2
  • Pen and Paper PRO monthly$0.991 Month
  • Pen and Paper PRO$5.991 Year
One-time1
  • Pen and Paper PRO$7.99
None

Preview

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pen and Paper free?
Pen and Paper is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Preview free?
Preview is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pen and Paper or Preview?
Pen and Paper is rated higher. Pen and Paper averages 4.4 out of 5 from 41 ratings, while Preview averages 1.9 from 1.9K ratings.
Do Pen and Paper or Preview have ads?
Neither Pen and Paper nor Preview shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pen and Paper or Preview?
Pen and Paper ships an update every 5 weeks, and Preview every 3 months. Most recently, Pen and Paper was updated on September 22, 2026 and Preview on September 25, 2026.

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