Comparison

Pen and Paper vs Loose Leaf

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

Loose Leaf

Capture your thoughts, sketches, and ideas with an intuitive digital notebook. Offers unlimited pages, customizable templates, and easy import/export options. Its simple interface mimics the feel of pen and paper for effortless creativity.

Highlights
  • Unlimited pages
  • Customizable templates
  • Image and PDF import
  • Moveable scraps with scissors tool
  • Ruler and protractor tool
  • Sidebar scrap drawer
  • Export and share options
Read full description

Loose Leaf is great for notes, sketches, ideas, and more! Watch the video and find out more: https://getlooseleaf.com FEATURES • Unlimited pages • Templates! Blank, lined, grid, and more! • Easy image and PDF import • As easy as pen and paper • Scissors create moveable scraps • Ruler / protractor tool for simple shapes • Sidebar scrap drawer • Export and share ideas via major social networks • Send pages quickly to other apps • Share pages to your contacts in Loose Leaf • Simple two-finger gesture page navigation EASY TO USE 1 finger to draw, erase, or cut 2 fingers to move and navigate NO HIDDEN COSTS • No in app purchases • No subscriptions • No settings TRANSLATE Want Loose Leaf in your language? Help us translate it at http://bit.ly/translate-looseleaf ! If you have any questions or suggestions, you can always send us an email at hello@getlooseleaf.com or reach out to @getlooseleaf.

Screenshots

Pen and Paper4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Loose Leaf at none against Pen and Paper's 1. Loose Leaf also leads on iOS requirement (10.0 vs 15). Pen and Paper's advantage is rating (4.4 vs 4.1) and device support (4 vs 1). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and update cadence 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. Loose Leaf asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pen and Paper holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 43 and 58 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 70% of Pen and Paper's written reviews are positive against 68% of Loose Leaf's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pen and Paper ships an update every 5 weeks, Loose Leaf every 2 months. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Pen and Paper versus Loose Leaf: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPen and PaperLoose Leaf
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (43 ratings) — better4.1 (58 ratings)
Positive reviews69.7% of reviews — better67.9% of reviews
Number of ratings4358 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPad
Requires iOS1510.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size50 MB60 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperVivid AppsMilestone Made, LLC

Customer experience

Pen and Paper

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

Loose Leaf

All ratings57 ratings
Positive77.2%
Neutral8.8%
Negative14.0%
Written reviews53 reviews
Positive67.9%
Neutral5.7%
Negative26.4%

Bugs and requests

Pen and Paper

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Loose Leaf

Reported bugs

16 issues
  • Does not rotate to landscape view
  • Sidebar makes writing difficult on the left
  • Cannot insert text box
  • Cannot crop pictures
  • No way to delete projects
Show 11 more
  • No way out of current project
  • Biased against left-handed users
  • Issues importing photos from library
  • PDFs not imported directly from app
  • Low resolution import for photos
  • Appends advertisements even after purchase
  • Freezes up for long periods
  • Control buttons unresponsive or delayed
  • Crashes during startup
  • Cannot change pen size
  • Slow execution on older devices

Requested features

14 requests
  • Adjustable eraser size
  • RGB color selector for pencil
  • PDF as paper template
  • Text box insertion
  • Crop pictures in square/rectangle
Show 9 more
  • Day timer sheet offerings
  • Zooming for writing/drawing
  • Export selected pages
  • Landscape mode
  • More colors
  • EPUB import
  • Implement text input
  • iPhone version
  • Albums feature

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Pen and Paper

One-time1
  • Pen and Paper PRO$7.99
None

Loose Leaf

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pen and Paper free?
Pen and Paper is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Loose Leaf free?
Loose Leaf is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pen and Paper or Loose Leaf?
Pen and Paper is rated higher. Pen and Paper averages 4.4 out of 5 from 43 ratings, while Loose Leaf averages 4.1 from 58 ratings.
Do Pen and Paper or Loose Leaf have ads?
Neither Pen and Paper nor Loose Leaf shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pen and Paper or Loose Leaf?
Pen and Paper ships an update every 5 weeks, and Loose Leaf every 2 months. Most recently, Pen and Paper was updated on November 1, 2026 and Loose Leaf on November 1, 2026.

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