Pen and Paper vs SmartDocs Library
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Handwritten notes and drawings
- PDF import and annotation
- Text and shape insertion
- Zoom and split view
- Layer management
- Custom font installation
- PDF export
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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/
SmartDocs Library
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Our Mission: Organize your documents, save you time. SmartDocs Library turns folders you choose into organized document libraries. An Inbox centered workflow let's you scan documents, import files, or share them from other apps. SmartDocs helps you review each document, extract searchable text, add dates, tags, move it into the right folder, and give it a reasonable filename. SmartDocs works around folders you control. Your documents stay in your selected locations, while SmartDocs adds the structure, metadata, search, and workflow you need to make them useful. Main Features: - Turn any folder into a managed document library with full control over your files - Quickly scan, import, and share files from other apps into a focused Inbox - Extract searchable text with OCR and text processing - Add titles, dates, tags, notes, and custom fields - Use folder policies for smart file naming, retention, archive, and trash - Follow-up on important documents with notifications - Organize multiple libraries - Automate scanning and imports with Shortcuts - Works across iPhone, iPad and Mac Built for personal admin, freelancers, and anyone who wants documents filed properly instead of scattered across downloads, messages, and random folders. -- End-User License Agreement: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: SmartDocs Library at daily against Pen and Paper's every 5 weeks. Pen and Paper's advantage is device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (15 vs 17.0). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Pen and Paper sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and SmartDocs Library sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Pen and Paper ships an update every 5 weeks, SmartDocs Library daily. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Pen and Paper | SmartDocs Library |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (43 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 69.7% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 43 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks | Daily — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 50 MB | 17 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Vivid Apps | Thies Harm Landsberger |
In-app purchases
Pen and Paper
- Pen and Paper PRO$7.99
SmartDocs Library
- SmartDocs Library Pro Monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
- Smart Docs Library Pro Yearly7 Days trial$17.991 Year
- Small Coffee$1.99
- Medium Coffee$3.99
- Large Coffee$5.99
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- Small Meal$7.99
- Healthy Meal$12.99
- 1kg Coffee$22.99
- SmartDocs Pro$49.99
Questions
Is Pen and Paper free?
Is SmartDocs Library free?
Do Pen and Paper or SmartDocs Library have ads?
Which is updated more often, Pen and Paper or SmartDocs Library?
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