Comparison

Penzu vs Gistleaf

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

Head to head
About

Penzu

This app provides a secure and private space for journaling, note-taking, and storing personal thoughts. It offers robust security features like password and PIN locks, encryption, and cloud syncing across devices. Users can also add photos and tags to their entries, making it a comprehensive digital diary.

Highlights
  • Unlimited journaling
  • Cloud sync for free
  • Password and PIN locks
  • Journal encryption
  • Add photos to entries
  • Search and tag entries
  • Offline writing
Read full description

*Used by over 1 million people around the world *Best free journal in any app store *Syncs to the web and other mobile platforms for free Penzu is the most popular free diary, journal and notepad. It’s the best place to keep your most private thoughts safe and secure. Sync your journals to Penzu where your notes are accessible from almost any device in the world. So simple and fun that you’ll leave your paper diary behind! FEATURES *Unlimited journaling *Sync journals with Penzu cloud for free *Customize your journal covers *Lock journals with a password *Encrypt your journals *Add photos *Lock app with a PIN *Search journals *Add tags *Write offline and more... WHY PENZU? Penzu is a diary and personal journal that is focused on privacy. With a unique and compelling user experience, it makes writing online as easy and intuitive as writing on a pad of paper. PRIVACY Your journal and your thoughts aren’t always meant to be shared — some things are supposed to be private! Use Penzu to jot down whatever you want. Then lock your journal with a password (or even encryption) so no one can read it but you! Furthermore, you can lock the entire app with a PIN in the event that someone gets access to your mobile device. PENZU Unlike other journal apps, Penzu has a web-based counterpart. So you can access your journals and diary from any web browser and other devices. Penzu is constantly being updated and improved so that the writing experience is effortless and reliable. SUBSCRIPTION INFO This app is free to download but requires a free Penzu account in order to start writing. Upgrading to Penzu Pro is available for a small monthly or yearly subscription. Your subscription will auto-renew unless you cancel manually. Monthly subscriptions are $4.99 USD and renew every month. Yearly subscriptions are $19.99 USD and renew every year. You can see our privacy policy here: http://penzu.com/m/privacy You can read our terms of use here: http://penzu.com/m/terms

About

Gistleaf

Features
Read full description

Say what's on your mind. Keep what matters. Tap Record and talk. Gistleaf turns the recording into text right on your iPhone; the audio never leaves the phone and is never stored. Then AI suggests a few highlights from the note, the sentences worth remembering, and you keep or skip each one. What you keep shows up on your Home Screen through widgets, one highlight at a time. WHAT YOU GET • Voice notes transcribed on the device, in the languages you speak. Pick the language before each recording. Recording and transcription work without a connection. • Typed notes for the moments you'd rather write. • AI highlights: a few suggestions per note. Keep, skip, edit, pin or write your own. • Today's highlights on your Home Screen with small, medium and large widgets. The small widget is a Record button. • Back up and sync, if you turn it on. Your notes follow you to a new phone and stay in step across devices. Off by default and free. • End-to-end encryption for synced notes, if you want it. Only your phones can read them; a recovery key or a code scanned from your other phone brings a new phone in. • Sign in with Apple or Google. No password to remember. • No tracking. No analytics, no ads, no third-party trackers. ABOUT AI HIGHLIGHTS Highlights are suggestions an AI model makes from the text of a note. They are a starting point, not a summary to rely on: the model can miss the point or pick the wrong sentence, and you decide what stays. The text of a note is sent for this only after you agree in the app and only while AI highlights is on. Recordings are never sent. FREE AND PREMIUM Gistleaf is free to install and free to use: notes, on-device transcription, widgets and sync are included, with 10 AI extractions a month. Premium raises that to 200 a month. It is an auto-renewing subscription, weekly, monthly or annual. The annual plan starts with a 7-day free trial for new subscribers; the price and the day you would first be charged are shown in the app before you buy, and everything is billed through the App Store. Support: https://apps.ailancer.com/gistleaf/support.html Privacy Policy: https://apps.ailancer.com/gistleaf/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://apps.ailancer.com/gistleaf/terms.html

Screenshots

Penzu4 screens
Gistleaf4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Gistleaf at every 3 days against Penzu's weekly. Penzu's advantage is iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. Penzu sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Gistleaf sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Penzu ships an update weekly, Gistleaf every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Penzu versus Gistleaf: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPenzuGistleaf
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (2.5K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews52.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings2.5K — better—
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size62 MB14 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperPenzu Inc.Ailancer

Bugs and requests

Penzu

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Keyboard disappearing during use
  • Entries not saving or syncing properly
  • Inability to access account after updates

Requested features

4 requests
  • More customization options for fonts, themes, and layouts
  • Ability to export/backup journal entries
  • Improved mobile app stability and features
  • Better customer support and communication

Gistleaf

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Penzu

Subscriptions2
  • Penzu Pro Subscription$4.991 Month
  • Penzu Pro Subscription$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Penzu Pro Upgrade$18.99
3 purchases

Gistleaf

Subscriptions3
  • Premium Weekly$2.997 Days
  • Premium Monthly$7.991 Month
  • Premium Annual7 Days trial$44.991 Year

Questions

Is Penzu free?
Penzu is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Gistleaf free?
Gistleaf is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Penzu or Gistleaf have ads?
Neither Penzu nor Gistleaf shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Penzu or Gistleaf?
Penzu ships an update weekly, and Gistleaf every 3 days. Most recently, Penzu was updated on October 17, 2026 and Gistleaf on October 13, 2026.

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