Comparison

Penjo vs Beararoo

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

Head to head
About

Penjo

This app allows you to handwrite notes, sketches, and plans digitally. Integrate your calendar events and reminders, then use your notes and photos to create a daily diary. Search your handwritten entries and synced across your Apple devices.

Highlights
  • Handwritten notes and sketches
  • Apple Calendar and Reminders integration
  • iCloud sync across devices
  • Handwriting search
  • Customizable journal appearance
  • Photo editing and manipulation
  • PDF export
Features
Read full description

Penjo is a digital journal and planner you write by hand. In the morning, today's page shows your Apple Calendar events and reminders, and you plan around them with Apple Pencil or your finger. By evening, the same page is your diary, with notes, sketches and photos of the day, and iCloud keeps it on your iPad, iPhone and Mac. Later, search finds the words you wrote, even in your handwriting. In September 2026, the App Store featured Penjo in "Make the Most of Apple Pencil" in 173 countries. PLAN WITH YOUR CALENDAR • See your Apple Calendar events and Apple Reminders on the day page and in the week and month views, including Google and Exchange calendars. Add, edit and complete them without leaving Penjo. • Reminders you haven't finished from earlier days appear under Overdue on today's page. • On iPad and Mac, the day drawer keeps the day's plans beside your page as you move from day to day. • See your week at a glance, with each day's page and plans. The month page is a canvas too, for a habit tracker or a mood chart. MAKE IT YOURS • Give each journal its own look: 18 cover colors, 20 paper colors, and blank, lined, grid or dotted paper in different spacings. • Use Day Mode for a page every day, or List Mode for occasional notes, class notes, trips or scrapbooks. • Choose fonts and colors for your text, set up your own Apple Pencil tool palette, and pick light or dark. WRITE YOUR DAY • Every page starts blank on the paper you chose, and you decide what goes where. Add more pages to a day when you need them. • Penjo can straighten the lines you draw, and you can scribble over words to erase them. • Photos: remove the background, add a sticker effect or an instant photo frame, flip a photo or clip it to a shape, right on the page. Add text boxes, shapes and maps too. • Add moments from your day and gratitude prompts with Journaling Suggestions, and use Writing Tools and Image Playground on supported devices. SYNCED AND PRIVATE • iCloud keeps your journals in sync on iPad, iPhone, Mac and Apple Vision Pro. They stay in your own iCloud, and we never see what you write. • Lock the app or a single journal with Face ID, Touch ID or your device passcode. • Export a day, week or month as a PDF, or back up and transfer whole journals as .penjo files. LOOK BACK • Search also finds the text in your photos, with text recognition on your device. • On This Day shows what you wrote on the same date in earlier years. READY FOR THE NEWEST APPLE DEVICES • The Liquid Glass design on iOS 26, iPadOS 26 and later, in your journal's colors. • iPhone Duo: open it like a book, with the page on one side and the day's events and reminders on the other, or set it half open on a table and write on the flat half. Fold it shut and the journal closes. • Home Screen widgets, and Penjo in 22 languages. FREE AND UNLIMITED Penjo is free to start, with no account to create: 3 journals and 14 day pages in each. Penjo Unlimited adds Apple Calendar and Reminders, iCloud sync, unlimited journals and pages, app and journal locks, PDF export and .penjo backups, on all your devices. Choose a monthly or yearly subscription, or pay once with Lifetime. Family Sharing is available on the monthly plan. Questions? Every message gets a personal reply. support@penjoapp.com Privacy Policy: https://penjoapp.com/privacy-policy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Beararoo

This app offers a comforting digital space for children experiencing overwhelm. It provides tools for emotional check-ins, a calm zone with soothing sounds and breathing exercises, and gentle games to improve focus. A daily routine tracker and an "I Need Help" feature offer additional support.

Highlights
  • Emotional check-ins with reassuring messages
  • Calm Zone with soothing sounds and guided breathing
  • Gentle, untimed brain games for focus
  • Daily routine tracker with rewards
  • Instant "I Need Help" support feature
Features
Read full description

Beararoo is a gentle, friendly companion for kids who sometimes feel overwhelmed and need a calm place to land. With Beararoo, kids can: - Check in with their feelings and get a kind, reassuring message back - Visit the Calm Zone for soothing sounds, guided breathing, and a quiet space - Play gentle brain games that help with focus — never timed, never punishing - Follow a simple daily routine and earn stars along the way - Tap "I Need Help" anytime for a calm, supportive moment Beararoo is designed to be warm, simple, and pressure-free. There are no accounts, no ads, and no data collected — just a friendly bear ready to help. Beararoo Plus unlocks all calming sounds, all brain games, the daily routine tracker, and rewards with a one-time purchase. Core wellbeing features are always free. Beararoo is a supportive companion, not a medical or therapeutic tool.

Screenshots

Penjo4 screens
Beararoo4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Penjo at 281 against Beararoo's 1. Beararoo's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Penjo sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Beararoo 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

Beararoo holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Penjo has 281 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Penjo versus Beararoo: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPenjoBeararoo
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (281 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews73.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings281 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 11 days—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size30 MB10 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZafer ARICANBrandon Supernaw

Bugs and requests

Penjo

Reported bugs

13 issues
  • Cloud sync not working across devices despite paid subscription
  • App crashes when using photo effects
  • Calendar not syncing or displaying properly
  • Notebooks disappearing or becoming unopenable
  • Text boxes misaligning after app closure
Show 8 more
  • Bluetooth keyboard text appearing at bottom of screen
  • Restore purchases button non-functional
  • iCloud sync not automatic despite being enabled
  • Family sharing not working on secondary Apple IDs
  • Support page returning 404 errors
  • Forced app updates without user consent
  • Text selection tools unreliable on mobile devices
  • Photo shape cutting requires specific upload order

Requested features

24 requests
  • Dark mode or black background option
  • Screen lock/page lock to prevent accidental writing
  • Apple Pencil advanced features (highlighter, squeeze, double-tap)
  • Text formatting options (resize, color change for selected text)
  • More page layout templates and line spacing options
Show 19 more
  • Ability to convert handwriting to text
  • Stickers and decorative elements for journaling
  • Bullet point and to-do list functionality
  • Google Drive and Google Tasks integration
  • PDF annotation and file linking capabilities
  • Folder and subfolder organization system
  • Non-calendar-based notebook organization
  • Weekly and monthly view options
  • Automatic page creation at 50% capacity
  • Customizable default text preferences
  • Straight line drawing tool (like Procreate)
  • Voice memo support
  • Outlook calendar integration
  • Book-style page turning interface
  • Habit tracker and monthly review templates
  • Daily prompt suggestions for journaling
  • Emoji and motivational sticker packs
  • Page thumbnails and quick navigation
  • Hyperlinked navigation tabs

Beararoo

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Penjo

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Subscription$2.991 Month
  • Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Pro Lifetime$39.99
1 purchases

Beararoo

One-time1
  • Beararoo Plus$4.99

Questions

Is Penjo free?
Penjo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Beararoo free?
Beararoo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Penjo or Beararoo?
Beararoo is rated higher. Penjo averages 4.7 out of 5 from 281 ratings, while Beararoo averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Penjo or Beararoo have ads?
Neither Penjo nor Beararoo shows ads.

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