Comparison

Penjo vs Oriora Journal

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 combines journaling, planning, and note-taking with a pencil-first interface. It offers powerful handwriting search, creative image tools, and seamless integration with calendars and reminders. Organize your thoughts and tasks with flexible layouts and personalized tools.

Highlights
  • Pencil-first writing and sketching
  • Handwriting search and text conversion
  • Calendar and reminders integration
  • Creative image editing tools
  • Customizable pen and tool picker
  • Flexible page layouts
  • iCloud sync across devices
Features
Read full description

Plan forward. Reflect backward. Create freely. Penjo is an Apple Pencil-first digital planner, journal, and diary for iPad and iPhone. Write freely on a clean page every day—backed by seamless Apple Calendar & Reminders integration, Apple Journaling Suggestions, and on-device handwriting search. Why Penjo? PLAN & ORGANIZE • Calendar & Reminders: Check today at a glance and stay on schedule with full Apple Calendar integration (including Google and Exchange sync). • Views that fit your routine: Flip through an entire year in one tap to spot patterns. Manage your schedule in Month and Week modes, or focus on today’s daily spread. • Private & Synced: Lock your thoughts and daily reflections behind Face ID / Touch ID. iCloud keeps your iPad, iPhone, Mac, and Vision Pro perfectly in sync. REFLECT & CREATE • Apple Pencil first: Write, sketch, and annotate natively. Build a custom toolset for daily note-taking, capture ideas instantly, and let Penjo auto-straighten your drawn lines. • Apple Journaling Suggestions: Relive your days with rich context. Privately add suggestions based on your photos, or use guided reflections as gratitude prompts. • Unrestricted canvas: Edit photos on the page, remove backgrounds, add space dynamically, and choose from dot, grid, or lined paper. FIND, REUSE & SHARE • Handwriting Search: On-device text recognition lets you instantly search your handwriting and image text. Never lose a brilliant idea again. • Native File Sharing: Export class notes or custom planner layouts as .penjo files. Friends, colleagues, or classmates can import them in one tap to reuse your templates or notes in their own journals. • Reusable Templates: Duplicate or move any sheet to another day, making it effortless to reuse your favorite custom digital notebook layouts. • Access & Export: Jump to today with Home Screen Widgets, or save pages and full journals as PDFs to archive, print, or share. Take Penjo Everywhere Penjo Unlimited keeps all your journals, notes, and templates perfectly in sync across your iPad, iPhone, Mac, and Vision Pro. Share custom .penjo layouts, unlock unlimited journals, access full calendar integration, and export pages to PDF. Family Sharing is available on monthly plans. Every day is a blank page. Make it yours. Questions? Every message gets a personal reply. support@penjoapp.com • penjoapp.com Privacy Policy: https://penjoapp.com/penjoappprivacy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Oriora Journal

Features
Read full description

A quiet place to write every day — and a journal that stays yours. TODAY'S PAGE The app opens on the day, not on a dashboard. A fresh prompt each morning if you want one, the date as the heading, and your mood signed at the foot of the page. LOOK BACK THROUGH IT • Search everything you have ever written. The search runs on this device — the words never leave it. • A calendar of your months: the days you wrote are marked by your mood, or by the photo you attached that day. • Trends: how the months have gone, worked out from your own entries. No AI call, nothing sent. • Tags you choose, and the weather where you wrote, if you want them. • "On this day" brings back what you wrote a year ago. YOURS TO KEEP Save the whole journal as Markdown or plain text at any time — readable, printable, and yours. Back up to your OWN GitHub or Google Drive; restore on another device whenever you choose. There is no subscription that can lapse and take your writing with it. A WEEKLY REFLECTION, WITHOUT READING YOUR WORDS Once a week you can ask for a gentle reflection on how your writing is going. It is built only from WHEN you wrote, how often, and how long — never from the text itself. ASK IT, OR SAY IT Write by talking: start a live call and speak the day's page, or type it as always. You can also ask your own journal a question — "what was I worried about in March?" — and it answers from your entries. That is the one thing that sends your writing: only when you ask for it, only the entries needed to answer, and Oriora doesn't retain it. It can also keep a note, or the conversation itself, in your own GitHub or Google Drive. WHAT THE APP KNOWS Your entries and photos live on this device. Location is only ever read if you tap "Add weather", is rounded to about a kilometre, and stays with the entry on your phone — it is never sent to Oriora, and never to the AI. You sign in once with your Oriora account; AI features are billed from your Oriora wallet. No ads, no tracking, no subscription. — Built by Oriora Labs · orioralabs.com

Screenshots

Penjo4 screens
Oriora Journal4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Oriora Journal at every 5 days against Penjo's every 2 weeks. Oriora Journal also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). 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. Penjo sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Oriora Journal sells 8 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Penjo ships an update every 2 weeks, Oriora Journal every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Penjo versus Oriora Journal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPenjoOriora Journal
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (274 ratings) — better
Positive reviews76.5% of reviews
Number of ratings274 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Vision ProiPhone, iPod, Mac
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size21 MB15 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperZafer ARICANOrioralabs OU

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

Oriora Journal

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
8 purchases

Oriora Journal

One-time8
  • $20 Oriora Credit$23.90
  • $30 Oriora Credit$35.49
  • $50 Oriora Credit$58.90
Show 5 more
  • $80 Oriora Credit$94.90
  • $100 Oriora Credit$117.99
  • $150 Oriora Credit$176.99
  • $200 Oriora Credit$239.00
  • $250 Oriora Credit$294.99

Questions

Is Penjo free?
Penjo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Oriora Journal free?
Oriora Journal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Penjo or Oriora Journal have ads?
Neither Penjo nor Oriora Journal shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Penjo or Oriora Journal?
Penjo ships an update every 2 weeks, and Oriora Journal every 5 days. Most recently, Penjo was updated on September 23, 2026 and Oriora Journal on September 12, 2026.

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