# Pencil vs CanvasNote

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: CanvasNote at 15.0 against Pencil's 26.0. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Pencil sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and CanvasNote sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Pencil ships an update every 8 days, CanvasNote every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Pencil | CanvasNote |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.0 (4 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pencil-pdf-notes-with-pencil/id6466286421/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **4** | — |
| Positive reviews | 25.0% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 8 days | **Every 5 days** |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Size | 465 MB | 44 MB |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | **15.0** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad** | iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Kairoos Solutions SL](https://appshunter.io/developer/978066434) | [Nicolai Kummer](https://appshunter.io/developer/1497635656) |

## What reviewers say

### Pencil

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pencil-pdf-notes-with-pencil/id6466286421)

Create beautiful notes, sketch ideas, and annotate PDFs with advanced ink tools and AI assistance. Convert handwriting to text, scan documents, and organize files seamlessly across cloud services. Enjoy a realistic ink-on-paper feel with stylus support.

**Highlights:** Advanced ink tools for writing and sketching, AI Assistant for summarization and translation, Handwritten notes to editable text conversion, Document scanning with automatic frame recognition, Cloud service integration for file management, Full-text search for PDFs, PDF reader with highlighting and read aloud

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Unlock All and AI Assistant | $2.99 | per month |
| GoodPencil Upgrade | $3.99 | one-time |


### CanvasNote

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/canvasnote/id6469690776)

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Unlock Full Version | $1.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Pencil free?

Pencil is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is CanvasNote free?

CanvasNote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Do Pencil or CanvasNote have ads?

Neither Pencil nor CanvasNote shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Pencil or CanvasNote?

Pencil ships an update every 8 days, and CanvasNote every 5 days. Most recently, Pencil was updated on October 11, 2026 and CanvasNote on October 1, 2026.

---

*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*