Comparison

Pencil vs NoryaNotes

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

Head to head
About

Pencil

This app allows users to handwrite, sketch, and annotate PDFs on their iPad and iPhone. It supports Apple Pencil and other styluses for note-taking, drawing, and even watercolor painting. Features include audio recording within notes and AI assistance for summarizing and translation.

Highlights
  • Handwrite and sketch with stylus or finger
  • Annotate and mark up PDFs
  • Record audio directly in notes
  • Create formatted text notes
  • Watercolor painting workspace
  • Scan and import documents
  • AI assistance for summaries and translation
Features
Read full description

Pencil brings handwriting, sketching, PDF annotation and watercolor painting to iPad and iPhone. Designed especially for Apple Pencil on iPad, it also works with other compatible styluses and your finger. Take notes in class, mark up a document, plan your week or paint an idea while it is still fresh. • Write and sketch your way. Use Apple Pencil on iPad, or write and draw with a compatible stylus or your finger on iPad and iPhone. Start a PDF note from a paper template, choose your ink colors and add typed text, images and shapes. Use lined or grid backgrounds to give your notes structure. • Make your PDFs useful. Highlight passages, add comments, write in the margins and insert your signature. Search inside a document, bookmark important pages and rearrange, duplicate or rotate pages as your work develops. • Keep the conversation with your notes. Record audio directly in a PDF note and play it back alongside the page. Revisit a lecture, meeting or explanation without separating the recording from your written notes. • Type when words come first. Create formatted Text Notes with fonts, colors, lists, checklists, tables and images. Turn a quick thought into a clear set of notes, a plan or a longer draft, then export it as a PDF to share. • Explore watercolor painting. Open a dedicated painting workspace, choose your paper and experiment with brushes, mixed colors and washes. Paint from a reference photo, try guided practice lessons and export your painting as an image or PDF. • Bring paper into your notebook. Scan documents with the camera, import files through the Files app and add photos to your work. Keep notes, PDFs and paintings organized in folders, ready to return to when you need them. • Get help from AI. Ask questions about your documents, summarize a passage, explain an unfamiliar concept or translate selected text. Use AI Chat to work through an idea alongside your notes. Privacy Policy: https://www.noteswriter.com/Kairoos_Privacy_Policy.html Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

NoryaNotes

Features
Read full description

NoryaNotes is an iPad app designed to organize work, study, and personal ideas in clear, independent, easy-to-maintain spaces. It's not just a notes app. It's a way to give every part of your life its own place. Create a space for each team, project, subject, or personal area. Inside each space you can gather notebooks, tasks, canvas, diary, and documents — without mixing contexts or losing important information in one general list. Built for writing by hand, organizing notes, preparing meetings, sketching diagrams, annotating PDFs, and shaping ideas with a thoughtful, visual, and private experience. What you can do with NoryaNotes: • Create independent spaces for teams, projects, subjects, or personal areas. • Organize notebooks inside each space, with 15 cover designs to choose from. • Write by hand or with the keyboard on dotted, lined, and other page templates. • Add stickers inside notebook pages to personalize notes, ideas, or plans. • Manage tasks with priorities, due dates, categories, and story points. • Use a free canvas with shapes (rectangle, ellipse, diamond, arrows, text) for diagrams, brainstorming, and visual planning. • Keep a personal diary with mood tracking, tags, and monthly calendar view. • Transcribe your voice into text instantly, right inside your notebook. • Annotate and organize PDF documents. • Keep your content synced across your devices with full privacy. NoryaNotes is made for professionals who manage teams, meetings, and decisions; students who want to organize subjects, notes, and tasks; and anyone who thinks better by writing, drawing, and giving every idea its own place. The app was born from a real need: finding a tool that didn't mix work, study, personal ideas, and tasks in the same place. A tool that lets you create separate contexts, write naturally, plan clearly, and keep the feeling of a well-cared notebook — with the power of a digital environment. With NoryaNotes you can organize your day without losing your calm: every team, subject, project, or idea has its space; every notebook has its place; every task lives where it truly belongs. Think better. Work with calm.

Screenshots

Pencil4 screens
NoryaNotes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: NoryaNotes at 17.0 against Pencil's 26.0. On price, update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Pencil sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days and NoryaNotes sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Pencil versus NoryaNotes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPencilNoryaNotes
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (4 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews25.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings4 — better—
Update frequencyWeeklyWeekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size511 MB15 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperKairoos Solutions SLYolanda Fernandez Fernandez-Pacheco

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Pencil

Subscriptions3
  • Weekly$1.997 Days
  • Unlock All and AI Assistant3 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Pencil Annual3 Days trial$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Pencil Lifetime$14.99
1 purchases

NoryaNotes

One-time1
  • NoryaNotes Pro$3.99

Questions

Is Pencil free?
Pencil is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is NoryaNotes free?
NoryaNotes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Pencil or NoryaNotes have ads?
Neither Pencil nor NoryaNotes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pencil or NoryaNotes?
Pencil ships an update weekly, and NoryaNotes weekly. Most recently, Pencil was updated on November 3, 2026 and NoryaNotes on October 28, 2026.

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