Comparison

Paint Notes vs Penmo+ Quiet Writing Notebook

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

Head to head
About

Paint Notes

Features
Read full description

Paint Notes replaces paper notebooks, providing a brand new electronic note taking experience. -Supports handwriting and text input, and can also add images, stickers, and graffiti. -Multiple types of paper can be selected with just one click, making it more convenient and concise to use. -Importing PDF is convenient for browsing, and you can make annotations and notes according to your needs. -Supports iPad, combined with Apple Pence, allows for free adjustment and performance. -Customize brush colors, thickness, and unleash unlimited creative potential. -Paperless management, which used to require a pile of paper notebooks to achieve sorting effects, can now be easily implemented on electronic apps. -Put notes in a folder, organize them in an orderly manner, and categorize and organize them according to projects, courses, or themes to keep them tidy -The powerful search function makes it easy to find notes from a long time ago. More features are continuously improving, and your support is our driving force!!!

About

Penmo+ Quiet Writing Notebook

A distraction-free writing application designed for authors and journalers. It offers a clean editor, organizational tools for novels and notes, and features like draft history and full-text search. The app supports vertical writing and provides a dedicated reading mode.

Highlights
  • Distraction-free editor
  • Novel and note organization
  • Draft history
  • Vertical writing and ruby support
  • Dedicated reading mode
  • Writing progress heatmap
  • Offline functionality
  • Plain-text export
Features
Read full description

You open your notes to write, and end up fiddling with menus, sync errors and formatting instead. Penmo+ gives you a quiet page and nothing else, so the words come first — and a small daily record keeps you coming back tomorrow. Novels, scripts, worldbuilding, notes, ideas, journals — keep all your writing in one notebook. ■ Focus on writing A clean, text-first editor with no clutter. Focus Mode strips everything but your words. Auto-save lets you lose yourself in writing, with a quiet cue so you never wonder if it saved. Adjust the font size and line spacing to taste. Draft history keeps your earlier versions, so you can rewrite without fear. ■ Organize your work Series → Episodes → Chapters, from long novels to short shorts. Reorder episodes and chapters by drag. ■ Vertical writing & ruby Preview your text in traditional vertical writing (tategaki). Ruby / furigana notation (|kanji《reading》) is supported. ■ A "Read" tab, just for reading A place to revisit your work, separate from writing. Pick an episode from your library and read it as one continuous, vertical flow across chapters. The reading font size is adjustable, separately from writing. ■ See your writing, every day A GitHub-style heatmap shows how much you write at a glance. Streaks, a daily goal and a gentle reminder keep you going. ■ Pick up where you left off Tap "Continue writing" to jump straight back to your last chapter. ■ Take your words anywhere Full-text search, plain-text (.txt) export, and full backup & restore. ■ Made your way A warm, paper-like light mode and a calm dark mode for night writing. Follows the system, or switch it manually. ■ Works offline Everything is stored on your iPhone. Write anytime, anywhere — no connection needed. ■ For those who write even more — Penmo+ Pro (one-time purchase) - Export beautiful vertical-writing PDFs with ruby - Export EPUB e-books (vertical writing, ruby) - Automatic daily iCloud backup - Unlimited draft history - Extra body fonts (gothic / rounded gothic) Choose monthly, yearly, or a one-time purchase. The one-time purchase is yours forever. All core features stay free, with no ads. Penmo+ is a quiet writing tool, like a fountain pen. A notebook you'll want to open every day. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://fillapps.com/privacy/

Screenshots

Paint Notes3 screens
Penmo+ Quiet Writing Notebook4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Paint Notes at none against Penmo+ Quiet Writing Notebook's 3. Penmo+ Quiet Writing Notebook's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs weekly). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Penmo+ Quiet Writing Notebook sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Paint Notes asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Paint Notes ships an update weekly, Penmo+ Quiet Writing Notebook every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 6 level
Paint Notes versus Penmo+ Quiet Writing Notebook: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPaint NotesPenmo+ Quiet Writing Notebook
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviews—92.9% of reviews
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
Monetization—Freemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size36 MB60 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer香屏 许Seiya.k

In-app purchases

None

Paint Notes

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Penmo+ Quiet Writing Notebook

Subscriptions2
  • Penmo+ Pro (Monthly)$0.991 Month
  • Penmo+ Pro (Yearly)$3.991 Year
One-time1
  • Penmo+ Pro (Lifetime)$5.99

Questions

Is Paint Notes free?
Paint Notes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Penmo+ Quiet Writing Notebook free?
Penmo+ Quiet Writing Notebook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Paint Notes or Penmo+ Quiet Writing Notebook have ads?
Neither Paint Notes nor Penmo+ Quiet Writing Notebook shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Paint Notes or Penmo+ Quiet Writing Notebook?
Paint Notes ships an update weekly, and Penmo+ Quiet Writing Notebook every 3 days. Most recently, Paint Notes was updated on September 27, 2026 and Penmo+ Quiet Writing Notebook on October 12, 2026.

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