# AI Notebook vs PenPro

The clearest difference is ads: PenPro at none against AI Notebook's shown. AI Notebook's advantage is device support (5 vs 2) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). On price, update cadence and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. AI Notebook sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per 7 days and PenPro sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

AI Notebook ships an update every 9 days, PenPro weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | AI Notebook | PenPro |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.6 (193 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ai-notebook-smart-note-taker/id6737346766/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **193** | — |
| Positive reviews | 45.6% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days | **Weekly** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Size | 127 MB | 26 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.0** | 26.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple Watch** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | +4 | 4+ |
| Developer | [APTE Ltd](https://appshunter.io/developer/1675202009) | [HADRIAN TECHNOLOGIES](https://appshunter.io/developer/6826627718) |

## What reviewers say

### AI Notebook

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ai-notebook-smart-note-taker/id6737346766)

Transform your notes into actionable content. Record lectures, upload documents, or link web content to generate summaries, quizzes, and even podcasts. Ask AI questions about your materials to deepen understanding and create study guides or meeting minutes.

**Highlights:** Summarize documents, PDFs, videos, and web pages, Chat with your content to clarify concepts, Record and transcribe audio with speaker identification, Generate podcasts, infographics, and slides, Create study guides, quizzes, and flashcards, Organize notes with folders and search functionality

**Features:** Apple Watch app, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (10)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Weekly | $9.99 | per 7 days |
| Yearly | $39.99 | per year |
| Yearly | $69.99 | per year |
| Yearly Premium | $89.99 | per year |
| Yearly | $119.99 | per year |
| 10 Credits | $4.99 | one-time |
| 25 Credits | $9.99 | one-time |
| 55 Credits | $19.99 | one-time |
| 150 Credits | $49.99 | one-time |
| Lifetime Premium | $99.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Good
- 👍 Effectively helped with course notes transcription
- 👍 Provides good summarization function
- 👍 Useful software
- 👍 Great note-taking tool

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 AI unable to align with real-time
- 🐛 Generates nonsensical content
- 🐛 Recording and analysis not working
- 🐛 Sync issues between devices
- 🐛 Paid version has less functionality than free version

**Reported bugs**

- Recording not working
- Summarization not working
- Frequent crashes
- Incompatible with older devices

**Requested features**

- Ability to load files and images
- Cross-platform support (Mac, Web)
- Improved language support (multilingual)


### PenPro

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/penpro-notes-and-handwriting/id6820674653)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, iPhone Duo support

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| PDF notebooks | $1.99 | one-time |
| Sync on every device | $2.99 | one-time |
| AI features | $2.99 | one-time |
| All features offer | $4.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is AI Notebook free?

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

### Is PenPro free?

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

### Do AI Notebook or PenPro have ads?

AI Notebook shows ads; PenPro does not.

### Which is updated more often, AI Notebook or PenPro?

AI Notebook ships an update every 9 days, and PenPro weekly. Most recently, AI Notebook was updated on November 5, 2026 and PenPro on November 6, 2026.

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