Comparison

JoeNote vs Penna

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

Head to head
About

JoeNote

This app helps you organize your life by managing notes, tasks, and reminders in one place. Create notes quickly, set smart reminders, and categorize them for easy retrieval. Access your important information via home screen widgets and Apple Watch.

Highlights
  • Quick note creation and editing
  • Smart reminders with postponement options
  • Customizable categories for organization
  • Templates for frequently used notes
  • Home screen widgets for quick access
  • Apple Watch support for on-the-go management
  • Light/dark theme customization
Features
Read full description

Organize your life and never forget an idea or an appointment again! JoeNote is the simple, totally free, intuitive and powerful app to manage notes, tasks and reminders, all in one place and always at hand. Main Features: - Quick and Easy Notes: Create and edit your notes in seconds. Add a title, a detailed text and find everything immediately thanks to the search function. Smart Reminders: Set personalized reminders for your notes. You will receive a notification at the right time, with options to postpone or mark as completed. Never miss a deadline again! - Organization with Categories: Assign each note a category to keep everything in order. Use the predefined categories (Work, Family, Sports, Fun) or create your own custom categories to adapt the app to your lifestyle. - Templates for Quick Notes: Speed ​​up your work with templates. Save notes you use often, like your shopping list or meeting agenda, and create new ones with just one tap. - Home Screen Widgets: Access your most important notes right from your phone's home screen. We offer convenient and beautifully designed widgets for iOS. - Apple Watch Support: View and manage your notes right from your wrist. Your ideas are always synced and accessible on your Apple Watch, even when you're on the go. - Full Customization: Make JoeNote truly yours! Choose between a light and dark theme, or let the app automatically adapt to your system settings. - Multilingual: JoeNote speaks your language. The app is fully translated into Italian, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Russian and Chinese.

About

Penna

This offline planner uses on-device AI to break down large tasks into smaller steps and organize your thoughts visually. It prioritizes privacy with no accounts, cloud storage, or data collection, offering encrypted backups and export options.

Highlights
  • On-device AI task breakdown
  • Visual snap-grid board
  • Offline functionality
  • Brain Dump for thoughts
  • Smart text input
  • Encrypted backups
  • Pomodoro focus timer
Features
Read full description

Requires a Pro subscription or a one-time lifetime purchase. New users can start with a free trial. Penna is the ADHD planner that shows you time: your day as a visual board, a countdown for the task you're on, and AI that runs on your iPhone. 100% offline, no account, no one watching. SEE TIME (new in 1.4) • Estimated duration on every tile — 15, 30, 45, 60 min or your own • A countdown ring on the task you're doing right now • Countdown widget on the Home and Lock Screen: what's now, what's next, how long is left • Morning check-in in 3 taps: your energy today → a day that fits it • Start with a free trial ON-DEVICE AI (Apple Intelligence) • Magic Breakdown — a big scary task becomes 3–7 tiny first steps, each under 15 minutes • Organize — your Brain Dump sorts itself into tiles with dates and tags, you approve every change • Smart input understands "call mom tomorrow evening" — in English and Russian AI runs entirely on your iPhone. No cloud, no account — Data Not Collected stays true. Requires iPhone 15 Pro or newer with Apple Intelligence; everything else works on any iPhone with iOS 18. Most planners want your email and your data. Penna wants neither. Everything lives on your device. Your backups are encrypted and yours to keep. PRIVATE BY DESIGN • 100% offline — no account, no servers, no ads, no trackers • Data Not Collected — nothing leaves your device • Face ID lock on individual notes • AES-256 encrypted backups • Export to Markdown, JSON, PDF or calendar (.ics) PLAN VISUALLY • Snap-grid board — arrange note tiles in any cell, like icons on a home screen • Drag tiles between days on a collapsible week/month calendar • Timeline view for hour-by-hour day blocking CAPTURE THE WAY YOU THINK • Brain Dump — drop a thought in one tap, schedule it later • Smart text input — type “call mom tomorrow 6pm” and Penna sets the day and reminder • Checklists, photos, file attachments, tags, 10 colors STAY ON TRACK • Reminders with repeat (daily/weekly/monthly) and snooze • Habits grid with daily streak · Pomodoro focus timer • Home-screen & Lock Screen widget · Share extension PENNA PRO • Unlimited notes, Brain Dump and attachments • Repeating reminders and calendar events on your board • iCloud Sync — your data stays in YOUR private iCloud; we never see it Penna Pro: a yearly subscription, a weekly subscription with a 3-day free trial, or a one-time lifetime unlock. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period; manage or cancel them in Settings. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://telegra.ph/Penna--Privacy-Policy-06-07

Screenshots

JoeNote4 screens
Penna4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: JoeNote at none against Penna's 1. Penna's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 6 weeks). 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. Penna sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. JoeNote asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

JoeNote ships an update every 6 weeks, Penna every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
JoeNote versus Penna: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterJoeNotePenna
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size78 MB16 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGiovanni TrentaNTSAUTOSIGA LLC

Customer experience

JoeNote

Written reviews5 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Penna

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

JoeNote

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Penna

One-time1
  • Penna Pro$11.99

Questions

Is JoeNote free?
JoeNote is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Penna free?
Penna is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do JoeNote or Penna have ads?
Neither JoeNote nor Penna shows ads.
Which is updated more often, JoeNote or Penna?
JoeNote ships an update every 6 weeks, and Penna every 4 days. Most recently, JoeNote was updated on October 21, 2026 and Penna on October 8, 2026.

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