Penso Notes vs Scrib
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Penso Notes
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Penso Notes: Write freely. Find easily. Never lose a brilliant idea again. Penso Notes transforms how you capture, organise, and rediscover your thoughts. Whether you're planning your day, tracking goals, or preserving memories, this powerful digital journal adapts to your life. Why Choose Penso Notes? - Bullet Journaling Perfected:Inspired by Ryder Carroll's proven Bullet Journal and Rapid Logging Methods, enhanced for the digital age. - Multimedia Memory Keeping:Add formatted text, photos, voice and camera recordings. - Multiple Journals, One App: Keep diaries for work, personal life, travel, or projects. - Find Anything Instantly: Search by text, tags, dates, or even bullets. Smart Organisation - Customisable bullets for quick scanning of tasks, notes, and events - Note Colours, tags and categories - Day dividers with mood and weather tracking - Priority highlighting and reactions - Calendar integration for events and reminders - Quick swipe gestures for migration and scheduling - Customisable themes and stickers Privacy You Can Trust Your thoughts are yours alone. Secure diary locking, private keys, and on-device storage mean your personal information stays personal. Perfect For: - Professionals managing projects and ideas - Creatives capturing inspiration - Anyone wanting better life organisation - Students organising research and deadlines - Bullet journal enthusiasts going digital Key Features: - Text, audio, photo, video, and file entries - Cross-journal search and tags - Customisable bullets and colour coding - Integrated Calendar and reminders - Multiple diary support - Mood and day dividers - Privacy controls - Beautiful themes and stickers From Scattered to Organised Stop losing important thoughts across sticky notes, random apps, and forgotten notebooks. Penso Notes creates one trusted space where every idea, plan, and memory has its place. Join thousands worldwide who trust Penso Notes to stay organised and keep ideas safe. Ready to Transform Your Thinking? Download Penso Notes today and experience the perfect blend of creative freedom and digital organisation. Penso Pro is an auto-renewing subscription (monthly or yearly). Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your Account Settings. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.penso-notes.com/privacy
Scrib
Securely store and organize your notes locally on your device with robust AES-256 encryption. Features include plain text and Markdown support, folders, checklists, and a PIN lock for enhanced privacy. Import notes from other services and manage them easily.
- AES-256 encryption
- Offline note storage
- Plain text and Markdown support
- Folder organization
- Checklist functionality
- PIN lock and Vault
- Import from other apps
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Scrib keeps your notes on your iPhone. There is no account to create, no server to sync with, and no analytics or advertising code in the app. Every note is stored in an encrypted database inside the app's private container, with the key held in the iOS Keychain. WHAT SCRIB DOES • Notes. Write in plain text. Markdown is fine if you use it, and ignored if you don't. • Folders. Group notes into folders, filter the home screen by folder, and search folder names. Folders can be switched off in Settings without deleting anything. • Checklists. Turn any line into a checklist item. Items and plain text can sit in the same note. Tap an item to check it off. • Tap to edit. Tap anywhere in a note and the cursor lands where you tapped. • Colors. 44 note colors, plus 14 text colors that can apply to the title and body or the body only. • Find in note. Search inside a long note; matches are highlighted. • Search. Plain-text search across all notes, on the device. • Import. Bring in .txt and Markdown files, or exports from Google Keep, Simplenote and Evernote (.enex). Checklists in those exports arrive as live checklists. Files are read through the iOS file picker and parsed on the device. • Trash. Deleted notes go to a trash bin and are removed for good after 30 days. Restore any of them before then. • PIN lock. An optional 4 to 6 digit PIN protects the app. Attempts are rate limited. • Vault. A separate, PIN-protected space for notes you want kept apart from the main list. • Share Scrib. One tap in Settings hands a short line and the App Store link to the share sheet. • Languages. English, Arabic, German, Spanish, French, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil) and Simplified Chinese. HOW YOUR DATA IS PROTECTED • Encryption at rest. Every note is written to an AES-256 encrypted database. The key is generated on the device and stored in the iOS Keychain. • Safe upgrades. When the storage format changes, the migration completes fully or not at all, so an interrupted upgrade cannot leave notes half converted. • Key loss detection. If encrypted notes are found without their key, Scrib shows a recovery screen instead of quietly creating a new key. • Save on switch. Pending edits are written to disk the moment you switch apps. WHAT SCRIB DOES NOT DO • It does not make network requests. • It does not ask you to create an account. • It does not sync your notes anywhere. • It does not collect analytics or crash reports. • It does not show ads. • It does not charge for the features listed above. Scrib is built and maintained by one developer, Patrick Colton, also known as Beeswax Pat, a U.S. Army veteran. Questions and requests: beeswaxpat@gmail.com Privacy policy: https://scrib.blog/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Scrib at none against Penso Notes's 3. Scrib also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads and device support 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
Both are free to download. Penso Notes sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Scrib asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | Penso Notes | Scrib |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 1 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | — | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 161 MB | 23 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Suchitra Enterprise | Patrick Colton |
In-app purchases
Penso Notes
- Penso Pro Monthly$3.991 Month
- Penso Pro Yearly$39.991 Year
- Penso Pro Extended$79.99
Scrib
No in-app purchases









