Comparison

Widget for Notion vs Penlog

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

Head to head
About

Widget for Notion

Display and interact with your Notion data directly from your iPhone's home screen. Manage tasks, access favorite pages, and filter information with ease, all without opening the main Notion app.

Highlights
  • Home screen widgets for Notion
  • Task management and completion
  • Quick access to favorite pages
  • Advanced filtering of Notion data
  • Customizable display sorting
Features
Read full description

Your Notion on your home screen. Notion Widget is an app that pulls out only the information you need from your Notion database, allowing you to display and interact with it on your iPhone's home screen. You can change your status and access your favorite pages with one tap from the home screen, without having to access Notion every time. You no longer have to launch the Notion app just to mark a task as "completed." ■ What you can do ・Task management: Create a checklist widget and complete tasks directly from the home screen. ・Access frequently used pages: Create a list of your frequently used pages and documents and open them with one tap from the home screen. ・Advanced filters: Display only the information you need to see. You can freely set conditions such as "status is 'today'" or "checkbox is 'incomplete'." ・Free sorting: You can freely sort the display order by creation date, update date, or property. Disclaimer: This is a third-party application. It is not an official app from, and is not associated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Notion Labs, Inc.

About

Penlog

This app allows you to write handwritten notes and tasks using an Apple Pencil on your iPad. It automatically syncs these entries with your Notion workspace, converting your handwriting into actionable tasks and organized notes. The app also offers features like task carry-forward and a morning briefing with integrated AI.

Highlights
  • Handwritten task and note creation
  • Two-way Notion task synchronization
  • Automatic notation reading (tasks, notes, headings)
  • Carry-forward of unfinished tasks
  • Morning briefing with calendar and AI integration
  • REST API and MCP server for developers
Features
Read full description

Write a task by hand. Watch it show up in Notion. Penlog is a handwritten daily journal. You write with Apple Pencil on iPad. On iPhone you see today, add and check off tasks, and read every page. Every day gets its own page, so there is nothing to name, nothing to file, and no folder to choose. You write. Your other apps update themselves. Rick Thomas, a solo founder in Indianapolis, builds Penlog for people who think in ink. TWO-WAY TASK SYNC WITH NOTION A task you write by hand becomes a real task in your Notion tasks database. Cross it off with Apple Pencil, or tap it on iPhone, and it completes in Notion. Complete it in Notion and it shows as done on your page. Task status moves in both directions automatically. There is no export step and no copying and pasting. NOTATION READING Penlog reads your notation, not only your words. A bullet is a task. A dash is a note. An X means done. An underline makes a heading. Your page arrives sorted into tasks and notes instead of a wall of transcribed text. Penlog reads a page after you stop writing, not while you write. It waits for a finished thought rather than reacting to a half-formed stroke. CARRY-FORWARD An open task stays with you. If you do not finish it today, Penlog carries it forward to tomorrow's page, and to the day after, until you cross it off. Nothing gets lost because you turned the page. THE MORNING BRIEFING Connect Notion, your calendar, Claude, or ChatGPT. Penlog places today's events and open tasks on your page before you open it. That is the Morning Briefing. You can edit or hide anything in it before you start writing. SEEDING FROM AN AI ASSISTANT Ask Claude or ChatGPT to put something on tomorrow's page and it is waiting when you sit down. Penlog calls this seeding. It works in the other direction too, because an assistant can read the page you wrote by hand. FOR AGENTS, SCRIPTS, AND DEVELOPERS Every page is available through a REST API. Penlog also runs a Model Context Protocol server, usually written MCP, so any assistant that supports MCP can read your page and write to it the same way it reads your calendar. Penlog is listed in the Notion Integration Gallery and in the official MCP Registry. WHAT IS FREE AND WHAT NEEDS PRO The journal is free. You can write every day, have your notation read into tasks and notes, carry unfinished tasks forward, and export your pages without a subscription. Penlog Pro adds the destinations, and you can try it free for 14 days. Two-way Notion sync, calendar import, the REST API, and the MCP server require Pro. Pro also removes the daily limit on handwriting reads that applies to free accounts. WHAT PENLOG IS NOT Penlog does not replace Notion and it does not ask you to move your tasks somewhere new. If you keep tasks in Notion and write by hand on iPad, you are doing both today and reconciling them yourself. Penlog is the part in between. FROM A FIVE-STAR REVIEW sleepypeach wrote: "I loved notion but really struggle to refer to it on a daily basis... Written systems worked better but didn't allow me to plan long term. Penlog has been the perfect solution to my workflow issues." PRIVACY AND SECURITY Penlog encrypts all network traffic in transit with TLS. You can delete your account in Settings, which permanently removes your data from Penlog's servers. Writing needs an iPad and Apple Pencil. SUBSCRIPTION AND PURCHASE TERMS Penlog Pro is an auto-renewable subscription, offered monthly or annually. Eligible new subscribers get a 14-day free trial. Payment is charged to your Apple Account when the trial ends, or when you confirm the purchase if there is no trial. The subscription renews automatically unless you turn off auto-renew at least 24 hours before the current period ends, and renewal is charged within 24 hours of the end of that period. You can manage or cancel your subscription in your Apple Account settings. Terms of Use (EULA): https://penlog.app/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://penlog.app/privacy/

Screenshots

Widget for Notion4 screens
Penlog4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Penlog at 100% against Widget for Notion's 50%. Penlog also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.2) and update cadence (every 4 days vs every 2 weeks). Widget for Notion's advantage is ratings volume (40 vs 6). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Widget for Notion sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and Penlog sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $8.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Penlog holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Widget for Notion has 40 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of Widget for Notion's written reviews are positive against 100% of Penlog's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Widget for Notion ships an update every 2 weeks, Penlog every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 8, 2026 and November 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Widget for Notion versus Penlog: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWidget for NotionPenlog
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (40 ratings)4.8 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings40 — better6
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.518.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size63 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperYUYA YOSHIDART Indianapolis Holdings LLC

Customer experience

Widget for Notion

All ratings38 ratings
Positive78.9%
Neutral2.6%
Negative18.4%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

Penlog

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Widget for Notion

Subscriptions2
  • Notion Widget Pro (Monthly)$9.991 Month
  • Notion Widget Pro (年間)7 Days trial$69.991 Year
One-time1
  • Notion Widget Pro (Lifetime)$119.99
2 purchases

Penlog

Subscriptions2
  • Penlog Pro Monthly14 Days trial$8.991 Month
  • Penlog Pro Annual14 Days trial$89.991 Year

Questions

Is Widget for Notion free?
Widget for Notion is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Penlog free?
Penlog is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Widget for Notion or Penlog?
Penlog is rated higher. Widget for Notion averages 4.2 out of 5 from 40 ratings, while Penlog averages 4.8 from 6 ratings.
Do Widget for Notion or Penlog have ads?
Neither Widget for Notion nor Penlog shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Widget for Notion or Penlog?
Widget for Notion ships an update every 2 weeks, and Penlog every 4 days. Most recently, Widget for Notion was updated on November 8, 2026 and Penlog on November 9, 2026.

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