Comparison

Perenne Note. Digital Notebook vs UCNotes

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

Head to head
About

Perenne Note. Digital Notebook

A minimalist digital notebook designed for iPad and iPhone, offering a realistic writing and sketching experience with Apple Pencil. Organize notes, sketches, and lists with customizable notebooks and real-time syncing.

Highlights
  • Realistic pen and pencil tools
  • Customizable notebooks and paper styles
  • iPhone companion app with iCloud sync
  • Quick notes with rich text and checklists
  • Reminders and calendar integration
  • Desk feature for floating elements
  • PDF and PNG export options
Features
Read full description

A real notebook, on your iPad. Write with Apple Pencil on pages that feel like paper, with a pencil that leaves real graphite grain and a pen that follows your hand. Perenne Note is made for people who think better with a pen in hand. No infinite canvas, no AI, no features you'll never use: just notebooks, planners and your ideas. Plus a free iPhone app to keep them with you. WRITES LIKE PAPER Pen, fountain pen, pencil and highlighter, powered by Perenne Engine, the drawing engine we built from scratch: real scanned graphite, paper grain that responds to every stroke, tilt and pressure in every line. Any width, opacity and color, eyedropper included. Turn on real notebook mode to flip pages with your finger and write with your Pencil, without switching modes. NOTEBOOKS THAT FEEL REAL 3D covers in 10 colors, 5 textures or your own photo. Blank, ruled, grid or dotted paper, or design your own with the pattern editor. Up to 100 pages, two-page spreads in landscape, colored bookmarks and over 280 stickers: stamps, postmarks and decorations. DATED PLANNERS Daily or weekly, in six styles you can switch anytime without losing a line of what you wrote. Tap a day to open it, tap the date to see the month. If you like, your Calendar events and your Reminders to-dos appear right on the pages, ready to check off with your finger or a mark of your Pencil. Your first planner is free to try. AUDIO NOTES Record a lecture or a meeting right on the page, even with the screen locked. Where your language supports it, transcription happens on your device: your voice goes nowhere else. ON YOUR IPHONE, FREE Your notebooks and planners in your pocket: flip through your pages as you wrote them, search everything and catch ideas on the go with quick notes. Text, checklists, tables, photos and audio, ready to place on the page back on your iPad. REMINDERS THAT TAKE YOU BACK Circle anything with the lasso and set a reminder: the notification arrives with your handwriting and takes you right back to that page. One-time or repeating, in your Calendar too. THE DESK Around your notebook there's room for sticky notes, photos and text you want to keep in sight while you write. Write on the notes, draw on the photos, move, rotate and resize everything. PRIVATE, NO ACCOUNT No sign-up and no ads. Your notebooks and notes stay yours and sync between iPad and iPhone through your own iCloud. Export pages or whole notebooks as PDF or PNG anytime. MADE TO FIT YOU Toolbar at the top or bottom, controls on the side of your writing hand, gestures to undo, keyboard shortcuts. In 14 languages, ready for iOS 27 and iPadOS 27. YOUR YEAR Pages written, days in a row and, at the end of the year, an animated recap of everything you created. TRY IT FREE Start with a notebook and 6 pages to try everything, and try your first planner for free. Then it's your choice: a single notebook or planner as a one-time purchase, or a subscription for unlimited use, with a free week on the annual plan. Privacy Policy: https://perenne.app/privacy-policy Terms of Use (EULA): https://perenne.app/terms-of-service

About

UCNotes

Read full description

UCNotes brings handwriting, PDF annotation, editable Markdown, math tools, and sheet music into one flexible workspace for iPad and iPhone. Write, study, organize, and keep working without constantly switching apps. HANDWRITE WITH MORE ROOM • Write on notes and PDFs using Apple Pencil or touch. • Personalize pens, colors, favorites, and paper templates. • Open multiple tabs, use Facing Pages and Split Tabs, and keep reference material within reach. • Add unlimited free Sidecars when you need more space for calculations, explanations, or sketches. READ AND WORK WITH PDFS • Import, read, mark up, and export PDFs. • Use Reading Rotation to adjust the viewing angle from −15° to +15°, remember angles for individual pages, and tap the left or right side to turn pages. Your original PDF stays unchanged. • Rotate selected PDF pages and add customizable headers, footers, and page numbers. • With UCNotes Pro, split PDFs by page ranges and save the results to Files or your UCNotes Library. EDIT MARKDOWN AND EXPLORE MATH • Create and edit .md files, including content copied from other apps. • Switch between visual, source, preview, and split editing views. • Read LaTeX equations, tables, and code blocks with offline math rendering. • Save Markdown directly as a PDF in your Library. • Explore geometry construction, measurements, and mathematical diagrams. Advanced scripting and selected solver tools are available with Pro. STUDY WITH AUDIO AND VIDEO • Record lectures while taking notes and revisit audio-linked handwriting. • Play imported audio and video, with convenient playback controls and Picture in Picture where supported. READ SHEET MUSIC YOUR WAY • Choose Standard Reading, Rotation Reading, or Music Performance from one fullscreen control. • Use dual-zone score reading, Head Page Turn on compatible devices, supported English voice commands, or a compatible Bluetooth keyboard-style page turner. • Teacher / Bluetooth Remote mode keeps the score in view without active voice listening or head tracking. KEEP YOUR LIBRARY ORGANIZED • Organize notes, PDFs, and Markdown into Collections and subcollections. • Find favorites, recently opened documents, and recently deleted items. • Back up PDFs and editable notes to a folder you choose in iCloud Drive, and restore through Files. FREE AND PRO • Free includes up to 10 active Library documents in total, including notes you create and documents you import. Add more pages to your existing notes and use unlimited Sidecars. • UCNotes Pro unlocks unlimited Library documents, PDF Split, Adaptive Pen, Batch Rename, batch Images to PDF, and other advanced tools. • Annual subscription pricing and any eligible introductory trial are shown before purchase. Existing documents remain accessible if you reach the Free limit. Whether you're learning, teaching, solving problems, or practicing music, UCNotes helps keep your work together.

Screenshots

Perenne Note. Digital Notebook4 screens
UCNotes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: UCNotes at every 3 days against Perenne Note. Digital Notebook's weekly. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Perenne Note. Digital Notebook sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and UCNotes sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Perenne Note. Digital Notebook ships an update weekly, UCNotes every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Perenne Note. Digital Notebook versus UCNotes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPerenne Note. Digital NotebookUCNotes
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.8 (5 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings5 — better—
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size59 MB32 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperNicholas CompagnoniUnit Circle Math Tutoring LLC

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Perenne Note. Digital Notebook

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Annual7 Days trial$22.991 Year
One-time3
  • Single Notebook$3.99
  • Yearly Planner$6.99
  • Notebook Bundle$8.99
1 purchases

UCNotes

One-time1
  • UCNotes Pro Lifetime$49.99

Questions

Is Perenne Note. Digital Notebook free?
Perenne Note. Digital Notebook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is UCNotes free?
UCNotes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Perenne Note. Digital Notebook or UCNotes have ads?
Neither Perenne Note. Digital Notebook nor UCNotes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Perenne Note. Digital Notebook or UCNotes?
Perenne Note. Digital Notebook ships an update weekly, and UCNotes every 3 days. Most recently, Perenne Note. Digital Notebook was updated on October 31, 2026 and UCNotes on October 22, 2026.

Other comparisons