Acto|Handwritten Planner vs strivu
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Acto|Handwritten Planner
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Acto is a handwritten planner built for iPad. Open it like a paper notebook, write your goals, plan your week by hand, and find what you wrote later — across every page(premium). WHAT IS ACTO? A digital planner where every page is yours to draw on. Five sections work together: a Cover you sign yourself, a Projects index, one Detail page per project, a weekly two-page spread that updates with your calendar, and free Notes pages you can add anywhere. DESIGNED FOR APPLE PENCIL ・Pressure, tilt, and hover support ・Markup tool picker appears the moment your Pencil touches the page ・Palm rejection follows your iPadOS system setting ・Pencil 2 double-tap and Pencil Pro squeeze respect your system shortcut ・Undo, redo, lasso select, and clear page from the toolbar YOUR PLANNER, FOR YEARS The Cover and weekly spreads read your device's date, so the same planner carries from 2026 into 2027 and beyond. No yearly re-purchase, no migration, no "2026 edition" expiring on you. SEARCH YOUR HANDWRITING (PREMIUM) On-device OCR reads Japanese and English handwriting after you leave a page, then lets you search by word, date range, or section. Even rough notes become findable. Recognition runs locally with Apple's Vision framework — your handwriting never leaves your device. ICLOUD SYNC Sign in to iCloud and your planner appears on every iPad with the same Apple ID. Your data stays in your own iCloud — only you can see it. FOUR LIQUID GLASS THEMES (PREMIUM) Sand, Fog, Graphite, and Linen. Free users start with one theme; Premium unlocks all four to match your week or your room. EXPORT WHEN YOU NEED TO PDF export collects every page in order. Single pages export as PNG. Share via Files, Mail, AirDrop, or any Share Sheet target. PLANS ・Free: 3 projects, 10 pages, one theme, PDF / PNG export, every handwriting tool. ・Premium (¥600/month or ¥4,800/year): unlimited pages, all themes, Monthly View, OCR search, every sticker. ・Content Store: stickers WHO IS ACTO FOR? ・People who plan and journal by hand and want their iPad to feel like paper ・Founders, freelancers, and students tracking several projects in parallel ・Apple Pencil users who want a structured planner alongside the note-taking apps they already use ・Bullet journal practitioners who want digital search and sync on top of paper-style layouts PRIVACY Handwriting recognition runs on-device. iCloud sync uses your own iCloud account — only you can access your notes. Acto does not collect, sell, or analyze your notes. REQUIREMENTS iPad running iPadOS 18 or later. Apple Pencil recommended (1st generation, 2nd generation, USB-C, or Pencil Pro). LANGUAGES Japanese, English. TERMS OF USE (EULA) https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
strivu
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strivu — strive. track. achieve. Break big goals into manageable steps — and watch your progress grow. No subscriptions. No accounts. No lock-in. strivu is a visual progress tracker for long-term goals, projects, courses, and personal plans. Whether studying for qualifications, building side projects, learning new skills, or organizing complex workflows, it breaks everything into clear, trackable progress. Most progress trackers stop at simple lists. strivu lets you nest sub-items inside sub-items, so you can structure goals across multiple levels — while progress automatically rolls up from the smallest step to the biggest milestone. Working toward a degree? Track each subject, assignment, topic, and revision task. Building a personal project? Break it into milestones, features, and actionable steps. Preparing for an exam or certification? Track your syllabus coverage and see what still needs attention. Visual progress tracking Update progress your way with custom percentages or quick-tap presets. Smooth progress bars show how far you've come, so large goals feel achievable. See the whole picture at a glance The Overview brings every sub-item under a goal into one connected tree, so you can scan a whole project's progress without drilling in level by level. Find anything, however deep Search every item at every level by title or description, and open a result right where it sits. Widgets for your Home Screen See any item's progress without opening the app — add as many small Item Progress widgets as you like. strivu+ adds a medium size with sub-items, plus Categories and Lock Screen widgets. Organise everything clearly Group items into colour-coded categories like Study, Work, Personal, or Fitness. Stay on top of deadlines Attach due dates to any item and spot overdue tasks with visual indicators. Get reminded before it's due Add a reminder to any item with a due date and strivu will tell you when it matters — at the due time, or 10 minutes, an hour, a day, or a week ahead. Mark the item complete straight from the notification, or tap to jump to it. Reminders are local notifications — nothing leaves your phone — and they're free. Designed for iPhone and iPad strivu fits your device: a clean full-screen layout on iPhone, a sidebar on iPad. Reorder items with drag-and-drop. Your data stays yours Back up your entire library — categories, items, sub-items, progress, due dates and reminders — to a single .strivu file. Save it to Files, AirDrop it, or email it to your future self. Open any .strivu file to restore — it merges into your library without overwriting what's already there. Start fast with templates Skip the blank page. Import a .strivut template to stamp out a ready-made structure — a course syllabus, a certification path, a project breakdown — as a brand-new item with sub-items at every level. Templates capture structure only, never progress or dates, so each import starts at 0% and existing items are never touched. Save any item as a template and share it via Files, AirDrop, Messages or email — perfect for teachers, mentors, coaches, or just future-you. Free starter templates at strivu.app. Go further with strivu+ Pay once, own it forever — no subscription, ever. strivu+ unlocks iCloud sync across your iPhone and iPad so your goals follow you, removes the limits on categories and items, lets you nest sub-items more deeply, and includes every widget. Launch price for early supporters — buying now locks it in permanently. The free version stays free, with all you need for shorter-term goals and to try strivu out. Built to be used by everyone strivu works with VoiceOver, Voice Control and Larger Text: every control has a name you can say, and text scales to the largest accessibility sizes. Available in English, French, German, Japanese, Simplified and Traditional Chinese Fully localized — interface, reminders and notifications alike. Simple. Focused. Built for meaningful progress.
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Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Acto|Handwritten Planner at 18.0 against strivu's 26.2. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Acto|Handwritten Planner sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and strivu sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Acto|Handwritten Planner ships an update every 4 days, strivu every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Acto|Handwritten Planner | strivu |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days — better | Every 6 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 — better | 26.2 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 5 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Matsu LLC. | Aeterna Solutions |
In-app purchases
Acto|Handwritten Planner
- Acto Premium - monthly$3.991 Month
- Acto Premium - yearly$29.991 Year
- Basic Stickers$1.99
- Monthly View$1.99
strivu
- strivu+$12.99
Questions
Is Acto|Handwritten Planner free?
Is strivu free?
Do Acto|Handwritten Planner or strivu have ads?
Which is updated more often, Acto|Handwritten Planner or strivu?
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