Comparison

Busy B Planner vs Instink Handwritten Notes

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

Head to head
About

Busy B Planner

Capture thoughts and tasks in an inbox, then organize them into categories. Plan your day and week with visual tools and gentle reminders. Syncs across devices via iCloud for seamless access.

Highlights
  • Inbox for quick capture
  • Categorization and subcategories
  • Drag-and-drop reordering
  • Due date reminders
  • iPad-optimized layout
  • iCloud sync
Features
Read full description

Busy B Planner is a warm, visual to-do app for people juggling everyday life. Brain-dump anything you need to remember into the Running list the moment it hits you, with no decisions required up front. Then file each task into a category, with optional subcategories, whenever you're ready, so capturing never gets in the way of doing. Add dates and times, flag what matters, repeat what comes back every week, and duplicate a task in one tap. Plan around Today and Tomorrow, and see your whole week at a glance on iPad. Everything syncs across your iPhone, iPad and Mac with iCloud. No account to create, no sign-up required. WHY BUSY B • Running list: capture anything, anytime, then sort it when you're ready • Capture your way: type it, say it with voice capture, or ask Siri: "Add pick up dry cleaning tomorrow to Household in Busy B." • Dates, times and reminders: including a heads-up before something is due • Today & Tomorrow views: see exactly what matters right now • Categories and subcategories: organise your way, drag and drop to arrange them, or sort alphabetically or by date added • Flag & file: swipe to flag your most important tasks or file them into a category • Repeating tasks: daily, weekly or monthly • Duplicate: copy a task, with its date, reminder, repeat and category, in one tap • iPad Command Centre: a full three-pane layout built for iPad, not a stretched iPhone app • iCloud sync: your tasks, everywhere, automatically • Nine hand-crafted themes, with dark mode BUSY B INTELLIGENCE • Daily briefing: open the app to a short, on-device read of what matters today, not just a count • One-tap filing: on-device intelligence sorts your Running list into the right categories, and you review before anything moves • Catch-up: a look at tasks you keep skipping, each with a suggested next step • Voice capture: tap the mic and just talk. Busy B adds the task with the date filled in and takes its best guess at the category Busy B Intelligence is built with Apple Intelligence. Every suggestion is generated on your device. Nothing is sent to us, and nothing trains a model. Voice capture needs iOS 26 or later, and its date and category suggestions, like the briefing, filing and catch-up, need an Apple Intelligence-capable device with Apple Intelligence turned on. The rest of Busy B works on every supported device. BUSY B PRO Try Busy B Pro free for 7 days with the yearly plan. After that, choose monthly, yearly or lifetime. Pro unlocks unlimited categories and subcategories, every theme, repeating tasks, voice capture and Busy B Intelligence. Your task data stays yours: synced privately through your own iCloud account. Simple enough to open and start typing. Powerful enough to organise a busy life. Subscription details: Busy B Pro is available as a monthly or yearly auto-renewing subscription, or as a one-time lifetime purchase. The 7-day free trial applies to the yearly plan for new subscribers; after the trial it renews at the yearly price shown in the app. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel in Settings > Apple Account > Subscriptions. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://busybplanner.com/privacy

About

Instink Handwritten Notes

Features
Read full description

An idea shows up. By the time you've unlocked your phone, found your notes app and opened a new page, it's gone. Instink is a blank sheet on your Home Screen. Tap it and you're already writing — by hand, in your own handwriting. Tap Done and you're back where you were. One second. WHY PEOPLE KEEP IT • Ready in under half a second. No account, no sign-up, nothing to choose before you write. • Your handwriting, not a font. Finger or Apple Pencil, with ink that follows your hand. • Saved from the very first stroke. Put the phone away mid-sentence: the note is already safe. • Hands busy? Type, snap a photo or record your voice from the same sheet. • Phone locked? Ask Siri to add a note to Instink and dictate it. No unlocking. EVERY WAY IN Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets, Control Center, the Action button, Back Tap and Shortcuts. Use the one closest to your thumb. THEN, WHEN YOU HAVE A MINUTE • Sort new notes like cards: swipe right to send, left to keep, down to delete. Ten seconds. • Send any note to Notion, Notes, Google Keep, Obsidian, Mail or Messages — as text, with your handwriting attached. • Search your handwriting. Instink reads it on your device. • Wrote "dentist tomorrow at 10"? Instink offers to put it in your calendar. • Once a day an old note resurfaces — "a week ago today" — so good ideas don't get buried. • At night the sheet turns dark, so it won't blind you in bed. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account. No ads. No tracking. Your notes stay on your device and never pass through a server of ours. Handwriting and voice are recognized on your iPhone. WHAT INSTINK IS NOT It's not a notebook with folders and pages. It's the pen for the notes system you already use. Questions or ideas: hello@instink.app — a real person reads every message.

Screenshots

Busy B Planner4 screens
Instink Handwritten Notes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Instink Handwritten Notes at none against Busy B Planner's 3. 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. Busy B Planner sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Instink Handwritten Notes asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Busy B Planner versus Instink Handwritten Notes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBusy B PlannerInstink Handwritten Notes
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (8 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings8 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 days—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size21 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMakram Atiyahpaolo aru

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Busy B Planner

Subscriptions2
  • Busy B Pro - Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Busy B Pro - Annual$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Busy B Pro - Lifetime$59.99
None

Instink Handwritten Notes

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Busy B Planner free?
Busy B Planner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Instink Handwritten Notes free?
Instink Handwritten Notes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Busy B Planner or Instink Handwritten Notes have ads?
Neither Busy B Planner nor Instink Handwritten Notes shows ads.

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