Comparison

Scribl vs Pencora

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

Head to head
About

Scribl

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The notebook that thinks with you. Scribl is a digital notebook for iPad: write by hand with Apple Pencil just like on paper, and the AI reads your pages, explains them and turns them into study sheets, flashcards and a study plan. Now in your own handwriting. NEW: THE AI WRITES LIKE YOU Write one practice sheet and Scribl learns your letters. From then on "Improve writing", AI answers and "Convert to pen" write in your hand, neatly on the lines. Your handwriting syncs through iCloud across your iPads. WRITE LIKE ON PAPER • Pen, highlighter, eraser and lasso, with adjustable stroke smoothing • Pressure, dotted and dashed strokes • Lined, grid, dotted or blank pages, in the paper color you like • A color bar always at hand, on any edge of the screen • Smooth writing even on pages full of notes SCRIBL AI • Ask anything about your notes: the AI reads the page and answers • Attach photos, scans and PDFs to the chat: it reads and explains them • Study sheets drawn right on the page, in a different style every time • "Rewrite my schema": makes one of your schemas clearer, even across several pages • Long answers carry on to the next page instead of being cut off STUDY SMARTER • Study coach: give it a book, a PDF or a notebook and your exam date, and it builds a day-by-day plan • An outline you approve, review, self-testing and catch-up on what hasn't stuck • Feynman method: explain out loud and watch your words appear • Material read aloud, even offline • Flashcards by topic, with due cards always in order • Reminders that take you straight into the day's session ORGANIZE AND SHARE • Notebooks with colorful covers, reorderable pages and search • Share a notebook and collaborate in real time • Export to PDF • iCloud sync across all your devices INVITE A FRIEND Whoever uses your code gets 14 days of Plus. You get a month of Scribl Amici for every friend who starts using Scribl, up to 6 months. SCRIBL PLUS Scribl is free to use, with 10 AI actions a month. Scribl Plus gives you: • Unlimited AI: chat, summaries, study sheets and attachments • Your own handwriting for the AI, "Improve writing" and "Convert to pen" • iCloud sync • Notebook sharing: people you invite write for free • Watermark-free PDF export • Scribl on iPhone to read and browse your notebooks Scribl Plus is an auto-renewing monthly or yearly subscription. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless it is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel it in your Apple Account settings. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://scribl.nexatide.eu/#privacy

About

Pencora

Features
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Pencora is paper that thinks: a fast, private notebook for serious study that keeps up with your hand and helps you find, build, and protect what you learn. Everything is free. No subscription. No ads. No account. FIND ANYTHING YOU WROTE Your handwriting becomes searchable as you write—on your iPad, without uploading your notes. Search across every notebook, jump straight to the highlighted word, and find text inside added photos too. Pencora supports English, Russian, Ukrainian, Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Portuguese, and handles messy handwriting, close matches, and typos. WRITE WITHOUT THE LAG A custom Metal engine draws each stroke immediately with pressure, tilt, hover, and Apple Pencil Pro squeeze. Even large notebooks stay smooth. Prefer a finger? You can write with that too. MOVE IN WITHOUT STARTING OVER Export your notebooks from Goodnotes, Notability, or any other note app as PDF. Pencora detects the paper ruling, keeps pages in order, and converts handwriting stored as vector ink into editable strokes instead of locking it inside a picture. Large documents open quickly and keep converting in the background. TYPE IT. GET YOUR HANDWRITING. Write a set of sample words once—or pick a ready-made hand—then type or paste Markdown, lists, and LaTeX formulas. The on-device handwriting model places them on the page as real, erasable strokes in your style, following the ruling of the paper. Available in English and Russian. Nothing is uploaded for generation. MATH THAT STAYS LIVE Add interactive graph planes directly to a page. Plot functions, implicit curves, points, and tables; import CSV; or draw a table by hand and let Pencora read it. Ink written on the plane stays attached to its coordinates. Build exact geometry beside your proof: points, segments, lines, circles, polygons, curves, midpoints, perpendicular and angle bisectors, parallels, tangents, intersections, reflections, and triangle centers. Drag a point and every dependent construction moves with it. Measure in real millimeters and label points in your own handwriting. THE TOOLS A REAL NOTEBOOK NEEDS • Lined, grid, dotted, or PDF paper • Shape snapping for lines, circles, and polygons • Highlighter, study tape, and scribble-to-erase • A lasso that moves, scales, rotates, and changes stroke width • A zoom-write strip for small, neat writing • Calligraphy nibs and an eyedropper • Markdown text boxes and live formulas • True-vector PDF export that stays crisp at any zoom • Folders, tags, and tabs • An infinite board with a minimap for every notebook NEVER LOSE A PAGE Connect Google Drive for automatic daily backups to your own account. Pencora keeps the five newest copies and can restore your library on a new iPad. It uses Google's limited-access permission, so it sees only its own backup files—not the rest of your Drive. You can also export your entire library into one backup file whenever you want. YOUR NOTEBOOKS ON IPHONE Connect the same Google Drive on your iPhone to read the notebooks from your iPad's latest backup, with folders and names intact. You can also open any .handynotes notebook someone sends you. Editing stays on iPad; on iPhone, notebooks are read-only. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Recognition, search, and handwriting generation run on your device. Pencora has no accounts, ads, or tracking, and never sells your data. Anonymous usage statistics can be turned off in Profile, and sharing handwriting samples for research is strictly opt-in. Your notes are not the product. Built by one developer who uses handwritten notes every day. Your feedback helps decide what gets built next.

Screenshots

Scribl2 screens
Pencora4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Pencora at none against Scribl's 3. Scribl's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 6 weeks). 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. Scribl sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Pencora asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Scribl ships an update fortnightly, Pencora every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 4 level
Scribl versus Pencora: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterScriblPencora
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size20 MB144 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMICHELA GIOLOAnastasia Naumkina

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Scribl

Subscriptions2
  • Scribl Plus$2.991 Month
  • Scribl Plus$17.991 Year
One-time1
  • Scribl Plus — Founder Tester$8.99
None

Pencora

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Scribl free?
Scribl is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pencora free?
Pencora is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Scribl or Pencora have ads?
Neither Scribl nor Pencora shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Scribl or Pencora?
Scribl ships an update fortnightly, and Pencora every 6 weeks. Most recently, Scribl was updated on October 8, 2026 and Pencora on October 3, 2026.

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