Comparison

MindSky vs Pencil Notes

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

Head to head
About

MindSky

Features
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MindSky is a peaceful space for your thoughts. Instead of lists and folders, your ideas float gently across a living sky. Capture thoughts as soft clouds, organize them naturally, and dive deeper into the ideas that matter most. Whether you’re journaling, brainstorming, reflecting, or simply clearing your mind, MindSky transforms note-taking into a calm and visual experience. FEATURES Floating Thought Clouds Create thoughts that drift naturally across your personal sky. Mood-Based Thoughts Assign moods to your thoughts with beautiful colors and expressive emotions. Deep Dive Into Ideas Drop a thought into the Deep Dive zone to create a dedicated space for exploring related ideas and sub-thoughts. Pin Important Thoughts Keep important thoughts anchored in place while others continue to drift. Thought Details & Notes Expand any thought with notes, reflections, and additional context. Recover Lost Thoughts Accidentally deleted something? Restore thoughts from the Lost Thoughts area for up to 7 days. Gentle, Distraction-Free Design No feeds, no pressure, no complexityβ€”just a calm space for your mind. Perfect for: β€’ Journaling β€’ Brainstorming β€’ Creative thinking β€’ Reflection β€’ Mindfulness β€’ Personal knowledge capture β€’ Daily thought tracking Let your thoughts float. Discover where they lead.

About

Pencil Notes

Features
Read full description

# Pencil Notes β€” Your Simple Apple Pencil Notebook Turn your iPad into a simple, distraction-free notebook designed for Apple Pencil. Write naturally, organize your ideas, annotate documents, and export your work β€” all without subscriptions or complicated setup. ## WRITE NATURALLY Pencil Notes is built around the feeling of writing on real paper. β€’ Write with Apple Pencil β€’ Create unlimited notebooks and pages β€’ Choose blank, lined, dotted, or grid paper β€’ Use a pressure-sensitive pen β€’ Highlight important ideas β€’ Undo and redo with ease β€’ Zoom and pan while writing Whether you're taking notes, planning your day, journaling, brainstorming, or simply sketching, Pencil Notes keeps things simple. ## WRITE ON PDFs Import a PDF and write directly on it with Apple Pencil. Highlight text, add handwritten notes, draw, underline, circle important information, and mark up documents naturally. Perfect for: β€’ Study materials β€’ Lecture notes β€’ Work documents β€’ Forms and worksheets β€’ Research papers β€’ Presentations β€’ Personal documents ## ANNOTATE IMAGES Import an image and use your Apple Pencil to write, draw, mark up, or add notes directly on it. ## EXPORT YOUR WORK When you're finished, export your handwritten pages, PDF annotations, or marked-up images and share them wherever you need. ## PRIVATE BY DESIGN Your notes stay on your iPad. No account required. No subscription. No cloud storage. No ads. Just open the app and start writing. ## MADE FOR EVERYDAY USE Use Pencil Notes for: β€’ Class and lecture notes β€’ Meetings β€’ To-do lists β€’ Journaling β€’ Planning β€’ Brainstorming β€’ Sketching β€’ PDF annotation β€’ Document markup β€’ Personal notes ## SIMPLE BY CHOICE Pencil Notes isn't trying to replace every app on your iPad. It's a simple place to write. Open it. Pick a page. Grab your Apple Pencil. Start writing. **Pencil Notes is available for a one-time purchase β€” no recurring subscription.**

Screenshots

MindSky4 screens
Pencil Notes3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: MindSky at Free against Pencil Notes's $1.99. MindSky also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs fortnightly). Pencil Notes's advantage is chart position (#191 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 26.0). On ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

MindSky is free to download; Pencil Notes costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MindSky ships an update every 5 days, Pencil Notes fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences Β· 3 level
MindSky versus Pencil Notes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMindSkyPencil Notes
PriceFree β€” better$1.99
Update frequencyEvery 5 days β€” betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Best chart rankβ€”#191 β€” better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod β€” better
Requires iOS26.015.1 β€” better
Further details β€” not scored
Size16 MB41 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKane HastingsKliv Spahiu

In-app purchases

None

MindSky

No in-app purchases

None

Pencil Notes

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is MindSky free?
MindSky is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Pencil Notes free?
Pencil Notes costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do MindSky or Pencil Notes have ads?
Neither MindSky nor Pencil Notes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MindSky or Pencil Notes?
MindSky ships an update every 5 days, and Pencil Notes fortnightly. Most recently, MindSky was updated on October 16, 2026 and Pencil Notes on October 11, 2026.

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