Skratch vs Pencil Notes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Skratch
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Skratch is a calm, paper-inspired notebook for longform writing and fleeting thoughts. Five cream pages, a warm wax-seal palette, and a typeface that feels like ink on paper — nothing to set up, nothing to distract. • Five notebook pages, always a swipe away • Mark up your words with a hand-drawn pen feel: underline, strike through, circle • Moon-phase page dots that keep your place • Choose your paper: blank, dotted, ruled, or squared • Syncs privately through your own iCloud — across iPhone and Mac • No accounts, no ads, no tracking. Your words stay yours. Skratch keeps out of the way so you can just write.
Pencil Notes
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# Pencil Notes — 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 — all without subscriptions or complicated setup. ## WRITE NATURALLY Pencil Notes is built around the feeling of writing on real paper. • Write with Apple Pencil • Create unlimited notebooks and pages • Choose blank, lined, dotted, or grid paper • Use a pressure-sensitive pen • Highlight important ideas • Undo and redo with ease • 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: • Study materials • Lecture notes • Work documents • Forms and worksheets • Research papers • Presentations • 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: • Class and lecture notes • Meetings • To-do lists • Journaling • Planning • Brainstorming • Sketching • PDF annotation • Document markup • 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 — no recurring subscription.**
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Skratch at Free against Pencil Notes's $1.99. Pencil Notes's advantage is chart position (#191 vs unranked) and device support (3 vs 1). On 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
Skratch is free to download; Pencil Notes costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
| Parameter | Skratch | Pencil Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $1.99 |
| Update frequency | — | Fortnightly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Best chart rank | — | #191 — better |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 79 MB | 41 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Justin Marshall | Kliv Spahiu |
In-app purchases
Skratch
No in-app purchases
Pencil Notes
No in-app purchases









