Comparison

Pencil Box vs Noteshelf

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

Head to head
About

Pencil Box

Unleash your creativity with a versatile drawing tool. Select from various brushes, pens, and shapes, customize their properties, and utilize layers for complex designs. Import and export your artwork seamlessly.

Highlights
  • Multiple drawing tools (airbrush, pen, pencil, line, shapes)
  • Adjustable tool color, size, and transparency
  • Layer support with transparency and visibility control
  • Import drawings from Mail and iTunes
  • Export drawings via iTunes
  • Sync tool preferences with iCloud
Features
Read full description

Pencil Box is a useful drawing tool that allows you to display your artistic talent. You can: - choose your preferred tool - airbrush - pen - pencil - line - rectangle - ellipse - eraser - control tool color, size, and transparency - add layers and control layer transparency and visiblity - import and export drawings via iTunes - import drawings from mail - sync tool preferences between devices using iCloud Pencil Box is an active development. New features are always in the works.

About

Noteshelf

Create handwritten notes, annotate PDFs, and record audio with this app. It offers extensive customization for notebooks, a variety of writing tools, and AI-powered features for summarization and translation. Organize your thoughts and documents seamlessly.

Highlights
  • Handwritten note creation
  • PDF annotation and markup
  • Audio recording with notes
  • AI-powered summarization and translation
  • Customizable notebooks and templates
  • Handwriting to text conversion
  • Document scanning and import
Features
Read full description

Write. Plan. Study. Work. Create. Noteshelf 3 brings natural handwriting, powerful AI, PDF annotation, audio recording and planning together in one beautiful app for iPad, iPhone and Mac. Free to start. FOR STUDENTS • Take lecture and class notes with lifelike pens, pencils and highlighters • Annotate textbooks, worksheets, slides and PDFs • Record audio while you write, so you never miss a word • Use Noteshelf AI to summarize and explain what you've learned FOR PROFESSIONALS • Capture meeting notes and record important discussions • Mark up contracts, reports and presentations • Present your notes on an external display with a laser pointer • Export and share notes as PDFs or images in one tap FOR PLANNERS & JOURNALERS • 200+ templates for digital planners, journals, diaries and trackers • Plan your days, track goals and keep a personal journal • Decorate pages with stickers, photos and custom covers WRITE NATURALLY • A smooth, natural handwriting experience built for Apple Pencil • Write, type, draw and sketch on the same page • Turn handwriting into text and search your notes in 65 languages • Choose lined, dotted or grid paper in any color WORK WITH PDFs & DOCUMENTS • Import and annotate PDFs, Word documents, PowerPoint files and images • Highlight, mark up, write and draw directly on your documents • Scan paper documents with the built-in scanner NOTESHELF AI • Summarize handwritten pages in seconds • Explain difficult terms and concepts • Translate text into other languages • Generate notes on any topic RECORD & REMEMBER • Record lectures, meetings and ideas alongside your handwritten notes STAY ORGANIZED & SECURE • Folders, subfolders, tags, bookmarks and a table of contents • Link notebooks together to connect ideas • Lock notes with a password, Face ID or Touch ID • Sync across iPad, iPhone and Mac with iCloud • Automatic backup to Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox or WebDAV YOUR NOTES, YOUR WAY • Custom notebook covers and a toolbar you can rearrange • Presentation mode, dark mode and flexible page layouts FREE TO START Create up to 3 notebooks with core pens and paper for free. Upgrade to Noteshelf Premium for unlimited notebooks, all templates, handwriting recognition, auto-backup and 100 monthly AI credits. Write beautifully. Work smarter. Stay organized. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula

Screenshots

Pencil Box4 screens
Noteshelf4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Noteshelf at 57% against Pencil Box's 0%. Noteshelf also leads on ratings volume (7.2K vs 1) and update cadence (every 4 days vs fortnightly). Pencil Box's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 17) and rating (5.0 vs 4.6). On price, ads and device support 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. Noteshelf sells 17 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days. Pencil Box asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pencil Box holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Noteshelf has 7.2K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 0% of Pencil Box's written reviews are positive against 57% of Noteshelf's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pencil Box ships an update fortnightly, Noteshelf every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Pencil Box versus Noteshelf: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPencil BoxNoteshelf
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better4.6 (7.2K ratings)
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews57.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings17.2K — better
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS10.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB558 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFays Lane LabsFluid Touch Pte. Ltd.

Customer experience

Pencil Box

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Noteshelf

All ratings7,165 ratings
Positive88.6%
Neutral3.3%
Negative8.1%
Written reviews1,059 reviews
Positive57.2%
Neutral10.4%
Negative32.4%

Bugs and requests

Pencil Box

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Noteshelf

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Notebooks failing to open or sync correctly
  • Handwriting recognition not working as expected
  • Imported PDFs losing formatting or functionality
  • Unexpected loss of data or notes
  • Compatibility issues with older devices or operating systems

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add ability to create folders within notebooks
  • Improve page organization and navigation
  • Implement a more intuitive color picker and pen customization
  • Introduce a history/undo feature for linked pages
  • Add support for custom stickers and templates
Show 1 more
  • Optimize performance and reduce loading times

In-app purchases

None

Pencil Box

No in-app purchases

17 purchases

Noteshelf

Subscriptions15
  • Noteshelf 3 Weekly Premium$4.997 Days
  • Noteshelf 3 Weekly Premium3 Days trial$4.997 Days
  • Noteshelf 3 Weekly Premium$7.997 Days
Show 12 more
  • Noteshelf3 Weekly Premium3 Days trial$7.997 Days
  • Noteshelf3 Monthly Premium$9.991 Month
  • Noteshelf3 Monthly Premium$19.991 Month
  • Noteshelf 3 Yearly Premium3 Days trial$19.991 Year
  • Noteshelf3 Yearly Premium3 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Noteshelf3 Yearly Premium$39.991 Year
  • Noteshelf 3 Yearly Premium3 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • Noteshelf Premium Yearly$49.991 Year
  • Noteshelf3 Yearly Premium3 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • Noteshelf 3 Yearly Premium1 Month trial$69.991 Year
  • Noteshelf3 Yearly Premium$79.991 Year
  • Premium3 Days trial$99.991 Year
One-time2
  • Premium for Noteshelf 2 users$9.99
  • Noteshelf 3 Premium - Lifetime$14.99

Questions

Is Pencil Box free?
Pencil Box is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Noteshelf free?
Noteshelf is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Pencil Box or Noteshelf?
Pencil Box is rated higher. Pencil Box averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Noteshelf averages 4.6 from 7.2K ratings.
Do Pencil Box or Noteshelf have ads?
Neither Pencil Box nor Noteshelf shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pencil Box or Noteshelf?
Pencil Box ships an update fortnightly, and Noteshelf every 4 days. Most recently, Pencil Box was updated on October 23, 2026 and Noteshelf on October 29, 2026.

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