Penbook: Paper Planner & Notes

Name: Penbook: Paper Planner & Notes
Rating: 4.6 (44420 reviews)
Author: Pencil Research

By: Pencil Research

Journal, Notebook & Study

Features & Capabilities

Penbook turns your iPad into a powerful notebook with Live Paper and 400+ stationery styles. Write naturally with Apple Pencil, import PDFs for quick annotation, and customize covers so every notebook looks and feels unique.

Stay organized with smart planners and handwriting search. The app includes a monthly planner calendar, a live day timeline, and shape recognition to snap strokes into perfect shapes, all in one place.

User Growth & Download Statistics

App Education Writing Task Management

By:

Pencil Research

Rating:

4.60

(44,420) 71 new ratings

Version:

7.4.2 Last updated: 2026-05-29

Version code:

886167429

Creation date:

2019-09-24

Compatible devices:

Size:

115.23MB

URLs:

Website ,Privacy policy

Full description:

Source:

Apple Apps Store

Data ingested on:

2026-06-27

Compare stats and ranking:

Ranking

# 6,819 ▼ 3

Other rankings

#10 in Neat Notetakers

#18 in Paths to Productivity

#20 in Level Up Your Life

#24 in author keyword 13 ▼ 1

#27 in notebook keyword 24 ▲ 4

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For Developers

Monetize with App Pass Boost with Extension Booster

Contact the developer

Chrome-Stats does not own this Apple app. Please use these information below to contact the Apple app developer.

Developed by:

Pencil Research

Apple Apps Store

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/penbook-paper-planner-notes/id1473064295

Website:

https://penbook.app

User Reviews

Users praise Penbook for a natural Apple Pencil writing experience, a wide range of templates, and organizing multiple notebooks. However, recurring issues include iCloud sync failures and data loss, crashes after updates, limited page management, and weak PDF handling. Some users love the pens and design, but stability and data risk significantly dampen overall value.

Pros

Smooth writing experience with Apple Pencil and a natural feel
Wide range of templates and easy creation of multiple notebooks
Feels like writing on paper and serves as a strong replacement for traditional notebooks
Excellent pens and color options with an intuitive overall design

Cons

iCloud sync failures across devices (red cloud icon) and risk of data loss
Crashes and stability issues after updates (e.g., long-pressing tools can crash the app)
Poor page management (inability to delete pages/notebooks or rename books)
Weak PDF handling (crashes when adding large PDFs; no OCR or easy text copying)

Recent reviews

I really like this app and its apple pencil integration is wonderful. The only thing stopping me from a 5 star review is structural and organizational tools like stickers, washi tape, shape recognition and photos are limited and inconvenient to use in their current state. An example being you can’t change the width of washi tape or duplicate it. The basics are 10/10 but with the extras being as they are the app is competing with real paper 1 for 1 and sometimes i think i would rather the notebook i don’t have to charge. It also crashes semi consistantly with bigger notebooks but i have never lost any work so not a huge deal. Overall great app. Keep improving it and i will continue to use it.

by Ga*****, 2026-06-23

I loved this app when I first got the lifetime subscription in 2024, but since all the updates were added, I’m having difficulty with the app. It lags, freezes, and crashes quite often. It shows old books that were deleted and purged. The iCloud sync never works despite the series of troubleshooting that I’ve attempted on my own. The worst part is, I’ve tried reaching out for support on two separate occasions and no one in development seems to care. I really expected more after paying $30 for all the features. It seems I might have to find another app that supports my needs.