CollaNote vs Penbook
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
CollaNote
Handwriting and PDF markup notes for iPad, iPhone and Mac
Penbook
Handwriting notebooks and live planners for iPad and iPhone
Where they differ
- CollaNote starts at $13.90 one-time (Lifetime Premium). Penbook starts at $4.99 - $39.99 per in-app item (basis not shown); $49.99 lifetime.
- Only CollaNote lists a macOS app.
- CollaNote also covers transcription.
- Penbook also covers daily notes.
At a glance
| CollaNote | Penbook | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $13.90 one-time (Lifetime Premium) | $4.99 - $39.99 per in-app item (basis not shown); $49.99 lifetime |
| Free plan | Free to download and use on iPad, iPhone and Mac with no account. Neither the site nor the App Store listing says which features the Lifetime Premium purchase unlocks. | All of Penbook's stationery and writing features in a single notebook, free for as long as you like. More notebooks and exports need Penbook Premium. |
| Free trial | None listed | 7-day free trial when upgrading with the yearly Penbook Premium subscription. |
| macOS | ||
| iOS | ||
| Made by | Zauberberg Lab LLC | Pencil Research (User Camp Inc.) |
| Price read from | apps.apple.com | apps.apple.com |
| Checked | Oct 6, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Who each one suits
CollaNote
- Students handwriting notes on an iPad with Apple Pencil
- Marking up lecture slides and PDFs while recording audio
- Keeping planners and flashcards in the same app as notes
Penbook
- People who keep planners, journals or bullet journals on an iPad
- Students who want subject paper such as Cornell, graph or chemistry
- Annotating PDF planners and worksheets with Apple Pencil
Worth knowing
CollaNote
- Apple devices only: the listing covers iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision and Macs with an Apple M1 chip or later.
- Neither the site nor the App Store listing itemizes which features need Lifetime Premium.
- The App Store shows four Premium prices from $6.95 to $13.90 without saying who qualifies for each.
- Collaboration requires a login tied to an email address or phone number; other use needs no account.
Penbook
- The free version is limited to a single notebook; unlimited notebooks and exports need Penbook Premium.
- The US App Store lists Penbook Premium at several amounts from $4.99 to $39.99 without stating the billing period for each.
- Penbook is built for iPhone and iPad. There is no Android, Windows or web version, and the App Store marks the Mac build as not verified for macOS.
- The Penbook 8 Live Paper engine appears only on iOS 27 or iPadOS 27, and only in newly created books.
Key features
CollaNote
- Handwriting with Apple Pencil
- The site lists 50+ pens and brushes with Apple Pencil support, along with shape and diagram recognition that tidies what you draw.
- PDF, slide and document markup
- Imports PDFs, PowerPoint slides and Word documents to write, highlight and sketch on, leaving the original file unchanged.
- Audio recording synced to notes
- Records audio while you write. Tapping a word afterwards jumps playback to the moment it was written, and AI turns the recording into a transcript.
- Translation and calculator
- Translates a selected phrase into 90+ languages with audio pronunciation, and turns handwritten equations into step-by-step solutions.
- Planners and flashcards
- Hyperlinked digital planners, habit trackers and to-do lists sit in the same document as notes, and flashcard decks can be made, pinned and shared.
- Collaboration and community
- Real-time collaboration works after logging in, and Public Rooms and a community library let users share notes and flashcards with others.
Penbook
- Live Paper planners
- Stationery that updates itself: a day planner with a live timeline, a weekly planner that shows connected calendars, and monthly and yearly planners that track the current date.
- Over 400 stationery types
- Ruled, graph, dot, Cornell, music staff, chemistry, storyboard and engineering paper among others, with adjustable density, margins and layout. Each page of a notebook can differ.
- Apple Pencil inking
- Writing with Apple Pencil, a stylus or a finger, with shape recognition and a lasso that resizes, recolors, reflows and straightens ink or copies handwriting out as text.
- PDF import and export
- PDFs import as notebooks or as custom stationery, selected pages can be dropped into notes, and a notebook or the whole library exports as vector PDF.
- Handwriting search and Siri
- Handwritten notes can be searched for words or phrases. Siri can find something in a notebook or take a note that lands in the Inbox notebook.
- On-device AI and page history
- With Apple Intelligence, to-dos written on a page become Reminders without notes leaving the device, and each page keeps a local history that can be rewound.
Plans
CollaNote
CollaNote$0
Free download for iPad, iPhone and Apple silicon Macs, usable without an account. Its limits are not spelled out.
Lifetime Premium$13.90
one-time purchase
One-time in-app purchase on the US App Store, which also lists a $9.69 Welcome Offer and $6.95 sale and loyal-user versions.
Penbook
Free$0
Every stationery type and writing feature in one notebook, with no time limit.
Penbook Premium$4.99 - $39.99
per item on the US App Store; billing basis not shown
Unlimited notebooks and exports plus new stationery and covers. Described as a yearly subscription, but the listing shows several amounts without periods.
Penbook Premium Lifetime$49.99
one-time in-app purchase on the US App Store
The same Premium features as a single purchase with no renewal.
Ways to pay less
CollaNote
- Lifetime license
Lifetime Premium as a one-time purchase
Premium is sold as a one-time in-app purchase, listed at $13.90 on the US App Store alongside a $9.69 Lifetime Premium Welcome Offer.
Penbook
- Lifetime license
Penbook Premium as a lifetime purchase
Penbook Premium can be bought as a one-time in-app purchase in place of the yearly subscription. The US App Store lists Penbook Premium Lifetime at $49.99.
