Pencil Planner vs Planmore

Pencil Planner

• iPad users who want to handwrite a planner with Apple Pencil
• People who want handwriting layered over a digital calendar
• Paper-planner users moving to a tablet

Planmore

• iPhone and iPad users who like the layout of a paper planner
• Keeping events, tasks, Reminders and notes in a single app
• People who prefer a one-time purchase to a subscription

Pencil Planner

• iPhone and iPad only. The vendor's roadmap lists a Mac app as an upcoming feature.
• The free version is limited and the vendor does not say where the limits fall. There is no lifetime purchase, only monthly and yearly plans.
• Planner data is stored on the vendor's own Pencil Planner Cloud. There is no iCloud, Dropbox or Google Drive backup option.
• The vendor's upgrade page quotes $24.99 a year for Pro, while the US App Store lists Pro Yearly at $19.99.

Planmore

• The vendor's page and store listing describe an iPhone and iPad app that syncs through iCloud; they mention no Android, web or Windows version.
• Agenda views, unlimited task lists, subtasks, shared task lists, stickers and schedule export are listed as advanced features that need an upgrade.
• The US App Store shows a $19.99 "Premium Version" purchase next to the $29.99 "Lifetime Subscription" without explaining the difference.
• The store description lists "No Ads" among the paid features, while the 4.8.7 release notes say banner and interstitial ads were removed for free users.

Pencil Planner

Handwriting on the calendar

Plans are written directly over and around calendar events with Apple Pencil, Logitech Crayon or a finger, including priorities, time blocks and sketches.

Day, week, month and year layouts

With the Version 2 layouts, schedule handwriting is shared between the Day and Week views, and a day's highlights also appear in the Week and Month views.

Calendar events from the device

Events come from the accounts connected in the iPad or iPhone Calendar settings, so iCloud, Google, Outlook and Yahoo calendars appear once added there.

Apple Reminders lists

The Version 2 Day tab shows lists from Apple Reminders next to the schedule. Lists are still added and edited in the Reminders app.

Linked notes

Handwritten or typed notes can be linked to a date or a calendar event, organized in folders and pinned. Handwritten notes take blank, lined or dot-grid pages.

Drawing tools

Pens, pencils and highlighters have adjustable colors and thickness. Handwriting can be moved, erased by whole stroke or in part, and zoomed for precise writing.

Planmore

Planner-style calendar views

Day, week, month and year views that can be flipped through like a paper planner. Additional agenda views are part of the paid upgrade.

Events

Events can be given custom colors, recurrence rules and reminders, and other people can be invited to them.

Task manager

Tasks carry a due date, priority and reminder, and overdue and pending tasks are tracked in one place. Unlimited lists, subtasks and list sharing need the upgrade.

iOS Reminders

Items from Apple's Reminders app are shown inside the planner next to Planmore's own events and tasks.

Notes

Rich-text notes organized with custom labels. Adding more photos and canvases to a note is listed as an advanced feature.

Widgets and iCloud sync

Widgets show the schedule at a glance, and data syncs automatically between devices signed in to the same iCloud account.

Pencil Planner

• Free$0

  A limited version of the planner. The vendor does not publish exactly which features or how many entries it includes.

• Pro Monthly$4.99

  per month

  Pro Access to all planner features, with unlimited entries, storage and devices plus cloud backup and sync.

• Pro Yearly$19.99

  per year

  The same Pro Access billed once a year, as listed among the in-app purchases on the US App Store.

Planmore

• Free$0

  Calendar views, events, tasks with due dates and priorities, iOS Reminders, notes with labels, widgets and iCloud sync.

• Monthly$2.99

  per month

  Premium by subscription: agenda views, unlimited task lists, subtasks, shared task lists, stickers, schedule export, and more fonts and themes.

• Yearly$14.99

  per year

  The same premium features on a yearly subscription.

• Premium Version$19.99

  billing basis not shown on the US App Store listing

  Listed among the in-app purchases on the US App Store. The listing does not say how it differs from the Lifetime purchase.

• Lifetime Subscription$29.99

  one-time purchase

  A single payment that the listing describes as lifetime access to all advanced features.

Pencil Planner

• Annual discount

  About 67% less on the yearly plan

  The US App Store lists Pro Monthly at $4.99 and Pro Yearly at $19.99. Twelve monthly payments come to $59.88, so the yearly plan costs about 67% less.

• Other savings

  $10 off the first year for buyers of the original app

  People who bought the earlier Pencil Planner & Draw Calendar app can email support for a promo code worth $10 off their first year of Pro.

Planmore

• Annual discount

  About 58% less on the yearly subscription

  The US App Store lists the Monthly subscription at $2.99 and the Yearly one at $14.99. Twelve monthly payments would come to $35.88.

• Lifetime license

  Lifetime access for $29.99

  The App Store description offers a one-time payment for lifetime access to all advanced features, listed as Lifetime Subscription at $29.99.