Pencil Planner vs PlanWiz

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

PlanWiz

• People who want a pre-built planner layout instead of a blank page
• iPad users who like to plan by hand with Apple Pencil
• Keeping a planner, habit tracker and journal in a single app

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.

PlanWiz

• There is no web or Windows version. The Mac app requires macOS 12 and an Apple M1 chip or later.
• The website publishes no prices. Paid options appear only as in-app purchases in the app stores.
• The free tier covers part of the template library; the full library and advanced features need the paid upgrade.

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.

PlanWiz

Template library

The website counts more than 1,000 planner and journal templates, covering daily and weekly planners, agendas, meal plans, study plans and more. Each can be edited after you pick it.

Daily, weekly and monthly planning

Plan a day hour by hour, a week at a glance or a month in one view, and switch between the timeframes.

To-do list with reminders

Capture tasks, set priorities and deadlines, attach notes and add a reminder to any individual task or habit check-in.

Habit tracker

Daily habit check-ins with streak tracking and a visual record of progress, built into the same planner layouts.

Journal and mood tracker

Daily journal entries, gratitude prompts and a mood log sit in the same app as the planner, so past entries can be reviewed for patterns.

Customization and export

Change fonts, colors, covers and layouts, add photos and stickers, and write by hand with Apple Pencil on iPad. Pages export as PDF or PNG for printing or sharing.

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.

PlanWiz

• Free$0

  Core planning features, customization and a share of the templates. The vendor says there is no trial countdown.

• PlanWiz Weekly Subscription$3.99

  per week

  The paid upgrade on weekly billing, which unlocks the full template library and advanced features.

• PlanWiz Yearly Subscription$39.99

  per year

  The same upgrade billed yearly. The US App Store also lists a Yearly Subscription Offer at $19.99 without stating its terms.

• One-Time Purchase pack$99.99

  one-time purchase

  Listed among the in-app purchases on the US App Store. The listing does not describe what the pack includes.

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.

PlanWiz

• Lifetime license

  One-Time Purchase pack at $99.99

  The US App Store lists a One-Time Purchase pack for $99.99 next to the weekly and yearly subscriptions. The listing does not describe its contents.