Ready for iPhone Duo
Open it and the page gets Penjo’s iPad layouts. Held like a book, your page is on one side and the day’s plans on the other. Fold it shut and the journal closes.
Penjo: Pencil-first Journal & Planner
Your days, in your own handwriting.
Penjo is a handwritten journal and planner for Apple Pencil, one day per page. Open today’s page on your iPad, iPhone, iPhone Duo, Mac, or Vision Pro to write, sketch, plan tomorrow, and drop in photos. Your Apple Calendar events are already on the right day, and iCloud keeps every page in sync.
Try Penjo Free
New in Penjo 3.8
Penjo 3.8 has a new Liquid Glass design and is ready for iPhone Duo in every pose.
Liquid Glass
Glass toolbars and your journal’s colors, on iOS 26, iPadOS 26 and later. On iPhone, Drawing, Text and Insert are on the day page, with your journal and date in the second toolbar row.
Sticker tape
A new shape with torn ends, in any color and six patterns. Tape a photo or a note to the page.
Also in 3.8: VoiceOver reads every toolbar button with its state, and widgets support the tinted and clear Home Screen styles.
Penjo for iPhone
Journal and plan on the go with Penjo for iPhone.
Penjo for iPhone Duo
Open it like a book: your page on one side, the day’s plans on the other.
See it on iPhone Duo →
Penjo for iPad
The full Penjo experience with Apple Pencil.
Penjo for Mac
Type entries, plan your day, and search across journals on Mac.
Penjo for visionOS
Immersive journaling and planning in your space with Apple Vision Pro.
Penjo App
Tailored for you
Journalers
Write your day by hand on a fresh page. Pull in photos, locations, and reflections from Apple Journaling Suggestions, and drop them into the entry alongside map cards and image effects.
Professionals
Sync your Apple Calendar, take handwritten meeting notes, and keep everything filed by date. Export a day or a whole journal to PDF, or use .penjo files to back up and move notebooks between devices.
Students
Take lecture notes by date, set deadline reminders, and search your handwriting later. Import notes from classmates, export a whole semester as a PDF, and lock private journals with Face ID.
Creatives
Sketch ideas with Apple Pencil and build mood boards from your photos. Remove backgrounds, clip images into shapes, add Polaroid frames, and switch to dark mode with paper textures. Set up a custom tool picker with the pens you actually use.
Penjo Features
Plan your days, track habits, sync your calendar, all with Apple Pencil.
Expressive Note-taking
Draw with Apple Pencil or your finger, add typed or Scribble text, import photos, drag in content from other apps, and customize shapes. Scribble to erase and two-finger tap to undo keep editing fast.
Apple Calendar & Reminders Integration
View Apple, Google, and Exchange calendar events and reminders next to the day page and in Week and Month views. Add or edit them, check off reminders, or place them on a day sheet.
Week, Month and Year Views
See seven days side by side with their pages, events and reminders, a month of pages, or the whole year with the days you wrote on.
iCloud Sync
iCloud keeps every journal on your iPad, iPhone, Mac and Apple Vision Pro.
Text Recognition
All text in your handwritten notes is indexed and copyable as text. Text in images is also indexed.
Advanced Search
Find your notes easily by time range, or by text in text boxes, handwriting, or images.
On This Day
See what you wrote on this date in earlier years.
Protected Journals
Keep your thoughts and notes private with Face ID or Touch ID at either the journal level or app level.
Personalized Tool Picker
Build a custom tool picker with your favorite pens, colors, widths, and opacity.
Creative Image Editing
Remove backgrounds, add Polaroid-style photo frames, clip with shapes, flip, and make creative stickers.
Sticker Tape
Tape a photo or a note to the page. Sticker tape is a shape with torn ends, in any color and six patterns.
Apple Image Playground Integration
Generate images from your drawings, photos, or text with Apple Image Playground.
Map Cards
Add Map Cards to pin locations and annotate them.
Customization
Give each journal a cover color, a paper color, and lined, grid or dotted paper.
Timely Reminders
Set reminders to plan your day, reflect on achievements, or update your diary.
Habit Tracking
The month page is a canvas for trackers and charts. Mark each day or interval to track your habits or important dates.
Dark Mode
The paper turns dark and your writing stays readable, for journaling at night or in low light.
iPhone Duo
Open it like a book: your page on one side of the fold, the day’s events and reminders on the other. Fold it shut and the journal closes.
Penjo App
Penjo is a handwritten journal and planner for Apple Pencil. Each day gets its own page for your notes, plans, sketches, and the things you want to remember about today.
Frequently Asked Questions
For more questions and feature requests, use the form on this page.
Can I use Penjo as a notebook or for undated entries?
Yes. Penjo’s “List Mode” turns any journal into a notebook-style experience: navigation skips empty days, so you see one continuous flow of entries instead of calendar gaps. The dates still exist as a chronological index, but they stay out of your way. See “How does List Mode work and how do I enable it?” below for setup.
Can I use Penjo without Apple Pencil on my iPad?
Sure, all functionality is available without Apple Pencil too. When Apple Pencil is unavailable and “Draw with Finger” is enabled on the Tool Picker, all tap actions are performed with a two-finger tap (e.g. two-finger tap to insert text, an image, a shape or a map card, or to select and move items) while single-finger actions are used to draw. If “Draw with Finger” is disabled, you cannot draw but can still add or edit boxes (text, image, shape and map card).
Does Penjo work on iPhone Duo?
Yes. Penjo 3.8 supports iPhone Duo in every pose. Open it and the page uses Penjo’s iPad layouts. Held like a book, your page is on one side and the day’s events and reminders on the other. Set down half open, the plans stand up and the page lies flat to write on. Closed, the outer display keeps the iPhone tools. Fold it shut from the book pose and the journal closes. Calendar events and Reminders are part of Penjo Unlimited. The iPhone Duo page on this site has screenshots of every pose.
Why can’t I add drawings in the Mac app?
Drawing on Mac is on the roadmap. Meanwhile you can use the rectangular selection tool to move, copy or delete drawings.
What do 14 day sheets mean for the free plan?
On the free plan, you can have up to 14 non-empty day sheets. In other words, you can have items on 14 different days. Once you reach the limit, you will be asked to switch to a paid plan. If you delete the contents of one of those days, that day sheet frees up and you can use another.
Do I lose my data if I cancel my subscription?
No. Your data stays on your device. Paid features may become unavailable until you renew, but renewing restores access to everything you had.
Is Family Sharing available?
Family Sharing is available on the monthly subscription plan. The yearly and lifetime plans do not support Family Sharing.
Does the monthly subscription automatically cancel if I choose the lifetime option?
No. You need to cancel your subscription after you purchase the Penjo Unlimited Lifetime option.
Pricing Plans
Start free. Upgrade when you need more.
| Penjo Features | FREE | UNLIMITED |
|---|---|---|
| Apple Journaling Suggestions | ||
| Apple Pencil & Finger Drawing | ||
| Advanced Search | ||
| Handwriting Recognition | ||
| Widgets* | ||
| Image Effects | ||
| Personalized Pencil Tool Picker | ||
| Dark Mode | ||
| Map Cards | ||
| Insert Text | ||
| Insert Image | ||
| Insert Shapes and Sticker Tape | ||
| Adjustable Canvas Space | ||
| Penjo App for iPhone | ||
| iPhone Duo Layouts | ||
| Penjo App for Mac | ||
| Penjo App for Apple Vision Pro | ||
| Image Generation (Apple Image Playground)* | ||
| Journals | Up to 3 | Unlimited |
| Daily Entries | Up to 14 | Unlimited |
| Pages per Entry | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| iCloud Sync | No | |
| Calendar Events Integration | No | |
| Apple Reminders Integration | No | |
| Password-Protected Journals* | No | |
| Import / Export Penjo Notes | No | |
| Export to PDF* | No |
* Not available in visionOS: Widgets, Image Generation (Apple Image Playground), Password-Protected Journals, and Export to PDF.
Monthly $2.99/mo Yearly $19.99/yr (7-day free trial) Lifetime $39.99 one-time
Prices shown in USD. Local pricing may vary by App Store region. The monthly plan supports Family Sharing.
