Penzu Review

Penzu Review: My Thoughts After 12 Years of Use

I’ve been a Penzu user for more than a decade at this point. Some of you might have noticed that I originally published this review back in 2012. So I’ve had a lot of time to live with this tool on a daily basis and check how good it really is as your personal journal.

What you’re looking at right now is a completely updated Penzu review for 2024.

Is it still viable when compared to the newcomers to this market? Keep reading to find out:

What is Penzu?

Penzu is an online journal designed to cater to those who love documenting their thoughts, experiences, and memories digitally.

Penzu

You can write unlimited entries and enhance them with images. Everything’s accessible through mobile apps on both iOS and Android, ensuring you can jot down ideas or memories on the go.

Entries are also autosaved, reducing the worry of losing your thoughts due to an unexpected interruption.

Penzu has a bit of a bare-bones nature, though. The tool offers basic font choices, allowing for some personalization, but not a lot.

For privacy, there’s a journal locking feature. You can also search through your journal to find entries easily and even print them out if you prefer a physical copy.

Why journal at all?

If you’re like most people then you might think that writing a journal/diary is child’s play. That there’s no possible value of such thing for a grownup. Well, think again.

I always say that keeping a personal journal is the best way of warming up your writing muscle in the morning.

Moreover, the sole concept of writing in the morning is one I’m constantly advertising everywhere I can. I think that I mentioned it in at least five of my posts on different blogs.

Anyway, what’s the deal?

We all like to feel productive throughout our workdays, right? But those initial hours (also known as the morning) can be tough. We’re a bit confused, not up to our full potential and all.

Here’s where a good warm-up comes into play (a warm-up for our brain, that is). And for me, there’s just nothing better than writing a journal.

Mostly because it forces your brain to start working, but at the same time it’s nothing tough, so there’s no struggle to get going. A journal is simply something you can write in whatever state of mind you’re in at the moment.

And here’s where Penzu comes into play.

Personally, I don’t see the point of keeping a physical journal in the 21st century. But keeping it as DOC files doesn’t quite cut it either. Your content can always get viewed by other people if you do that, which is something I’m sure you don’t want to happen.

That’s why an online/cloud solution of some kind is the only sensible way here. And Penzu fits the description perfectly. It’s easy to use, secure, and available worldwide.

Features of Penzu

Penzu offers three main accounts: Penzu free Penzu Pro, and Penzu Pro+.

If you don’t want to spend any money then Penzu free will surely be enough to make you happy. There are no apparent downsides to the free plan and everyone who just wants a simple online journal, will find it incredibly useful.

Features in the free plan:

  • You can write as many journal entries as you want, capturing every detail of your life without limitation.
  • Enhance your entries by adding images, making each memory even more vivid.
  • With mobile apps for both iOS and Android, your journal is accessible anywhere, at any time.
  • The autosave feature ensures you never lose a word, saving your progress automatically as you write.
  • Personalize your journal with a selection of basic font choices, allowing you to match the style to your mood.
  • Protect your privacy with a journal locking feature, ensuring your personal reflections stay confidential.
  • Keep track of how much you’ve written with the word count calculation, perfect for setting and achieving writing goals.
  • Send a message to your future self with Penzu Time Capsule, a thoughtful way to reflect on your personal growth over time.
  • Share your entries discreetly via private email or with a wider audience through a public share link, depending on your preference.
  • Quickly find past entries with a search function, making it easy to revisit memories or review your progress.
  • Print out your journal entries for a physical copy of your thoughts, perfect for keeping a tangible record of your life.

Penzu Pro has everything that the free one does, plus an additional set of features:

  • Enjoy the freedom to create unlimited journals, each dedicated to different aspects of your life or various interests perhaps.
  • Keep your thoughts secure with encrypted journal locking.
  • Personalize your journal with custom covers, making each one uniquely yours and easily distinguishable.
  • Customize your writing pad and backgrounds for a more personalized and comfortable writing experience.
  • Use entry tagging to organize your thoughts and memories efficiently.
  • Set custom writing reminders to maintain a consistent journaling habit or to remember to capture important moments.
  • Add an extra layer of privacy with individual entry locking, allowing you to secure sensitive entries even within a locked journal.
  • Export your journals or specific entries as PDFs.
  • Highlight your most significant or favorite entries by starring them, enabling quick access to your cherished memories.

Lastly, the final tier – Penzu Pro+ – comes with some added flair on top of all of the above:

  • Access a handwriting fonts bundle to give your digital entries a personal touch.
  • Protect your journals with military-grade encryption.
  • Keep track of changes and edits with entry version history, allowing you to revisit previous versions of your entries.
  • Personalize your journaling experience with custom UI themes.
  • Dive into a distraction-free writing environment with fullscreen “Zen” mode.
  • Benefit from premium support.

Journaling with Penzu

Penzu’s user interface is straightforward and welcoming, allowing you to begin writing immediately after signing up. The main page shows a blank space ready for your thoughts and stories.

Penzu entry

Despite its ease of use, however, it’s worth noting that the tool’s design hasn’t seen significant updates in the last ten years, giving it a somewhat dated feel. However, its simplicity remains a strong point.

That said, though, the interface of the iOS app is more than fine. I can’t see anything wrong with it, and it seems that the developers worked on that one a lot more than on the web version.

You have numerous customization options at your disposal, making it possible for each entry to stand out with its own flair. You can add photos directly from your computer, and adjusting the font and style of your text lets you highlight specific sections, effectively.

Penzu UI

Penzu also offers tag functionality, similar to other content platforms on the web, which is especially useful for organizing a large number of entries and finding specific content quickly (only available in Pro).

A distinctive feature of Penzu Pro is the ability to customize pad styles and backgrounds, allowing for a personalized writing space. You can select from pre-designed backgrounds or upload your own images to create a unique environment for your entries.

Backgrounds:

Penzu Backgrounds

Pads:

Penzu pads

Penzu Pro has also introduced entry version history, enabling you to access and review previous versions of your entries. While this may not be crucial for personal journaling, it becomes invaluable for work-related documentation, providing a safety net for your ideas and edits.

Sharing is another key feature. By default, entries are private, visible only to you. However, Penzu gives you the option to share your writings with others by entering their email addresses. Shared entries also allow for comments, making it easier to receive feedback on your shared thoughts.

Penzu sharing options

In summary, Penzu offers a user-friendly platform that, despite its somewhat outdated interface, provides a wealth of customization and privacy options to enhance your writing experience.

Pricing and plans

As I mentioned above, Penzu comes in three flavors:

  • Penzu free
  • Penzu Pro – at $19.99 per year
  • Penzu Pro+ – at $49.99 per year

Simple rules, not much more I can say about the pricing. Oh yes, there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Okay, I can still comment on one thing probably…the jump from Pro to Pro+ is significant. Honestly, I don’t see much value in to paying $30 more per year for these additional Pro+ features (handwriting fonts, military grade encryption, version history, Zen mode and support). Or maybe I’m just not the target for a tool of this kind.

The pros

✅ Penzu is a great solution for many reasons. It’s easy to use, affordable, and available online wherever you are.

✅ There’s no learning curve in the tool itself. The nature of the tool is also pretty stripped down, so it’s not going to be intimidating to less savvy users.

✅ The free plan is going to be enough for 90% of users. And the, $19 a year is roughly 6 cents a day anyway.

The cons

👎 A bit dated interface of the web app really. If you like your interfaces a bit more slick, you’re perhaps better off with something more modern. Though the iOS app interface is totally fine – it’s only the web one that looks old.

👎 The Pro+ plan probably not worth it.

Penzu vs the competition

Over the years, a lot of new journaling apps have come out, and many of them are more modern and blend better with the operating systems they’re designed for. Apps like Day One, Mental Walk, and even the Journal app built into iOS devices offer smoother experiences. These apps not only look and feel up-to-date, but they also help you start writing with creative prompts. For example, they might ask you to list the three main things you did today or what made you smile.

Mental Walk
Mental Walk UI on Mac

While Penzu is a solid choice, especially for those who value simplicity and privacy, it’s good to know that there are other options out there. These newer apps can be more appealing if you’re looking for a journal that feels like a part of your phone or computer, and if you like getting a little nudge now and then about what to write. Remember, the best journaling app is the one that fits what you need and like to use, so it’s worth checking out a few to find your perfect match.

In the meantime, I really recommend you at least checking out Penzu and seeing for yourself how quality the service is. If you don’t want to spend money right away, you don’t have to. The free account will get you going too, only without the cool additional features.

Let me know if you have any questions about Penzu or other personal journaling apps.