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1. Connect your cloud storage
Sign up for free and connect Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive in one click. Browse your folders and select the one where your tablet saves its notes. That's the entire setup.
2. Write the way you always have
Use your e-ink tablet normally. Boox, reMarkable, Supernote -- any device that syncs notes as PDFs to cloud storage works. No new habits, no extra steps on the device.
3. Penlo picks up your notes automatically
The moment a new or updated PDF lands in your watched folder, Penlo detects it in real time. No manual triggers, no scheduled scans -- it just happens.
4. AI reads your handwriting
Penlo runs your note through Google Gemini Vision, which handles cursive, messy handwriting, mixed languages, and multi-page documents. No daily cap. Every note is processed in full.
Your notes land wherever you need them
Each processed note is pushed to the destinations you've configured -- Notion as a structured page, your Obsidian vault as a Markdown file, in your inbox as a formatted email, or all three at once. Everything you've ever written is searchable from the Penlo dashboard.
Features
Penlo brings you everything your e-ink tablet should have shipped with
Instantly searchable
Search across every word you've ever written, from any notebook, from any date. Powered by Postgres full-text search with tsvector indexing — fast, accurate, and private. No sending your notes to a third-party search index.
Real-time cloud sync
These items are not part of a grid, you will need to adjust them one by one. Ensure that the images have the same size to create a cohesive and unified visual appearance.
Gemini-powered AI OCR
Most tablets limit how many pages you can recognise per day. Penlo gives you unlimited. Google Gemini Vision processes each page image and returns full text with word-level bounding box coordinates.
Intelligent text cleanup
Three post-OCR passes, each independently toggleable from your settings. Turn on all three for a clean, polished output. Turn off all three if you want the raw OCR text exactly as read. You choose.
AI summaries and auto-tagging
These items are not part of a grid, you will need to adjust them one by one. Ensure that the images have the same size to create a cohesive and unified visual appearance.
Email export
After each sync, Penlo can email your note to any address. Choose your format:
- Original PDF — your handwritten page, as-is
- Searchable PDF — same page, with invisible OCR text embedded
- Markdown — clean, formatted text ready to paste anywhere
- Plain text — stripped-down, no formatting
Works on auto (after every sync) or manually triggered from the notebook viewer.
Notion export
Connect your Notion workspace with OAuth. Penlo can push any notebook as:
- A Notion page in any section of your workspace
- A Notion database entry with title, date, summary, and tags as properties.
On re-sync, existing pages are updated in-place — not duplicated. Your Notion stays clean.
Obsidian export
Penlo writes Markdown files with YAML frontmatter into a subfolder inside your sync folder. Open that folder as an Obsidian vault and your notes appear automatically. Every note arrives with:
Outbound webhooks
Configure a URL to receive a POST request every time a note finishes processing. The payload includes: Notebook title and ID, Full OCR text (all pages)
, AI summary
Auto-suggested tags
, Page count, word count, source metadata
, Processing timestamp
Optional HMAC-SHA256 signing lets you verify the payload came from Penlo. Works with Make.com, Zapier, n8n, or any service that accepts an HTTP POST. Power tier only.
Searchable PDF generation
Every note gets a searchable PDF written back to your sync folder. The original handwriting is the visual layer.
The OCR text is embedded invisibly below it. Open it in any PDF reader — Preview, Acrobat, your phone — and search your handwriting like it's typed text.
REST API
Two authenticated endpoints for programmatic access:
- GET /api/v1/notebooks → List all notebooks with metadata (title, date, tags, summary, page count, word count)
- GET /api/v1/notebooks/:id → Full notebook with per-page OCR text and metadata
Authenticate with a Bearer API key. Keys are hashed before storage and shown only once at generation. Power tier only.
Shareable links
Generate a public link for any notebook. Recipients see the OCR text and a page thumbnail — no Penlo account required. Revoke the link instantly from the notebook viewer. Share meeting notes, research summaries, or lecture notes with anyone.
Compare
BOOX Assistant
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reMarkable app
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Supernote Partner
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Penlo
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sync | ||||
| Platforms | iOS & Android
Mobile only; no desktop app
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iOS, Android, macOS, Windows | iOS, Android, macOS, Windows | Web (any browser)
No install required. Works on any device.
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| Sync destinations | Onyx Cloud + Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive | reMarkable Cloud + Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive
Third-party cloud requires Connect subscription
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Supernote Cloud + Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox | Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive
Watches any folder. Works with BOOX, reMarkable, Supernote — or any device that outputs
PDFs to cloud storage.
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| Works across device brands | BOOX devices only | reMarkable devices only | Supernote devices only | Any device
Switch hardware anytime without changing your workflow.
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| Sync trigger | Manual or on close | Continuous background sync | Manual or on close | Real-time, webhook-based
Fires the moment a PDF lands in the watched folder.
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| View & browse notes | View notes via QR code scan or sync | Full notebook view and organisation | Full notebook view and organisation | Dashboard with summaries, tags, and search |
| OCR & handwriting recognition | ||||
| Handwriting-to-text | On-device; up to 300 uses/day
Moderate accuracy; not processed by the companion app
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On-device via MyScript
Good accuracy; ~30 languages; lasso-select to convert
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On-device; real-time recognition
TXT and DOCX export; accuracy varies
|
Unlimited AI-powered OCR
Processed by Penlo on sync. Google Gemini — handles cursive, messy handwriting, and
mixed languages. No daily cap.
|
| Text cleanup after OCR | — | — | — | AI post-processing
Joins broken lines, fixes spelling and grammar, normalises formatting. Each step
individually toggleable.
|
| Search handwritten notes | Keyword search on device
Not available in the BOOX Assistant app
|
In-app search with Connect subscription | In-app search in real-time recognition notes | Cross-notebook full-text search
Search all OCR'd content across every notebook, from every device, in the Penlo
dashboard.
|
| AI processing | ||||
| AI summaries | —
On-device AI Assistant exists on BOOX hardware, not in companion app
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— | — | Auto-generated on every sync
2–3 sentence summary per notebook, visible on hover in the dashboard.
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| Auto-tagging | — | — | Manual tags only | AI-suggested tags
Inferred from note content on every sync. Apply automatically or review and edit
manually.
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| Export | ||||
| PDF export | PDF (via device) | PDF, PNG, SVG | PDF (via device or Partner app) | Searchable PDF
OCR text layer embedded — Ctrl+F, select text, and copy-paste from any reader.
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| Word / plain text export | — | — | TXT and DOCX via on-device OCR | Markdown (.md) and plain text (.txt)
Auto-written to your sync folder alongside the original PDF on every sync.
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| Notion export | — | — | — | Native Notion push
As sub-pages or structured database entries. Updates in place on re-sync — no
duplicates.
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| Obsidian export | — | — | — | Markdown + YAML frontmatter
Title, date, tags, vault URI, aliases. Appears instantly with backlinks and graph view
support.
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| Email delivery | Manual share only | Manual share only | Manual share only | Automatic or on-demand
Deliver original PDF, searchable PDF, Markdown, or plain text to any address.
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| Integrations & automation | ||||
| API access | — | — | — | REST API
Retrieve notebooks, OCR content, tags, and summaries programmatically.
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| Webhooks | — | — | — | Outbound webhooks with HMAC signing
Fires on every sync. Connect to Make.com, Zapier, n8n, or any HTTP endpoint.
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| Automation platforms | — | — | — | Make.com, Zapier, n8n
Trigger any downstream workflow the moment a notebook is processed.
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Short text for a typical Onepage use-case. Around 30 words suffice to neatly fill an average paragraph, ensuring a clean appearance and readability.
Pricing
Simple pricing. Start free, upgrade when you need more.
Monthly
Annual
Save 30%
Free
20 OCR pages per month. Enough to try Penlo with your real workflow.
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20 OCR pages / month
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AI-powered OCR
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Searchable PDFs
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Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive sync
7-day Power trial included
Get Started Free
Most popular
Pro
$
7
/mo + tax
500 OCR pages per month and all export destinations. The full Penlo experience.
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Everything in Free
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500 OCR pages / month
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Notion & Obsidian export
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AI summaries & auto-tagging
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Email delivery
7-day Power trial included
Start Free Trial
Power
$
12
/mo + tax
Unlimited OCR pages, API access, and automation integrations. Built for power users.
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Everything in Pro
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Unlimited OCR pages
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Make.com, Zapier, n8n integrations
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Priority processing
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Early access to new features
7-day Power trial included
Start Free Trial
Create your account
Sign up with your email or Google.
No credit card required.
Connect your preferred cloud storage
Go to Settings → Sources. Connect Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive via OAuth.
Browse and select the folder where your tablet saves notes. Most tablets let you configure the destination folder in their cloud sync settings.
Import your existing notes
Import notes to your existing library. Penlo scans the folder and processes everything it finds.
Configure your destinations
Go to Settings → Destinations. Connect Notion, set your Obsidian vault folder, add an email address, or enable Markdown export. Configure which destinations fire automatically after each sync from your device.
Frequently asked questions
Highlighting your strengths is important. Let's offer potential customers a clear view of what sets you apart from the competition.
What is Penlo?
Which e-ink tablets does Penlo work with?
Do I need to do anything after a note is written?
How does the OCR work? Will it handle my handwriting?
Can I search my handwritten notes?
What are the pricing plans?
Is there a free trial?
Is my data private? Where are my notes stored?