The Best Apple Pencil Alternative

Are you looking for an apple pencil alternative? Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my Apple pencil, but it may not be the best choice for everyone. When choosing a pencil for your tablet, a hundred questions can flood your mind: Is the Apple pencil a little out of your price range? What if you’re just trying out digital planning? Is it the best option for you? 

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Friend, I’ve been there. And, good news, I’ve done all the heavy lifting for you! ? I had a previous post all about tablets and pencils and what in the world all this digital planning hubbub was about, but I wanted to go into some deeper detail about my favorite Apple pencil alternative. I love this Apple pencil alternative so much I thought it needed its own dedicated post! (That’s a lot of love, huh?)

My favorite Apple pencil alternative is… Drumroll please! The Fojojo Active Stylus. It has a lot of the same great features as the Apple pencil but at a fraction of the price. This pencil will truly do all that you need it to do and is a great alternative if you’d rather not drop a pretty penny on the latest Apple pencil. 

Want to see the Fojojo Active Stylus in action? Check out the video below where Tasha talks about why it’s her pencil of choice and how it stacks up against the Apple pencil.

First, let’s go over the features of the Apple Pencil and the Fojojo Active Stylus and dive into exactly what you’re getting with each purchase. 

Apple Pencil Features

• Palm rejection: This feature is a must-have in my opinion. Palm rejection means that when you write with your pencil, the tablet does not register the side of your hand. So you can write just like normal and lay the side of your hand down on the tablet and the only thing the tablet will pick up is the pencil – this is a game changer!

• Tilt and pressure sensitivity: This feature is mostly for artists who use the iPad to create beautiful works of art. The tablet will pick up the angle of the pencil and change the type of brush stroke depending on how hard the pencil presses down on the tablet. 

• Built in features: The Apple pencil has a couple quick shortcuts built in to help navigate controls quickly. One of the main features is that if you double tap on the flat side of the pencil, it will toggle between the active tool and the eraser. Pretty handy, huh?

Fojojo Active Stylus Features

• A fraction of the price: This stylus may not have all the same features, but it is roughly $30 vs the Apple pencil’s $120 price point. Truly a more affordable option!
• Palm rejection: The Fojojo Active Stylus still has the palm rejection feature. Again, this means you can write like normal on the tablet and it won’t think the side of your hand is trying to write. This is the most important feature so the fact that this stylus has it makes it a huge contender for your dollar. 

Let's Talk Specifics 

I know I’ve already talked about palm rejection a little bit, but I really want to emphasize how great it is! If you’re looking for a pencil, even if you don’t invest in the Fojojo stylus, this is the one feature I would pay a little more to get. I have used pencils that do not have palm rejection and it’s just not a pleasant writing experience. In order to write, your hand has to be lifted up so none if it touches the tablet. If it does, the tablet will think the side of your hand is trying to write.

This can be so frustrating! You’ll have to teach yourself to write differently, it may be uncomfortable, and accidental taps can mess up whatever you’re writing. Honestly, it’s worth the price to find a pencil that has palm rejection. And, lucky for us, the Fojojo Active Stylus has it!

One thing the Fojojo Active Stylus does not have is tilt and pressure sensitivity. Again, this means that the tablet will pick up exactly how the pencil is tilted and take into account how hard you’re pressing in order to better emulate that pencil-on-paper feel. There are more expensive Apple pencil alternatives that do have this feature, but the Fojojo Active Stylus does not. This feature is more important for artists who use their tablet to create beautiful works of art, so if that’s you, you may want to look at investing in a more expensive option. However, if you’re like me and totally fine with losing that feature, the Fojojo Active Stylus is for you.

Fojojo also does not have any shortcuts on the body of the pencil. On the Apple pencil, you can tap twice on the flat side of the pencil to go between writing and the eraser with ease. Those features simply aren’t available, but the price point may be enough to sway you toward it anyway!

Fojojo Active Stylus Features

An important thing to note is that the Fojojo pencil is turned on and off by tapping the end of the pencil. There’s a small blue light to signal when the pencil is on. I didn’t know that when I first started writing with it and I thought my pencil was broken! ? I tapped the tip of my pencil on my chin and accidentally turned my pencil off! I can’t tell you how silly you feel when you wonder, “why isn’t my pencil working!?” only to realize you accidentally tapped that off button. 

The pencil charges with a mini USB port that’s built into the flat side of the pencil, so it is a separate thing to charge. This is different from the Apple Pro pencil since it can charge by just snapping to the side of the iPad Pro. It’s an extremely convenient feature of the Apple pencil that I love, but having a pencil that charges separately from your tablet isn’t the end of the world.

The Apple pencil also has a flat side, just like the Fojojo pencil. That flat side is made to catch the pencil if it starts to roll away so you can set it down on any desk without fear of it dropping to the floor. This has honestly been a life saver – there’s nothing worse than dropping something valuable on the ground! 

The Fojojo pencil connects to your tablet via Bluetooth. It doesn’t show up in the bluetooth menu. All you have to do is turn on the pencil while Bluetooth is on and it will automatically pick up! It’s honestly like magic!

A quick note here: Even when the pencil is connected, I can still use my finger to tap. I can still navigate with my finger just fine even with the pencil connected and palm rejection active – the pencil will be able to tell the difference between the side of your hand and the tap of your finger. Talk about convenience! 

My business manager, Tasha, uses this pencil and she absolutely loves it! If you’re looking to get started with digital planning, or just need a cheaper Apple alternative, the Fojojo pencil may be the perfect fit. Try it for yourself and then let me know how much you’re loving it in the comments! The Fojojo Active Stylus gets the job done!

I never thought in a million years that I’d be a digital planner girl – but here I am! I’ve gotten into the world of digital planning and I am absolutely loving our I Heart Planners Digital Planner. 

Want even more options when it comes to digital planning?  Check out my Digital Planning 101 post all about the best tablet and even more pencil options for you!