1. The list in brief
2. Best overall
3. Best cheap alternative
4. Most premium alternative
5. Best pencil/mouse combo
If you're looking for the best Apple Pencil alternatives, you're in luck as many choices are just as great and reliable as the genuine article. Apple's Pencils are fantastic accessories but tend to be pricey, which is why we've handpicked the best alternatives to give you more selections when picking a stylus.
When selecting these devices, we look for comfortability and responsiveness. We also look for peripherals that offer a range of uses. Our selections work great on tablets but are also useful for iPhones. These products deliver a comfortable drawing experience, organic pressure sensitivity (when applicable), and a tip that won’t scratch your tablet screen.
Check out our list of the most stylish styli you can buy, which have useful features as tilt recognition, dual tips, dynamic line weight and more.
Disclaimer
Editor's note: We're in the process of reviewing new Apple pencil alternatives for this guide so be sure to come back soon for more!
The quick list
The best Apple Pencil alternative
This is easily the best Apple Pencil alternative we've found to date — packing impressive ergonomics, an accurate pen tip, a long battery life, and an impressively affordable price tag.
The best cheap Apple Pencil alternative
This is the cheap and cheerful alternative to the Apple Pencil. If you're looking past build quality, and focussing solely on the price tag, this is the one to buy.
The best premium Apple Pencil alternative
This dual-tip stylus is about as premium as premium gets, and even includes tilt recognition. Plus, this doubles up with its touch-based helpfulness thanks to the universal capacitive touch tip on the top.
Best Pencil/Mouse combo
Need a combination of both stylus and mouse? The Adonit Note-M does it all well with — featuring left & right click buttons, and a touch panel for scrolling.
The best Apple Pencil alternatives you can buy today
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The best Apple Pencil alternative
Originally aimed at the education sector, the Logitech Crayon is the best Apple Pencil alternative we’ve found to date, and it’s a great tool for iPad users across the board...err, tablet screen. In fact, some reviewers prefer the Logitech Crayon to the Apple Pencil, period. The former is just as functional as the latter, and that functionality isn’t limited to students. The sleek 6.4-inch, 0.7-ounce aluminum body is reminiscent of a carpenter’s pencil, and it’s pleasantly cool to the touch.
The Logitech Crayon is also more kid-friendly than the easy-to-roll-off-the-table Apple Pencil, and the 2-millimeter tip has proven to be extremely accurate for both professional techies and casual consumers alike. (As of this writing, there were more than 3,000 reviews on Amazon, averaging a 4.5-star rating overall. Not too shabby.) This stylus supports dynamic line weight, which means line thickness varies based on the angle at which the Logitech Crayon is held, emulating that real-deal pencil feel.
Running out of juice shouldn’t be an issue, either; according to Logitech, the lithium battery lasts 7.5 hours on a charge, and the quick-charge feature gives dead batteries a 30-minute boost after just 2 minutes of charging. You can never have enough juice, especially when you’re on the move, and your hands will start cramping long before this Crayon cries “uncle.”
Add it all up, and this is the best Apple Pencil alternative you can buy. When it comes to premium styli, the Logitech Crayon is the coolest one in the whole school.
The best cheap Apple Pencil alternative
The Adonit Mark is a dirt-cheap Apple Pencil alternative for sure, but anyone with a tablet, smartphone, or touchscreen device can enjoy this super-simple stylus. In fact, you might even want several of these low-stakes styli laying around your house for the whole family.
Compatible with a variety of Apple products — from the 3rd-Gen iPad Air to the 4th-Gen iPad Pro to the 8th-Gen iPad — the Adonit Mark is an affordable all-purpose stylus whose handsome anodized aluminum body feels good in the hand; the triangular shape is comfortable to hold, and it resists rolling, not unlike the Logitech Crayon.
Since the Adonit Mark is less precise than other premium pen competitors, this stylus is best for casual note-taking, as opposed to more detailed sketching. One thing’s for certain: at this price, you’ll be sure to get your money’s worth in no time, and your home office chores might even be more fun.
The best premium Apple Pencil alternative
If you’re looking for a premium-feeling Apple Pencil alternative, the Zagg Pro Stylus is a close second behind the Logitech Crayon.
This dual-tip stylus (which includes tilt recognition) has a universal capacitive touch backend tip, while the active tip on the other side allows for smooth, precise lines for notes, drawings, and sketches.
The Zagg Pro stylus essentially pairs with any iPad 2017 or newer, and it attaches magnetically to any iPad Pro 11 or Pro 12.9. The Type-C fast-charging connection is made for newer tech, and you can fully charge the pen in less than 1.5 hours. There’s plenty to like about the Zagg Pro stylus, but if the absence of pressure sensitivity is a deal-breaker for you, we’re not done yet.
The best Pencil/Mouse combo
We've got to give Adonit some more credit, as the Adonit Note-M does something we've never seen on an Apple Pencil alternative: it's also a mouse! Yes, the Note-M has integrated mouse compatibility with left & right click buttons and a touch panel, including scroll wheel functionality. It also includes palm rejection recognition.
It's all built into the rear side of the Note-M. Just make sure your iPad is updated to iPadOS 13.3. It's also magnetic, so it can attach to the side of your iPad Air or iPad Pro, just like the 2nd Gen Apple Pencil. It just won't charge that way. Thankfully, it does have USB-C charging. Oh, and at 0.5 ounces, it's lighter than the 0.7-ounce Apple Pencil Gen 2! Pretty good for a pen regularly priced at $80, which is $50 less than the latest Apple Pencil.
