Sometimes you need a great stylus for your tablet, but an Apple Pencil won't do the trick. Luckily, you have other options, and the best Apple Pencil alternatives don't feel like a downgrade.
I know because my team and I review dozens of tablets every year, so we get a lot of time to try out styli from a range of companies on both iPads and Android tablets. And while Apple Pencils are great, there are a few great competitors you should check out.
We recommend the Logitech Crayon as the best Apple Pencil alternative for most folks because it's as good or better than Apple's stylus, yet costs less.
If the Crayon is a bit too pricey, you can also get by just fine with the Adonit Mark, a low-cost stylus that's light on features but good on fundamentals. It's the kind of affordable, ubiquitous stylus that's cheap enough you won't mind losing one, so consider buying more than one if you have a lot of slates in your home or live with folks who tend to lose things.
Of course, if you want something better than an Apple Pencil you could upgrade to the Zagg Pro. While it doesn't have the pressure sensitivity of Apple's stylus, it offers a dual-tip design that lets you use the back end to scroll and the tip to draw.
Scroll on for our list of the best Apple Pencil alternatives you can buy right now, all of which are compatible with iPads and Android tablets and offer useful features as tilt recognition, dual tips, dynamic line weight and 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 a 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. Despite being a budget stylus, it's still plenty good for drawing and note-taking.
The best premium Apple Pencil alternative
This dual-tip stylus epitomizes premium and even includes tilt recognition. Plus, it doubles up with its touch-based helpfulness thanks to the universal capacitive touch tip on the top.
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. So you can use the rear end to scroll the page, and the tip for drawing precise lines.
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 you should be aware that it does lack a pressure sensitivity sensor, so it can't match the Apple Pencil on that front.
How to choose the best Apple Pencil alternative
Having a hard time finding the right Apple Pencil alternative for your needs? Here's a few key details to consider before you pull the trigger on a purchase.
Compatibility: The number one thing to check before you buy is that the stylus you want will work with your tablet(s). While we've checked to make sure every stylus on this list is broadly compatible with iPad, Android and Chrome tablets, you need to check the product details to be sure it works with your model of tablet.
For example, every stylus on this list is compatible with all iPads from 2018 or newer, with the exception that Zagg claims the new iPad Pro M4 doesn't play well with its Pro stylus.
Price: In general, you shouldn't pay more than $100 for a stylus unless you're an artist, a designer, or rich. There's no need when the styli on this list all cost less than that and match the Apple Pencil almost feature-for-feature. For those on a budget, you should feel fine spending $30-$50 for a basic stylus with light features, or even less for a simple stylus with no features at all.
Size: Too small a stylus can hurt your hands or cause them to cramp, so I recommend considering that before you buy. The Zagg Pro is the biggest stylus on this list at nearly 10 inches long, so if you have large hands I think you'll be happier with that then the Adonit Mark, which is nearly half as long.
