The device is free. The cloud is what costs money.
Everything that happens on the thing in your hand needs no account, because none of it leaves the device. What you pay for is either a higher ceiling on that, or the part that cannot exist without a server.
The numbers are still being decided. What each tier buys is settled; what it costs is not. Prices may change before Tern launches.
$0
No card, no trial that runs out.
- 2 notebooks, folders and canvases
- Unlimited pages inside them
- Every ink tool, pressure and tilt
- Tags, views, and search on this device
- Import and export PDFs
$19.99 / year
The limits come off. Nothing else changes.
- Unlimited notebooks, folders, canvases
- Everything in Free
- Still no account — nothing leaves the device
- One device: no syncing, no links
$49.99 / year
Everything above, and the part that needs more than one device.
- Everything in Personal
- On every device you own
- Search that spans all of them
- Share links, with a passcode and an expiry
- Handover between devices, and the tray
- Write with someone else, live
Let’s talk
Not a product yet, and we would rather say so.
- Everything above, for a group
- One invoice
- Tell us what it would take to say yes
- We will build it with you
Where each line falls.
Nothing is sold on top of any of these. No add-on, no pass, no feature bought separately from the thing you already pay for — with one exception, below, and it is bought once rather than rented.
| Free$0 | Personal$19.99 / yr | Everything$49.99 / yr | Teams & schoolsLet’s talk | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you can keep | ||||
| Notebooks | 2 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Folders | 2 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Canvases, with no edges | 2 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Pages inside a notebook | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Writing | ||||
| Pen, pencil, marker, highlighter | ||||
| Pressure and tilt, palm rejection | ||||
| Paper: ruled, dotted, graph, blank, planners | ||||
| Sticky notes, shapes, text boxes, tape | ||||
| Finding it again | ||||
| Tags, tag views and saved views | ||||
| Search typed text, titles and sticky notes | ||||
| Search the text inside imported PDFs | ||||
| Search your handwriting, where the device can read it | This device | This device | Every device | Every device |
| In and out | ||||
| Import PDFs and write on them | ||||
| Export a page, a notebook, or everything, as PDF | ||||
| Recently deleted, for 30 days | ||||
| Template packs | Bought once | Bought once | Bought once | Bought once |
| More than one device | ||||
| Works with no account at all | – | – | ||
| Your notebooks on every device you own | – | – | ||
| Hand a page between devices, and the tray | – | – | ||
| Photos and imported PDFs kept in your account | – | – | ||
| Sharing | ||||
| Share a page as a link | – | – | ||
| Passcode and expiry on a link, revocable at any moment | – | – | ||
| Write on the same page as someone else, live | – | – | ||
| One invoice for a group | – | – | – | |
Bought once. Not rented.
Planners, journals, study sheets, music staves. The only thing sold separately, and the only thing that is not a subscription — they do not stop working if you stop subscribing, and you never need one to use Tern.
- $2.99 a pack
- $19.99 for all of them
- Yours for good, on every device you sign in on
Your notes are not held hostage.
Nothing is deleted, nothing is locked, and no notebook stops opening because you are suddenly over a limit. Everything you have written stays readable on your device and exportable as PDF. What you lose is the syncing and the sharing — the work is yours either way.
This is the most important sentence on this page, which is why it is on it rather than in the terms where nobody would find it.
Can I change plan or cancel later?
Any time, both ways. A subscription bought through the App Store or Google Play is cancelled there, and it keeps working to the end of the year you have already paid for.
What happens to my notes if I stop paying?
Nothing is deleted and nothing is locked. Every notebook still opens and you can still export any of it as PDF — even if you are over the free plan's limits, because those only ever stop you making a new one.
What you lose is the syncing and the sharing. The work is yours either way.
Is Personal really just the limits?
Yes, and that is the point. It is for someone who wants no ceiling and no cloud — nothing leaving the device, no account anywhere. Nothing else on the market sells that, which is why it is a rung of its own rather than a footnote on the free one.
Do template packs need a subscription?
No. They are bought once and kept, they are not part of any plan, and they keep working if you stop subscribing. You never need one to use Tern.
Is there a student or education price?
Not yet. If you are bringing Tern to a class or a school, say so — that is exactly the conversation "Teams & schools" is for, and it is far easier to build the right thing before there is a policy than after.
Why is there no monthly plan?
Because a year is how long people keep a notebook. Billing monthly would mean a cheaper-looking number, a decision to revisit twelve times a year, and a price list with two figures in it instead of one — and none of that makes Tern better to use.
You are not locked in: cancel whenever you like and it runs to the end of the year you paid for.
Which currency, and does it include tax?
Prices are in US dollars. Whichever store you buy through handles local currency and any tax where you live, and shows you the final figure before you confirm.
Start with the free one.
It is not a trial and it does not expire. Nothing to install, nothing to sign up for.