Moleskine vs Leuchtturm1917: Paper, Pages & Price

Moleskine Classic Large and Leuchtturm1917 Medium A5, each closed and open, drawn to one scale — Both 210 mm tall; the Leuchtturm1917 is 15 mm wider (1 mm = 0.8 px).

Products compared

Product	Brand origin	Made in	Price range
Moleskine Classic Notebook, Hard Cover, Large (QP060 ruled)Moleskine	Italy	China^*	Price range: $$$$20–75 per notebook
Leuchtturm1917 Notebook Medium (A5), Hardcover, 251 numbered pages (dotted, ruled, squared or plain)Leuchtturm1917	Germany	Varies (Taiwan or Germany)^*	Price range: $$$$20–75 per notebook

Notes on these facts

Moleskine Classic Notebook, Hard Cover, Large (QP060 ruled): Made by Moleskine S.r.l. (D'Ieteren Group). Made in China: per retailer spec sheets: Galaxus/Digitec list China for the Large and Pocket hard covers, and the Australian promotional supplier Good Things lists China for the XL hard cover. Moleskine's Italian product page doesn't state the country, and Galaxus blocked our reader when we rechecked on October 20, 2026. Source. Released: Per Wikipedia, Milan publisher Modo & Modo launched the Moleskine notebook in 1997, reviving a French notebook design.
Leuchtturm1917 Notebook Medium (A5), Hardcover, 251 numbered pages (dotted, ruled, squared or plain): Made by Leuchtturm Gruppe (Geesthacht, Germany). Made in Varies (Taiwan or Germany): Retailer data conflicts. Galaxus has listed Germany for a forest-green Medium dotted hard cover; Digitec has listed Germany, Taiwan and United Kingdom for a red-violet one; several eBay listings for Medium A5 notebooks have given Taiwan (all three now block automated reading). Leuchtturm1917's German and US product pages name no country for the standard notebook; its US 120G page says that edition's paper is made in Germany. Check the label on your copy. Source. Price: example listing. Released: Unsharpen dates the Leuchtturm1917 notebook brand to 2005; we found no separate date for the A5 Medium. The company itself dates to 1917.
Price bands are typical US retail, checked October 2026. Conversions to US dollars are approximate, at October 2026 rates (US$1 = ¥158 = ₩1,330 = NT$32.5 = CN¥6.7 = SEK 9.9 = DKK 6.7 = ₺49.6 = C$1.41 = A$1.43 = CZK 21.7; €1 = US$1.12; £1 = US$1.32; CHF 1 = US$1.21).

Key takeaways

Paper: Leuchtturm1917 lists 80 g/m² slightly cream paper; Moleskine lists 70 g/m² ivory acid-free paper.
Pages: the Leuchtturm1917 Medium has 251 numbered pages and a blank table of contents; the Moleskine Large hard cover has 240 pages with no numbers or index.
Size: both are 210 mm tall, but the Leuchtturm1917 Medium is 145 mm wide and the Moleskine Large 130 mm.
Price: Leuchtturm1917 Germany lists the Medium at €24.50 (about US$27) and Moleskine Italy the Large at €24.00 (about US$27); both sit in our $$$ band in the US.
Leuchtturm1917 adds 8 perforated sheets, a sticker set and a second ribbon; for fountain pens it also sells a 120G edition with 120 g/m² paper.

What is the difference between Moleskine and Leuchtturm1917?

Both make black-board, elastic-closed hard-cover notebooks, but Leuchtturm1917 adds heavier paper, numbered pages, an index, a second ribbon and perforated sheets, while Moleskine keeps a slimmer, plainer book. The flagship sizes, Moleskine’s Large and Leuchtturm1917’s Medium (A5), cost about the same.

Moleskine is an Italian brand from Milan, owned by Belgium’s D’Ieteren Group. Leuchtturm1917 is a German brand from Geesthacht, near Hamburg. This comparison uses each maker’s home-language product page; we haven’t tested them side by side yet.

Our Moleskine history traces the brand from its launch in Milan in 1997 to D’Ieteren.

How do the specs compare?

Leuchtturm1917 leads on paper weight, page count and extras; Moleskine is narrower and lighter-papered.

Spec	Moleskine Classic Large	Leuchtturm1917 Medium (A5)
Size	130 × 210 mm (5 × 8.25 in)	145 × 210 mm (5.75 × 8.25 in)
Pages	240, unnumbered	251, numbered
Table of contents	No	Yes, blank
Paper	70 g/m², ivory, acid-free	80 g/m², slightly cream, FSC
Rulings	Dotted, ruled, squared, plain	Dotted (5 mm), ruled, squared, plain
Ribbons	1	2
Perforated sheets	None	8 at the back
Back pocket	Expandable	Gusseted
Extras	“In case of loss” page	Sticker set for archiving
Binding	Opens flat to 180° (Moleskine)	Thread-sewn (Leuchtturm1917)
Home list price	€24.00 (about US$27)	€24.50 (about US$27)
US price band	$$$ ($20–75)	$$$ ($20–75)
Made in	China, per retailers	Germany or Taiwan, per retailers

Moleskine’s Italian page gives no page count; 240 pages for the hard-cover Large comes from retailers such as Officeworks.

Which has better paper?

Leuchtturm1917’s 80 g/m² paper is about 14% heavier than Moleskine’s 70 g/m², and reviewers find it handles ink better. Leuchtturm1917 calls its paper slightly cream for easier reading; Moleskine calls its paper ivory and acid-free.

Weight isn’t the whole story, as our paper weight explainer shows: sizing matters too. Still, Wirecutter’s testers saw little smudging and no bleeding from fountain pens on Leuchtturm1917 paper, while stefanv.com’s paper test found a Moleskine feathered and showed through with every fountain pen ink tried.

Which is better for fountain pens?

Leuchtturm1917, especially its 120G edition, though neither is a fountain pen specialist. Expect ghosting on both with wet inks and broad nibs, and real bleed-through on Moleskine paper.

Leuchtturm1917’s 120G Medium uses 120 g/m² paper and drops to 203 numbered pages; Leuchtturm1917 says it is made for fountain pens, markers and brush pens. If fountain pens are your main tool, see our best notebooks for fountain pens.

How do the size ranges compare?

Both makers offer pocket, A5-class and larger books, but the sizes don’t line up exactly.

Three Moleskine Classic sizes beside three Leuchtturm1917 sizes, drawn to scale with page counts — The flagship sizes are drawn solid; 1 mm = 1.3 px.

Size class	Moleskine Classic (hard cover)	Leuchtturm1917 (hard cover)
Pocket	9 × 14 cm, 192 pages	90 × 150 mm (A6), 187 pages
Medium	11.5 × 18 cm	125 × 190 mm (Paperback B6+), 219 pages
A5 class	13 × 21 cm (Large), 240 pages	145 × 210 mm (Medium), 251 pages
Large	19 × 25 cm (XL), 192 pages	178 × 254 mm (Composition B5), 219 pages
Largest	21.6 × 27.9 cm (XXL)	225 × 315 mm (Master A4+), 235 pages of 100 g/m²

The Leuchtturm1917 Pocket is 10 mm taller than Moleskine’s Pocket. Our paper sizes guide explains how these compare with A5, A6 and Letter.

How do the soft-cover versions compare?

The two soft covers keep the same footprints as the hard covers, but Leuchtturm1917 halves its page count to 123 while Moleskine drops only from 240 to 192. Both keep the elastic, ribbon and back pocket of their hard-cover books.

Spec	Moleskine Classic Soft Cover Large	Leuchtturm1917 Medium (A5) Softcover
Size	13 × 21 cm (5 × 8.25 in)	145 × 210 mm (5.75 × 8.25 in)
Pages	192, unnumbered (ruled, per retailers)	123, numbered, with a blank table of contents
Paper	70 g/m², ivory, acid-free	80 g/m², slightly cream, FSC
Weight	Not stated	224 g (7.9 oz)
Home list price	€23.00 (about US$26)	€22.95 (about US$26)
US price band	$$$ ($20–75)	$$$ ($20–75)

Prices are from each maker’s home-country store on October 22, 2026. Per page, the Moleskine soft cover gives you more paper for the money; the Leuchtturm1917 keeps its numbering and index.

Which should you pick?

Pick Leuchtturm1917 if you want structure; pick Moleskine if you want the slimmer, simpler classic.

Pick Leuchtturm1917 if you keep a bullet journal or index your notes, use gel or fountain pens, or want the perforated sheets. The Bullet Journal Edition 2 builds the system in.
Pick Moleskine if you want a narrower book that slips into a jacket, like the look and pocket of the original, or write mostly with ballpoints and pencils, where 70 g/m² paper is no handicap.
Pick neither if you need heavy, ink-proof paper: look at 120 g/m² or heavier journals instead.

Frequently asked questions

Is Leuchtturm1917 better than Moleskine?

On features, yes: heavier 80 g/m² paper, numbered pages, an index, two ribbons and perforated sheets for about the same price. Moleskine is slimmer and simpler, which some people prefer for a carry-everywhere notebook.

How does Moleskine paper weight compare with Leuchtturm1917?

Moleskine's is lighter. Leuchtturm1917 lists 80 g/m² paper for its Medium, Pocket, Paperback and Composition notebooks, against 70 g/m² for the Moleskine Classic.

Are Moleskine pages numbered?

No. The Moleskine Classic has no page numbers or table of contents. Leuchtturm1917 prints a number on every page and leaves a blank index at the front.

Is a Leuchtturm1917 A5 the same size as a Moleskine Large?

Almost. Both are 210 mm tall, but the Leuchtturm1917 Medium is 145 mm wide and the Moleskine Large 130 mm, so covers and sleeves for one may not fit the other.

Do Moleskine and Leuchtturm1917 cost the same?

Nearly. Leuchtturm1917 Germany lists the Medium at €24.50 (about US$27) and Moleskine Italy the Large at €24.00 (about US$27), and both sit in our $$$ band in the US.

Which is better for bullet journaling?

Leuchtturm1917, because the numbered pages and index are what a bullet journal needs. Its dotted version uses a 5 mm dot grid, and it sells a dedicated Bullet Journal Edition.

Where are they made?

Retailers list the Moleskine Classic as made in China. Leuchtturm1917's Medium is listed as made in Germany by some retailers and Taiwan by others; neither maker states it on its product page.

Sources (11)

Plain-text version for AI agents: moleskine-vs-leuchtturm1917.md · Spotted an error? See how we check facts.