Goodnotes review: price, free version and privacy

Our verdict

Pick Goodnotes if you take handwritten notes on iPad and want search, PDF annotation and review tools in one place. If you mostly type, or want to know the price before you download, compare it with typed-note apps first.

What Goodnotes is

Goodnotes is a digital notebook built around Apple Pencil handwriting. You write on paper templates (blank, ruled, Cornell, planners), import PDFs and slides to annotate, and combine handwriting with typed text, images and stickers. The description adds searchable handwriting, audio recordings synced to what you wrote, AI summaries and transcripts, Study Sets that turn notes into flashcards with spaced repetition, and an infinite whiteboard.

Who it suits

• Handwritten notes with Apple Pencil
• Annotating lecture slides and PDFs
• Students who review from their own notes

Strengths

• Handwriting that stays searchable across every notebook, according to the description
• Audio recordings synced to the moment you write
• Study Sets turn notes into flashcards with active recall and spaced repetition
• Backups to Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive, and iCloud sync across iPad, iPhone and Mac
• Apple Editors' Choice, rated 4.7 from about 466,800 ratings

Limits

• The listing does not say what is free or what the full version costs; the in-app list shows only planners and stickers
• The description's 'unlimited notebooks for the price of a single physical one' suggests unlimited notebooks are paid
• Identifiers are declared for tracking
• Requires iOS 18.6 or later

What the free version does

The listing does not spell out the free tier. The description pitches 'unlimited notebooks for the price of a single physical one', which suggests the free version limits the number of notebooks and that full access is paid.

Price

On the US App Store in November 2026, the in-app purchase list shows only planners at $9.99 to $12.99 (such as The Ultimate Student Planner) and covers, papers and sticker packs at $0.99 to $1.99. The price of full Goodnotes access does not appear in the list.

Privacy

Identifiers may be used to track you. Identifiers, usage data and diagnostics are also collected without being linked to you, and no data is listed as linked to your identity.

What the screenshots show

The screenshots show a tabbed notebook with a hand-drawn volcano diagram and an AI panel offering topics and suggested questions, and a physics lecture page with a recording timer and a Summary and Transcript panel.