# GoodTask vs Highlights

GoodTask and Highlights both sit at 4.6 stars, but that hides the real split: 73% of GoodTask's written reviews are positive against 53% of Highlights's. GoodTask also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs fortnightly). Highlights's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. GoodTask sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per year and Highlights sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for GoodTask against 4.5 for Highlights. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2K and 1.6K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 73% of GoodTask's written reviews are positive against 53% of Highlights's.

GoodTask ships an update every 4 days, Highlights fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | GoodTask | Highlights |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.6 (2K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/goodtask-to-do-list-and-planner/id1068039220/reviews)** | [4.5 (1.6K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/highlights-pdf-reader-and-notes/id1498912833/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **2K** | 1.6K |
| Positive reviews | **72.9% of reviews** | 53.3% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 4 days** | Fortnightly |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Size | 298 MB | 37 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | **15.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Vision Pro | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [haha Interactive](https://appshunter.io/developer/369684594) | [Jonas Myren Ribe](https://appshunter.io/developer/794854096) |

## What reviewers say

### GoodTask

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/goodtask-to-do-list-and-planner/id1068039220)

Organize your day and manage tasks with this powerful project manager. It syncs with your existing Reminders and Calendars, offering customizable views and smart lists to help you get things done.

**Highlights:** Syncs with iOS Reminders & Calendars, Customizable recurring tasks, List, Day, Week, Month, and Board views, Smart Lists with filters, Quick Actions for editing tasks, App Icon Badge & Notifications, Apple Watch and Today Widget support

**Features:** Family Sharing, Apple Watch app

**In-app purchases (5)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| GoodTask Supporter | $19.99 | per year |
| Support Once | $9.99 | one-time |
| Unlock Everything | $19.99 | one-time |
| Extra Support | $24.99 | one-time |
| Premium Support | $49.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Essential app
- 👍 Integrates well with Apple ecosystem
- 👍 Customizable and flexible
- 👍 Comprehensive feature set
- 👍 Affordable one-time purchase

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Stability issues (crashes, freezes, sync problems)
- 🤔 Steep learning curve and complex UI
- 💰 Expensive for some users
- 🤔 Paywall blocks access to key features
- 🤔 Confusing upgrade/purchase model

**Reported bugs**

- Reminders disappearing or not syncing properly
- Widgets not working as expected
- Notifications not working reliably
- Inconsistent behavior when completing tasks

**Requested features**

- Automatic date and time parsing
- Ability to add calendar events
- Folders or hierarchical organization
- Improved Apple Watch integration
- Browser/desktop access


### Highlights

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/highlights-pdf-reader-and-notes/id1498912833)

This app is a fast and lightweight PDF reader designed for research. It allows users to read, highlight, and annotate documents, and then extract this information into organized notes. Advanced features include table data extraction, text recognition, and smart copying of annotations into various formats.

**Highlights:** Read and browse PDF documents, Highlight, underline, and strikethrough text, Add comments and sticky notes, Extract annotations into organized notes, Convert table data and recognize text, Smart copy annotations to various formats (CSV, BibTex), Lookup citation metadata and DOI links

**Features:** Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Highlights Pro: Monthly | $4.99 | per month |
| Highlights Pro | $29.99 | per year |
| Highlights Pro: Legacy Upgrade | $29.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Great for highlighting and annotating PDFs
- 🔍 Effective for research and note-taking
- 📚 Useful for academic and professional work
- 👍 Clean and intuitive user interface
- 🔗 Good integration with other apps and cloud storage

**What reviewers complain about**

- 💰 Subscription model is too expensive
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
- 🔍 Limited search functionality
- 🔒 Lack of customization options
- 🔧 Poor customer support and unresponsive developers

**Reported bugs**

- Highlights and annotations randomly disappearing
- Text selection issues, especially with footnotes
- Compatibility problems with certain PDF files
- Syncing issues across devices
- Export functionality not working as expected

**Requested features**

- Add handwriting and freeform annotation support
- Implement a table of contents or bookmarking feature
- Allow editing of notes directly in the app
- Provide a one-time purchase option instead of subscription
- Improve search capabilities with visual results and navigation


## Frequently asked questions

### Is GoodTask free?

GoodTask is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Highlights free?

Highlights is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, GoodTask or Highlights?

GoodTask is rated higher. GoodTask averages 4.6 out of 5 from 2K ratings, while Highlights averages 4.5 from 1.6K ratings.

### Do GoodTask or Highlights have ads?

Neither GoodTask nor Highlights shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, GoodTask or Highlights?

GoodTask ships an update every 4 days, and Highlights fortnightly. Most recently, GoodTask was updated on October 19, 2026 and Highlights on October 18, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*