Comparison

Mural vs Goodnotes

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Mural

This app provides a digital whiteboard for real-time and asynchronous team collaboration. It allows users to brainstorm, ideate, and align on projects from anywhere, fostering business-driving outcomes. Capture inspiration and share it with your team on the go.

Highlights
  • Real-time and asynchronous collaboration
  • Digital whiteboard for ideation
  • Freehand drawing and concept mapping
  • Sticky notes, shapes, and text boxes
  • Icon library for visual thinking
  • Voting sessions and reactions
  • Export murals as PDF, image, or zip
Read full description

Mural is a collaborative intelligence company powering effective ideation, innovation, alignment, and team building at 95% of the Fortune 100. Work together in real-time or asynchronously with a digital whiteboard and collaboration features designed to inspire better collaboration that leads to business-driving outcomes. The Mural app for iPhone and iPad keeps you connected to your team and enables you to capture and share inspiration on the go. Innovative teams at IBM, Intuit, Microsoft, GitLab, Steelcase, Thoughtworks, and Atlassian use Mural to collaborate from anywhere. Use the Mural iPhone and iPad apps to: * Bring your best ideas to life, wherever you work best * Invite your team to a collaboration session no matter where they are * Review content and provide feedback to keep work moving forward * Spark creative thinking with freehand drawing * Map concepts and ideas with your Apple Pencil Mural meets security standards for enterprise organizations with mobile device management and secure sign in supported by our Microsoft Intune Mobile Application Management integration. With the Mural app for mobile devices, you can: * Create a new mural * Add content in sticky notes, shapes, and text boxes with a variety of formatting options at your fingertips * Draw ideas and sketch notes with a number of colors and line sizes * Invite collaborators to your murals and easily change link permissions * Add, edit, delete, and mention other collaborators in comments * Enhance your visual thinking with a library of icons * Participate in a voting session * Share excitement and visual feedback with reactions * Export a mural as a PDF, image, or zip file * Add images from your photo library, take in the moment photos, or upload files * Send a mural to a touchscreen display for hybrid collaboration sessions * Organize content and ideas with frameworks * Change mural settings * Digitize physical sticky notes with Mural Scan or Post-it® App integration * Easily present with outline and presentation mode To use the Mural app, an account and sign-in is required. Learn more at www.mural.co.

About

Goodnotes

Capture ideas, enhance productivity, and unlock insights with advanced AI features. This app offers tools for professionals, students, and creatives, including infinite whiteboards, AI-powered transcription and summarization, and customizable digital notebooks.

Highlights
  • AI-powered transcription and summarization
  • Infinite whiteboard canvas
  • Digital notebooks with customizable templates
  • Study Sets for flashcards
  • Presentation mode with laser pointer
  • Real-time collaboration
Features
Read full description

Goodnotes has always been the place to capture your ideas — from quick notes to big plans. Now, it goes further. With powerful AI and new ways to capture information, Goodnotes helps you connect the dots, unlock insights, and turn ideas into action. *Existing Goodnotes 5 users can continue to use Goodnotes 5 indefinitely or upgrade to the new Goodnotes. Either way, your notes are safe!* For professionals: Increase productivity at work ■ Whiteboard + Goodnotes AI: Brainstorm, mind-map, and diagram freely on an infinite canvas that grows with your ideas. Enhanced diagramming tools and real-time collaboration make it easy for teams to workshop & ideate together, while Goodnotes AI helps you capture and organize key takeaways instantly. ■ Goodnotes AI Audio & Meetings: Stay fully present in every conversation while Goodnotes does the work for you. AI-powered transcription and live summarization automatically capture discussions and turns them into clear meeting minutes. After the meeting, merge transcripts with your own handwritten or typed notes to create polished, shareable documents in seconds. ■ Text Documents + AI: Create documents that think with you. Enjoy a superior typing experience with rich inline blocks, build on ideas with external insights, and collaborate seamlessly with teammates. With AI-powered summarization, automated note generation, and transcript support, turn rough notes and meetings into finished content faster than ever. ■ Present your notes, slides, and content directly from Goodnotes when you connect your device via AirPlay or HDMI to an external screen. ■ Use Laser Pointer to guide your audience's attention during your presentation. ■ Export your handwritten and typed notes to email, print, or share them anywhere as PDFs. ■ Send a link to your notebooks to work on the same notes. ■ Import documents by emailing them to your custom Goodnotes email. For students: Ace your exams with ease ■ Record audio notes that are magically synced to your iPhone or iPad exact moment you write: perfect for lectures, seminars, and presentations. ■ Take handwritten notes that stay fully searchable: instantly find any word across every class notebook, even mid-lecture. ■ Study and practice straight from your notes with study Sets: flashcards built on active recall and spaced repetition. ■ Use AI to summarize, shorten, change the tone of your words, and turn messy handwritten or typed student notes into polished, structured study material. For planners and journalers: Let your creativity flow ■ Plan your week, month, or year on your iPhone/ iPad with built-in and importable planner templates, fully customizable to match how you plan. ■ Keep a daily journal alongside your planner. Combine handwriting, typed reflections, photos, and stickers on the same page. ■ Use Goodnotes AI to summarize a week's worth of journal entries on your iPhone or iPad into key themes and takeaways. ■ Customize the size and color of your paper templates to create the planner or journal you want. ■ Add, create, or import stickers, stamps, washi tapes, images, and more on your iPad. Digital notebooks: unlimited notebooks for the price of a single physical one ■ Combine handwriting and typed text on one page, alongside images, stickers, diagrams, and doodles. ■ Create digital notebooks, planners, and journals with customizable paper templates, including Blank Paper, Ruled Paper, Cornell Paper, Checklists, Planners, and more. ■ Navigate long documents with ease. PDF tables of contents are automatically imported, or create custom outlines yourself. ■ Back up all your handwritten and typed notes to Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive, and use iCloud to sync across iPad, iPhone, and Mac — so your notes are always safe. ■ Edit your handwriting by resizing it, changing the text color, or moving it to another spot on the page. Privacy Policy: https://www.goodnotes.com/privacy-policy Terms and Conditions: https://www.goodnotes.com/terms-and-conditions

Screenshots

Mural4 screens
Goodnotes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Goodnotes at 4.7 against Mural's 2.4. Goodnotes also leads on ratings volume (455K vs 68) and update cadence (weekly vs every 5 weeks). Mural's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 20) and iOS requirement (15.5 vs 18.6). On price, ads, monetization model and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Goodnotes sells 16 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Mural asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Goodnotes holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 2.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Goodnotes has 455K ratings behind it against 68, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 16% of Mural's written reviews are positive against 34% of Goodnotes's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Mural ships an update every 5 weeks, Goodnotes weekly. The most recent releases landed on August 27, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Mural versus Goodnotes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMuralGoodnotes
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.4 (68 ratings)4.7 (455K ratings) — better
Positive reviews16.2% of reviews33.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings68455K — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#86 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS15.5 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size30 MB794 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTactivos Inc.Goodnotes Limited

Customer experience

Mural

All ratings68 ratings
Positive26.5%
Neutral10.3%
Negative63.2%
Written reviews210 reviews
Positive16.2%
Neutral9.0%
Negative74.8%

Goodnotes

All ratings454,853 ratings
Positive93.4%
Neutral1.9%
Negative4.7%
Written reviews6,458 reviews
Positive33.6%
Neutral11.3%
Negative55.0%

User reviews

Mural

From 68 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly interface
  • 🎨 Great collaborative whiteboarding tool
  • ✏️ Apple Pencil support for drawing
  • 📱 Mobile app allows work on-the-go
  • 🔄 Real-time collaboration features

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
  • ⚠️ App doesn't load or opens to blank screen
  • 🔌 Forced app redirect from browser on mobile
  • ❌ Missing key desktop features on mobile
  • 📉 Poor performance on iPad

Goodnotes

From 455K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent note-taking experience
  • 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly interface
  • 🚀 Smooth writing with Apple Pencil
  • 📁 Powerful organization with folders and notebooks
  • 🖼️ Ability to annotate PDFs and documents

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Glitches and crashes
  • 🔍 Syncing and iCloud issues
  • 🔍 Lack of flexibility with text input
  • 🔍 Limited eraser and highlighting options
  • 🔍 Subpar performance on Mac app

Bugs and requests

Mural

Reported bugs

25 issues
  • App crashes on launch or when opening boards
  • White/blank screen on startup
  • Stuck on logo screen indefinitely
  • Login failures and authentication errors
  • Microsoft authentication process hangs
Show 20 more
  • App won't open on iPad Pro
  • Forced logout during editing
  • Sticky notes disappear after creation
  • Text input hidden by UI elements
  • Pencil drawing lag and delayed rendering
  • Board resizing during pencil use
  • Images appear blurry or pixelated on mobile
  • Fonts not rendering correctly
  • Paste function not working in text fields
  • Objects snap unexpectedly to grid
  • Shapes change color inexplicably
  • Connector handles not functioning
  • Zoom and pan gestures not responsive
  • App freezes when scrolling dense boards
  • Connection timeouts and reconnection loops
  • Content not loading on boards
  • Synchronization issues between devices
  • Automatic zoom on sticky edit causes frustration
  • Camera permission dialog creates unescapable state
  • Placeholder text not clearing on input

Requested features

20 requests
  • Google and Apple login options
  • Full desktop feature parity on mobile
  • Proper keyboard and trackpad support
  • Folder visibility and management on iOS
  • Search functionality for murals
Show 15 more
  • Outline feature on mobile
  • Object linking and grouping
  • Landscape mode support
  • Better Apple Pencil pressure sensitivity
  • Undo/redo functionality
  • Multi-object selection
  • Template access on mobile
  • Activity log viewing
  • Improved pen tool options (thickness, color, style)
  • Browser access without app redirect
  • Language localization options
  • Full-screen mode without UI buttons
  • Copy/paste functionality improvements
  • Image import from device
  • Subscription management in app

Goodnotes

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Text box issues - unable to edit, resize, or move properly
  • Handwriting recognition problems, especially with cursive
  • Unreliable scrolling and page navigation
  • Inconsistent behavior when using the zoom feature

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add bullet point and formatting options for typed text
  • Implement a full-screen writing mode
  • Improve the straight line and shape tools
  • Integrate audio recording and synchronization
  • Allow more customization of the toolbar and interface

In-app purchases

None

Mural

No in-app purchases

16 purchases

Goodnotes

Subscriptions5
  • AI Pass (Monthly)7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Goodnotes 6 (1 Year)1 Year trial$9.991 Year
  • Essential (Yearly)7 Days trial$11.991 Year
Show 2 more
  • Essential (Yearly)1 Year trial2 variants$11.991 Year
  • Goodnotes Pro (Yearly)7 Days trial$35.991 Year
One-time11
  • Bunny Oasis StickersFree
  • Medicine-Academia Sticker SheeFree
  • Goodnotes 6 Free TrialFree
Show 8 more
  • Marketplace Content$1.99
  • Marketplace Content$6.99
  • Marketplace Content$8.99
  • GoodNotes 5 Unlock$9.99
  • Marketplace Content$9.99
  • Marketplace Content$10.99
  • Goodnotes 6 One-Time Payment$28.99
  • Special Edition$35.99

Questions

Is Mural free?
Mural is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Goodnotes free?
Goodnotes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Mural or Goodnotes?
Goodnotes is rated higher. Mural averages 2.4 out of 5 from 68 ratings, while Goodnotes averages 4.7 from 455K ratings.
Do Mural or Goodnotes have ads?
Neither Mural nor Goodnotes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Mural or Goodnotes?
Mural ships an update every 5 weeks, and Goodnotes weekly. Most recently, Mural was updated on August 27, 2026 and Goodnotes on September 24, 2026.

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