Comparison

UpNote vs GoodReader Pro PDF Editor

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

Head to head
About

UpNote

This app provides a clean and beautiful interface for writing and organizing notes, journals, and to-do lists. It offers rich formatting options, an intuitive organization system, and instant syncing across devices, with offline capabilities. Premium features include enhanced security and export options.

Highlights
  • Rich text editor with formatting tools
  • Intuitive organizing system (notebooks, pins, links)
  • Secure note locking with Touch/Face ID
  • Instant cross-device syncing and offline access
  • Markdown support and export
  • Task management and to-do lists
Features
Read full description

UpNote is a clean and beautiful app for writing and organizing. It's easy to use with rich features and delightful experience. UpNote is designed to help you take notes easily and stay focused on what matters most. UpNote has beautiful fonts and elegant themes that you can adjust to make your writing experience most comfortable and pleasant. UpNote is an ideal place to keep your diary and journal. It has a powerful lock feature so that you can rest assured that your notes stay private and secure. You can also use Touch ID or Face ID to securely unlock your notes. UpNote’s intuitive organizing system will keep your note space neat and light. There are many ways to organize your notes: putting them into notebooks, pinning your notes to the top of the note list, bookmarking them for quick reference or linking to other notes. You can also close any notebooks to focus on only most important one. UpNote’s rich editor makes it perfect for planning and managing your tasks. Simply write down your to-do list and have them synced to all your devices. UpNote offers highlight, text colors, table, nested list, code and many other important formatting tools so that you could easily format your notes. UpNote syncs notes instantly on all devices. It also works reliably offline, so you could take note anytime, anywhere. If you are a markdown user, UpNote is great for you too. It has intuitive shortcuts based on markdown, which makes it more fun to write notes. You can also export your notes to Markdown or PDF. Try UpNote now and you will fall in love with it! ---- Upgrade to Premium to get full power of UpNote: - Lock your notes and notebooks - Insert table and attachments - Write unlimited number of notes - Elegant themes and notebook covers - Export to text PDF, HTML and Markdown ---- Price may vary by location. Subscriptions will be charged to your credit card through your iTunes account. Your subscription will automatically renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You will not be able to cancel the subscription once activated. Manage your subscriptions in Account Settings after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial peri​od will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription. ---- If you have any question or feedback, we would love to hear it. Send an email to support@getupnote.com, and we would love to get in touch with you! ---- Privacy policy: https://getupnote.com/privacy.html Terms of use: https://getupnote.com/terms.html

About

GoodReader Pro PDF Editor

This app offers robust PDF editing and annotation capabilities, alongside comprehensive file management for various document types. It allows users to securely store, organize, and access files from cloud services, enhancing productivity on mobile devices.

Highlights
  • PDF annotation and editing
  • File management for various formats
  • Cloud service integration (Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.)
  • Military-grade AES-256 encryption
  • Split-screen viewing for iPad
  • PDF Reflow feature
Features
Read full description

GoodReader® Pro and our famous classic GoodReader app are essentially the same app, but this one comes with Pro Pack® pre-activated, no subscription or in-app purchase needed. First released in 2009, GoodReader® is truly a veteran of the App Store. In the modern app business, it's not easy to stay relevant that long. We're proud to say that after 17 years and counting, we've been delivering wonderful updates with extraordinary new features. And we're going to keep doing that! GoodReader is a perfect combination of document-reading and file-managing capabilities. It's your one-stop shop for all your document needs on your iOS device. Use the app once, and you'll be hooked. Soon you'll be wondering how you ever managed to work without it. -= File Reading =- PDF, TXT, MS Office, iWork, HTML, pictures, music & audio-books, videos. This is what you can view in GoodReader, plus you can also annotate PDF files and edit TXT files. -= PDF Reading and Annotating =- PDF files is where GoodReader truly shines. Reading experience is so superior, it's hard to describe. To rephrase one of our customers' review, "try it, and you'll see." While you're at it, give our PDF Reflow feature a try. You'll be surprised how much better PDF reading goes when you don't have to scroll left/right all the time, for every single line of text. Annotating PDFs is another star feature of our app. Adding notes and drawings, highlighting text, and then sharing your annotated files or annotation summaries will be your main productivity and collaboration asset. -= File Management =- While reading files is a big part of GoodReader, it's not all it can do. It can also serve as a central hub for all your files, even those that can't be opened by GoodReader itself. It's like bringing your personal computer experience to your mobile device — easily managing huge collections of files and folders will make you forget you don't have your laptop around. -= Connecting =- Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, Box.com, WebDAV, SMB, FTP, SFTP — these are all accessible from inside GoodReader. Download, upload, and sync individual files or huge folder collections. -= Security =- With GoodReader, your data security steps up to the level previously only dreamt of. With Pro Pack®, our new set of professional-level super-features, you'll get AES-256, a military-grade encryption, for all your data, at a price of a cup of coffee! And it's completely independent from the built-in Apple's Data Protection, so even if a hacker steals and unlocks your device, your data will still be protected by another strong layer of security, our own. -= Multi-Windows =- Seamlessly view and manage multiple files simultaneously on iPad. -= Notes =- Capture ideas and comments while reading or studying a technical document without even leaving the app. Sort and group your notes into categories.

Screenshots

UpNote4 screens
GoodReader Pro PDF Editor3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: UpNote at Free against GoodReader Pro PDF Editor's $79.99. UpNote also leads on review sentiment (86% vs 68%) and update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). GoodReader Pro PDF Editor's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 8). On rating, ads 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

UpNote is free to download; GoodReader Pro PDF Editor costs $79.99 up front. UpNote sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. GoodReader Pro PDF Editor asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for UpNote against 4.7 for GoodReader Pro PDF Editor. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.1K and 269 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 86% of UpNote's written reviews are positive against 68% of GoodReader Pro PDF Editor's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

UpNote ships an update weekly, GoodReader Pro PDF Editor every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on September 22, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
UpNote versus GoodReader Pro PDF Editor: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUpNoteGoodReader Pro PDF Editor
PriceFree — better$79.99
Rating4.7 (1.1K ratings)4.7 (269 ratings)
Positive reviews85.9% of reviews — better68.1% of reviews
Number of ratings1.1K — better269
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemium — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.6 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size82 MB53 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperUpNote Company LimitedGood.iWare, Inc.

Customer experience

UpNote

All ratings1,059 ratings
Positive92.5%
Neutral2.8%
Negative4.6%
Written reviews752 reviews
Positive85.9%
Neutral6.1%
Negative8.0%

GoodReader Pro PDF Editor

All ratings269 ratings
Positive93.3%
Neutral0.7%
Negative5.9%
Written reviews119 reviews
Positive68.1%
Neutral2.5%
Negative29.4%

User reviews

UpNote

From 1.1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Seamless syncing across devices
  • 🚀 Fast and responsive
  • 💡 Nested notebooks and tags for organization
  • 👍 Clean and intuitive interface
  • 💡 Lifetime premium option

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and crashes
  • 🐛 Issues with image/attachment handling
  • 🐛 Formatting problems with pasted content
  • 🐛 Syncing problems between devices
  • 🔒 Lack of end-to-end encryption

GoodReader Pro PDF Editor

From 269 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 📂 Excellent file management
  • 📚 Great for PDF organization
  • ✍️ Powerful annotation tools
  • 🚀 Fast loading and performance
  • 🔄 Reliable syncing

Room to improve

  • 💸 Expensive for some
  • 🔄 Tedious data transfer to Pro
  • ❓ Little difference between regular and Pro
  • 🔌 Sync issues with cloud services
  • 🚫 No PC version available

Bugs and requests

UpNote

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Black screen issues
  • Lost notes and data
  • Incompatibility with newer iOS versions
  • Google sign-in not working

Requested features

8 requests
  • Reminders and calendar integration
  • More customization options (fonts, colors, etc.)
  • Improved drawing/handwriting support
  • PDF annotation and embedding
  • Optical character recognition (OCR)
Show 3 more
  • Ability to reorder bullets and lists
  • Improved table editing and formatting
  • Apple Watch app

GoodReader Pro PDF Editor

Reported bugs

15 issues
  • Cannot move bookmarks from old to Pro version
  • Dropbox/OneDrive sync not working
  • iCloud integration issues
  • App crashes when adding photos
  • App freezes after annotation
Show 10 more
  • App does not keep pattern open after closing
  • iPad version web server option not working
  • Cannot change or disable app password
  • Encrypted PDF export issues
  • Glitchy highlighter and eraser
  • Cannot access files through Dropbox
  • No longer syncs with OneDrive or Dropbox
  • Files lost after upgrading to new app
  • Cannot download embedded video
  • Cannot see iCloud files without workaround

Requested features

16 requests
  • Proper night mode (inverted colors)
  • Bookmark sharing feature
  • PC version of the app
  • Profile switching for open tabs
  • Editable text feature
Show 11 more
  • Support for Chinese language
  • Adjustable plain text font size
  • Two-page PDF viewing
  • Option to ignore finger/hand annotation
  • True dark mode with inverted colors
  • Edit text within PDFs
  • Improve note-taking and thumbnail features
  • Add text editing function
  • Make max number of open tabs configurable
  • Improve PDF annotation experience
  • Allow editing of actual text in PDFs

In-app purchases

8 purchases

UpNote

Subscriptions1
  • Premium monthly subscription$1.991 Month
One-time7
  • Life-time Upgrade$19.99
  • Life-time Upgrade to Premium$19.99
  • Life-time Upgrade$24.99
Show 4 more
  • Life-time Upgrade to Premium$24.99
  • Life-time Upgrade$29.99
  • Life-time upgrade to Premium$34.99
  • Life-time upgrade to Premium$39.99
None

GoodReader Pro PDF Editor

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is UpNote free?
UpNote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is GoodReader Pro PDF Editor free?
GoodReader Pro PDF Editor costs $79.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, UpNote or GoodReader Pro PDF Editor?
UpNote and GoodReader Pro PDF Editor are both rated 4.7 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1.1K and 269 ratings respectively.
Do UpNote or GoodReader Pro PDF Editor have ads?
Neither UpNote nor GoodReader Pro PDF Editor shows ads.
Which is updated more often, UpNote or GoodReader Pro PDF Editor?
UpNote ships an update weekly, and GoodReader Pro PDF Editor every 3 weeks. Most recently, UpNote was updated on September 22, 2026 and GoodReader Pro PDF Editor on September 22, 2026.

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