Comparison

Goodnotes vs WeNotes+

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

Head to head
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

About

WeNotes+

Capture thoughts, to-do lists, and ideas with a versatile note-taking and voice recording app. Personalize your notes with formatting options, photos, and color themes. Secure your data and sync across devices.

Highlights
  • Personalized notes and voice recording
  • Shortcut toolbar for formatting
  • Photo insertion and automatic cropping
  • Export to PDF, JPG, HTML, TXT
  • Password and biometric security
  • iCloud synchronization
  • Calendar view and search functionality
Features
Read full description

Make your notes even better with WeNotes+. Create personalized notes, notes, and personalize your notes, record your thoughts, TODO Lists, and ideas to make your day-to-day planning moments simple. 【Concentrated writing】 • Use the shortcut toolbar to edit the format with the one-click shortcut provided by Notes+. • Quickly take photos and automatically crop them into your notes. • Support for exporting multiple formats: PDF, JPG, HTML, TXT. • A variety of color themes to provide you with the perfect writing environment. 【export】 • Support for exporting multiple formats: PDF, JPG, HTML, TXT. • Ability to export all notes with one click and quickly share or add to email attachments. 【Safety】 • Secure your notes with a password and quickly access your notes with touch ID or Face ID. 【Synchronize】 • Synchronize between multiple devices via iCloud. 【Lock screen wallpaper】 • Create a personalized lock screen wallpaper with a one-click note. • The generated lock screen wallpaper can be replaced in the phone settings. 【Dark Mode】 • iOS 13 dark mode. Notes+. will remember the topics you choose in light and dark modes.    Dark mode, come now. 【Calendar view, search】 • Sync with iOS's default calendar and reminders • Put notes in the calendar view for an unobstructed view • Manage all calendars • Ability to search all the notes on the device, fast, convenient, and quick [Subscribe to VIP to unlock all functions] A cost-effective annual subscription allows you to use all the features of Notes+ on all devices. 1. Sync notes between all devices 2. Advanced export to PDF, HTML 3. Recover notes from the trash 4. No ads to disturb ¥78/year (free one-week trial period) save 30%! You may purchase an auto-renewing subscription through an In-App Purchase. • Auto-renewable subscription • 1 year ($ 10.49) durations ¥8/month (free 3-day trial period)! • Auto-renewable subscription • 1 Month ($ 1.2) durations • Your subscription will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase and will automatically renew (at the duration selected) unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. • Current subscription may not be canceled during the active subscription period; however, you can manage your subscription and / or turn off auto-renewal by visiting your iTunes Account Settings after purchase • Privacy policy and terms of use: ( privacy policy: https://gist.githubusercontent.com/jerryga/4052426fdedb0cc5351cb5384fd2e1f0/raw/privacy.html terms of use: https://gist.githubusercontent.com/jerryga/39edfb5f074fd24b263d5f2c8b524b58/raw/20bac3fb9fa834602bcac9eb280c1e7a65eb14a0/use.html ) ---- --- Prices may vary by region. The subscription service will be charged to the credit card of your iTunes account. Your subscription will automatically renew unless you stop auto-renewal at least 24 hours before the end of the current subscription period. Once the current subscription is activated, it cannot be cancelled. After purchase, you can manage your subscription in the account settings of the App Store. When a user purchases a subscription service, any unused free trial period immediately expires.

Screenshots

Goodnotes4 screens
WeNotes+4 screens

Verdict

The call

Goodnotes and WeNotes+ both sit at 4.7 stars, but that hides the real split: 93% of WeNotes+'s written reviews are positive against 34% of Goodnotes's. WeNotes+ also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 18.6). Goodnotes's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months). On price, rating, in-app purchases and monetization model 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 and WeNotes+ sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Goodnotes against 4.8 for WeNotes+. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Goodnotes has 457K ratings behind it against 2.2K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 34% of Goodnotes's written reviews are positive against 93% of WeNotes+'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Goodnotes ships an update weekly, WeNotes+ every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and August 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Goodnotes versus WeNotes+: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGoodnotesWeNotes+
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (457K ratings)4.8 (2.2K ratings) — better
Positive reviews33.6% of reviews93.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings457K — better2.2K
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
Best chart rank#91 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS18.612.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size795 MB91 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGoodnotes Limited传胜 贾

Customer experience

Goodnotes

All ratings456,958 ratings
Positive93.4%
Neutral1.9%
Negative4.7%
Written reviews6,458 reviews
Positive33.6%
Neutral11.3%
Negative55.0%

WeNotes+

All ratings2,172 ratings
Positive95.9%
Neutral1.6%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews288 reviews
Positive93.4%
Neutral3.1%
Negative3.5%

User reviews

Goodnotes

From 457K 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

WeNotes+

From 2.2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Good app
  • 💡 Useful for notes
  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 👍 Convenient
  • 👍 Organized

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Glitches/bugs
  • 🔒 Forced 5-star review to unlock features
  • 🔒 Limited free features
  • 🐛 Crashes/freezes
  • 🐛 Syncing issues

Bugs and requests

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

WeNotes+

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Notes disappearing
  • Freezing when adding photos
  • Syncing problems between devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • More color/font options
  • Ability to manually order folders
  • Checkboxes for to-do lists
  • Embed videos/audio
  • Unlimited free notes

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
3 purchases

WeNotes+

Subscriptions2
  • VIP Monthly3 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • VIP Annual7 Days trial$7.991 Year
One-time1
  • Pro$4.99

Questions

Is Goodnotes free?
Goodnotes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is WeNotes+ free?
WeNotes+ is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Goodnotes or WeNotes+?
WeNotes+ is rated higher. Goodnotes averages 4.7 out of 5 from 457K ratings, while WeNotes+ averages 4.8 from 2.2K ratings.
Do Goodnotes or WeNotes+ have ads?
WeNotes+ shows ads; Goodnotes does not.
Which is updated more often, Goodnotes or WeNotes+?
Goodnotes ships an update weekly, and WeNotes+ every 3 months. Most recently, Goodnotes was updated on September 28, 2026 and WeNotes+ on August 8, 2026.

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