Comparison

Goodnotes vs Blankbook

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

Blankbook

Experience a natural handwriting feel on an infinite canvas. Organize notes with a visual bookshelf and access tools quickly. Offers various paper types and intuitive controls for seamless creativity.

Highlights
  • Infinite scrolling canvas
  • 7 static paper types (dark/light variants)
  • Pen, pencil, marker, lasso, ruler, erasers
  • Three quick-access tool slots
  • Intuitive gesture controls
  • Automatic dark mode matching system settings
Read full description

Blankbook reduces the clutter and reproduce the essence of an extraordinary handwriting experience. It features a well-thought design that makes your content speak. The bookshelf offers a see-through preview that allows you to see your content directly. Canvas: Infinite scrolling canvas allows your creativity flow, you’ll never be bothered by manually creating a new page over and over again. Paper: It offers 7 static paper types. All with dark and light variants. Dotted, squared, watercolor papers, etc. We get you covered. Tools: Pen, pencil, marker, lasso for copy and cut, ruler, pixel eraser and vector eraser. All powered by the best Apple Pencil technology. Shortcuts: Want quick access to your favorite tools without adjusting the setting repeatedly? We offer you three quick-access slots per note. Add any tools to it and it saves for you. Intuitiveness: Tap the title name your note, long press to reorder, two-finger tap to undo, two-finger pinch to zoom. It’s that easy! Dark mode: The color scheme will match the system setting automatically. Or you can use iOS dark/light switch to set it to your preferences. Have fun writing! ----------------- “You’ve got the brownie when night is coming, huh~ It's not a dessert". Licensed from artist Yuanyu Zhou(Ins: @frost.tree), Bookbook iMessage app integrates with her "Brownie" series of emoji packs. Term of service: https://www.legolas.me/paperworks/blankbook-terms-of-service Privacy Policy: https://www.legolas.me/paperworks/blankbook-privacy-policy Developer: Yuxiao Wang Special thanks: @Yuanyu Zhou, @Minja. For ideas, testing and feedbacks.

Screenshots

Goodnotes4 screens
Blankbook4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Goodnotes at 4.7 against Blankbook's 3.9. Goodnotes also leads on ratings volume (455K vs 129) and chart position (#92 vs unranked). Blankbook's advantage is review sentiment (55% vs 34%) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.6). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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 Blankbook sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.49 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Goodnotes holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Goodnotes has 455K ratings behind it against 129, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 34% of Goodnotes's written reviews are positive against 55% of Blankbook's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Goodnotes ships an update weekly, Blankbook every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and July 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Goodnotes versus Blankbook: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGoodnotesBlankbook
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (455K ratings) — better3.9 (129 ratings)
Positive reviews33.6% of reviews54.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings455K — better129
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#92 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS18.613.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size794 MB41 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGoodnotes Limited璐 徐

Customer experience

Goodnotes

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

Blankbook

All ratings129 ratings
Positive72.9%
Neutral7.8%
Negative19.4%
Written reviews93 reviews
Positive54.8%
Neutral11.8%
Negative33.3%

User reviews

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

Blankbook

From 129 App Store ratings

What we love

  • ✍️ Natural handwriting and pen feel
  • ♾️ Infinite canvas for unlimited space
  • 🎨 Simple and clean interface
  • ⚡ Good performance and responsiveness
  • 💰 One-time purchase option available

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and app failures
  • 💾 Data loss and note disappearance
  • ⏱️ Severe lag with large amounts of data
  • 🔄 Notes not syncing across devices
  • 🗂️ No folder or organizational system

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

Blankbook

Reported bugs

16 issues
  • App crashes when creating new sheets or files
  • Notes permanently disappear without warning
  • Severe lag and slow loading with accumulated data
  • Delete function doesn't permanently remove notes
  • Unresponsive settings and help buttons
Show 11 more
  • App fails to open or closes immediately
  • Palm rejection issues causing accidental zooms
  • Eraser and pencil tool flashing/switching randomly
  • Grid/lines don't move with canvas when scrolling or zooming
  • Random dots appearing while writing
  • Zoom gestures misinterpreted
  • Crashes after leaving app in background
  • Premium purchase not recognized after reinstall
  • Incompatibility with Mac version for editing
  • Settings not persisting across sessions
  • Performance issues on iPad Pro with iOS 14+

Requested features

20 requests
  • Folder organization system for notes
  • Cloud backup and sync across devices
  • Image and PDF insertion capability
  • Snap-to-grid and smart shapes
  • Ability to rotate and scale selected content
Show 15 more
  • Dark mode toggle within app
  • Customizable color swatches
  • Copy and paste image functionality
  • Multi-window support
  • Undo/redo button in addition to gesture
  • Export as vector file option
  • Snap shapes and lines feature
  • Lock/pin canvas to grid lines
  • Duplicate entire notes function
  • Typed text insertion
  • More than three tool shortcuts
  • Default tool customization
  • Larger color palette
  • Device synchronization for iPad and iPhone
  • Backup system for data protection

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
2 purchases

Blankbook

Subscriptions1
  • Monthly7 Days trial$2.491 Month
One-time1
  • Lifetime$6.99

Questions

Is Goodnotes free?
Goodnotes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Blankbook free?
Blankbook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Goodnotes or Blankbook?
Goodnotes is rated higher. Goodnotes averages 4.7 out of 5 from 455K ratings, while Blankbook averages 3.9 from 129 ratings.
Do Goodnotes or Blankbook have ads?
Neither Goodnotes nor Blankbook shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Goodnotes or Blankbook?
Goodnotes ships an update weekly, and Blankbook every 4 days. Most recently, Goodnotes was updated on September 25, 2026 and Blankbook on July 26, 2026.

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