Comparison

Goodnotes vs MapNote2

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

MapNote2

This app offers an infinitely expanding canvas for capturing and organizing thoughts. It's designed to mimic the natural, radial way the brain generates ideas, moving beyond linear note-taking. Ideal for brainstorming, mind mapping, and sketching out concepts.

Highlights
  • Infinite canvas for idea spreading
  • Radial thinking support
  • Mind mapping
  • Brainstorming tool
  • Idea sketching
Features
Read full description

Using MapNote, you can spread your ideas anywhere on an infinitely spread canvas. I think the way the brain works when thinking about ideas is random and radial rather than linear. Traditional notes that need to be written sequentially from left to right are not very suitable for this process. If you use this infinite size notebook application, you can freely spread your ideas from the center of the page, so you can come up with ideas more naturally. Ideal for creating rough mind maps, brainstorming and idea sketches.

Screenshots

Goodnotes4 screens
MapNote24 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Goodnotes at Free against MapNote2's $5.99. Goodnotes also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.1) and update cadence (weekly vs every 6 months). MapNote2's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 20) and review sentiment (45% vs 34%). On 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

Goodnotes is free to download; MapNote2 costs $5.99 up front. Goodnotes sells 16 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. MapNote2 asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Goodnotes holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Goodnotes has 455K ratings behind it against 36, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 34% of Goodnotes's written reviews are positive against 45% of MapNote2'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, MapNote2 every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
Goodnotes versus MapNote2: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGoodnotesMapNote2
PriceFree — better$5.99
Rating4.7 (455K ratings) — better4.1 (36 ratings)
Positive reviews33.6% of reviews45.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings455K — better36
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 6 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank#86 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS18.611.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size794 MB153 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGoodnotes LimitedNaoya Enokida

Customer experience

Goodnotes

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

MapNote2

All ratings36 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral8.3%
Negative16.7%
Written reviews104 reviews
Positive45.2%
Neutral18.3%
Negative36.5%

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

MapNote2

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

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
None

MapNote2

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Goodnotes free?
Goodnotes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is MapNote2 free?
MapNote2 costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Goodnotes or MapNote2?
Goodnotes is rated higher. Goodnotes averages 4.7 out of 5 from 455K ratings, while MapNote2 averages 4.1 from 36 ratings.
Do Goodnotes or MapNote2 have ads?
Neither Goodnotes nor MapNote2 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Goodnotes or MapNote2?
Goodnotes ships an update weekly, and MapNote2 every 6 months. Most recently, Goodnotes was updated on September 24, 2026 and MapNote2 on September 16, 2026.

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