Comparison

Goodnotes vs Stylus Labs Write Pro

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

Stylus Labs Write Pro

This app offers advanced tools for editing and navigating handwritten documents, combining note-taking and vector drawing capabilities. It supports flexible file organization, cloud services, and a non-proprietary SVG format for easy sharing.

Highlights
  • Intelligent handwriting selection and editing tools
  • Reflow handwritten text with insert space tool
  • Create handwritten links and bookmarks
  • Non-proprietary SVG file format export
  • Apple Pencil support
  • Split view for multi-document work
  • PDF export
Features
Read full description

Write is an open-source application with a unique set of tools for editing and navigating handwritten documents, plus all the usual features of a vector drawing application. Write is perfect for note-taking, brainstorming, and sketching. MODERN DOCUMENT HANDLING * uses standard Apple document browser for completely flexible file organization * supports iCloud and all other cloud services that integrate with the Files app * non-proprietary SVG file format can be opened in other vector graphics apps and web browsers UNIQUE TOOLS FOR HANDWRITTEN DOCUMENTS * intelligent tools to select, erase, and move writing * reflow handwritten text with the insert space tool * create bookmarks labeled with handwriting * create handwritten links to bookmarks and websites * save clippings for easy pasting into any document * unlimited undo/redo jog dial * split view: work on two documents or two parts of the same document STANDARD NOTE-TAKING AND DRAWING TOOLS * Apple Pencil support * insert images (and vector content as SVG) * cut, copy, paste, move, scale, and rotate selections * cut, copy, and paste pages within and between documents * customize and save pens * customize page size, color, and ruling * pages can grow automatically when writing nears edge * PDF export Website: https://www.styluslabs.com Source: https://github.com/styluslabs/Write FAQ: https://www.styluslabs.com/faq Support: support@styluslabs.com

Screenshots

Goodnotes4 screens
Stylus Labs Write Pro4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Goodnotes at Free against Stylus Labs Write Pro's $8.99. Goodnotes also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 4 months) and ratings volume (455K vs 40). Stylus Labs Write Pro's advantage is review sentiment (77% vs 34%) and in-app purchases (none vs 20). 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; Stylus Labs Write Pro costs $8.99 up front. Goodnotes sells 16 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Stylus Labs Write Pro asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Goodnotes holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Goodnotes has 455K ratings behind it against 40, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 34% of Goodnotes's written reviews are positive against 77% of Stylus Labs Write Pro'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, Stylus Labs Write Pro every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
Goodnotes versus Stylus Labs Write Pro: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGoodnotesStylus Labs Write Pro
PriceFree — better$8.99
Rating4.7 (455K ratings) — better4.5 (40 ratings)
Positive reviews33.6% of reviews76.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings455K — better40
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank#90 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS18.611.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size794 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGoodnotes LimitedMatthew White

Customer experience

Goodnotes

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

Stylus Labs Write Pro

All ratings40 ratings
Positive87.5%
Neutral2.5%
Negative10.0%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive76.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative23.1%

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

Stylus Labs Write Pro

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

Stylus Labs Write Pro

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Goodnotes free?
Goodnotes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Stylus Labs Write Pro free?
Stylus Labs Write Pro costs $8.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Goodnotes or Stylus Labs Write Pro?
Goodnotes is rated higher. Goodnotes averages 4.7 out of 5 from 455K ratings, while Stylus Labs Write Pro averages 4.5 from 40 ratings.
Do Goodnotes or Stylus Labs Write Pro have ads?
Neither Goodnotes nor Stylus Labs Write Pro shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Goodnotes or Stylus Labs Write Pro?
Goodnotes ships an update weekly, and Stylus Labs Write Pro every 4 months. Most recently, Goodnotes was updated on September 25, 2026 and Stylus Labs Write Pro on September 24, 2026.

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