Comparison

Goodnotes vs Chalk Draw

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

Chalk Draw

Transform your device into a digital chalkboard for writing and drawing with colored chalk. Ideal for educational purposes, professional explanations, or casual games.

Highlights
  • Digital chalkboard simulation
  • Colored chalk drawing
  • Writing functionality
  • Educational tool
  • Drawing tool
  • Game board
Features
Read full description

Chalk Draw is a new application that turns your iPhone/ iPad into a genuine chalkboard! The application lets you write and draw everything you want on the board, using colored chalks.This application is very useful in many situations: teach your child math, explain graphs to your colleagues, or simply play tic-tac-toe. Let your children play with Chalk Draw and teach them how to draw their first butterfly. Thank you for taking the time to report any bugs or to request an enhancement to Chalk Draw application. Feedback is very important to us. We will do our best to answer queries. Email us at drawerfree@gmail.com

Screenshots

Goodnotes4 screens
Chalk Draw1 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Goodnotes at none against Chalk Draw's shown. Goodnotes also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 5 months) and ratings volume (455K vs 3.6K). Chalk Draw's advantage is review sentiment (59% vs 34%) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.6). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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

Both are free to download. Goodnotes sells 16 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and Chalk Draw sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. 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 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Goodnotes has 455K ratings behind it against 3.6K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 34% of Goodnotes's written reviews are positive against 59% of Chalk Draw'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, Chalk Draw every 5 months. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Goodnotes versus Chalk Draw: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGoodnotesChalk Draw
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (455K ratings) — better4.5 (3.6K ratings)
Positive reviews33.6% of reviews59.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings455K — better3.6K
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#85 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS18.613.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size794 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGoodnotes LimitedAn Banh

Customer experience

Goodnotes

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

Chalk Draw

All ratings3,607 ratings
Positive86.7%
Neutral6.8%
Negative6.5%
Written reviews59 reviews
Positive59.3%
Neutral6.8%
Negative33.9%

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

Chalk Draw

From 3.6K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Realistic chalkboard experience
  • 💡 Useful for online teaching and communication
  • 🚀 Simple and easy to use

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent ads disrupting usage
  • 💡 Limited color options
  • 🐛 Compatibility issues with Apple Pencil

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

Chalk Draw

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • App crashing on restart
  • Drawing not registering accurately with Apple Pencil

Requested features

4 requests
  • More color options
  • Gallery/history of drawings
  • Sound effects for a more immersive experience
  • Undo/redo functionality

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
1 purchases

Chalk Draw

One-time1
  • Upgrade PRO version$1.99

Questions

Is Goodnotes free?
Goodnotes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Chalk Draw free?
Chalk Draw is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Goodnotes or Chalk Draw?
Goodnotes is rated higher. Goodnotes averages 4.7 out of 5 from 455K ratings, while Chalk Draw averages 4.5 from 3.6K ratings.
Do Goodnotes or Chalk Draw have ads?
Chalk Draw shows ads; Goodnotes does not.
Which is updated more often, Goodnotes or Chalk Draw?
Goodnotes ships an update weekly, and Chalk Draw every 5 months. Most recently, Goodnotes was updated on September 24, 2026 and Chalk Draw on September 24, 2026.

Other comparisons