Comparison

Goodnotes vs CollaNote

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, brainstorm, and create polished documents with powerful AI tools. Transcribe meetings, generate summaries, and organize notes effortlessly for work or study. Plan your life and journal your thoughts with customizable templates and creative freedom.

Highlights
  • AI-powered transcription and summarization
  • Infinite whiteboard for brainstorming
  • Handwritten and typed note organization
  • Customizable planner and journal templates
  • PDF annotation and document import
  • Study sets with flashcards
  • Presentation mode with laser pointer
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

CollaNote

This powerful app combines note-taking, PDF markup, and digital planning with advanced AI features. It offers a rich writing experience with numerous pens and brushes, supports real-time collaboration, and includes tools like translation and flashcard creation.

Highlights
  • 25+ pens and brushes
  • Handwriting stabilizer
  • PDF, PPT, DOC import and markup
  • Built-in scanner
  • Translation tool (90+ languages)
  • Flashcard creation with audio/images
  • Real-time collaboration
Features
Read full description

CollaNote: Powerful note-taking app packed with a wide range of tools. Note-taking, PDF markup, digital planning, and flashcards - all in one place! BUILT FOR APPLE PENCIL WITH AN ENHANCED WRITING EXPERIENCE: - 25+ different pens and brushes to transform your notes into artwork. - Handwriting stabilizer for beautiful, smooth writing. - Enjoy a calming ASMR note-taking experience. - Infinite Arc Menu available for both Apple Pencil Pro and Apple Pencil Gen 2. IMPORT, MARK-UP, AND EXPORT PDF: - Import and mark up PDFs, PPTs, DOCs, and Images effortlessly. - In-built scanner to digitize your physical documents. - Export notes to PDF and share with ease. POWERFUL TOOLS: - Translation tool to learn new languages, supporting over 90 languages. - Create flashcards with audio and images, or use our extensive library. - Beautiful Planners for tracking tasks, deadlines, and schedules. - Record and sync audio directly within your notes. UNLIMITED PAPERS AND NOTEBOOKS: - Unlimited paper with versatile grids/lines and 150+ colorful templates. - Keep all your notes organized and easily accessible from anywhere. - Automatically back up to iCloud and sync across iOS devices. - Smart Dark Mode for optimal visibility in any lighting. - Password protection for ultimate note security. AI POWERED: - Built-in AI Calculator for complex calculations. - AI drawing tools for perfect shapes. - Get intelligent writing and note-taking assistance. - Generate unique stickers with AI. ENGAGING CREATIVE COMMUNITY: - Join the Public Room to connect with creators worldwide. - Real-time collaboration function (unlimited participants). CollaNote's journey began with a student at Hamburg University, who now leads a dedicated team of individuals devoted to delivering the finest digital paper experience. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our users for their unwavering support since the early days of CollaNote. Download CollaNote now to discover even more surprises!

Screenshots

Goodnotes4 screens
CollaNote4 screens

Verdict

The call

Goodnotes and CollaNote both sit at 4.7 stars, but that hides the real split: 74% of CollaNote's written reviews are positive against 34% of Goodnotes's. CollaNote also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). Goodnotes's advantage is ratings volume (467K vs 15K) and chart position (#104 vs unranked). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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 9 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and CollaNote sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. 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 4.7 for CollaNote. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Goodnotes has 467K ratings behind it against 15K, 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 74% of CollaNote's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Goodnotes ships an update weekly, CollaNote every 6 days. Both last shipped on November 4, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Goodnotes versus CollaNote: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGoodnotesCollaNote
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (467K ratings) — better4.7 (15K ratings)
Positive reviews33.8% of reviews73.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings467K — better15K
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 6 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#104 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.618.6
Further details — not scored
Size778 MB229 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGoodnotes LimitedZauberberg Lab Company Limited

Customer experience

Goodnotes

All ratings466,714 ratings
Positive93.4%
Neutral1.9%
Negative4.6%
Written reviews6,775 reviews
Positive33.8%
Neutral11.2%
Negative55.0%

CollaNote

All ratings15,105 ratings
Positive92.4%
Neutral2.0%
Negative5.6%
Written reviews3,370 reviews
Positive73.6%
Neutral7.3%
Negative19.1%

User reviews

Goodnotes

From 467K 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

CollaNote

From 15K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Very good writing app
  • 🚀 Great app and easy to navigate
  • 🚀 Excellent note taking app
  • 👍 Amazing free note taking app
  • 👍 Fantastic for teaching

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Glitching, crashing, and issues with writing tools
  • 🐛 Inconsistent performance and bugs
  • 🐛 Issues with PDF annotations and exports
  • 🐛 Problems with organization and navigation
  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and data loss

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

CollaNote

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • Pen and eraser issues after updates
  • Freezing and crashing when deleting or moving notes
  • Inconsistent behavior of favorite pen settings
  • Incompatibility with older devices
  • Login screen freezes
Show 1 more
  • Random deletion of notes and files

Requested features

12 requests
  • Add landscape mode support
  • Improve text editing and formatting
  • Enhance organization with nested folders
  • Implement better backup and sync options
  • Add more pen/pencil customization
Show 7 more
  • Improve collaboration and sharing features
  • Introduce a zoom window and auto-advance function
  • Add more paper style options
  • Implement undo/redo functionality
  • Allow resizing and manipulating of selected content
  • Provide a dark mode option
  • Add advanced analytics and dashboard

In-app purchases

9 purchases

Goodnotes

Subscriptions4
  • AI Pass (Monthly)7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Essential (Yearly)7 Days trial$11.991 Year
  • Essential (Yearly)1 Year trial2 variants$11.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Goodnotes Pro (Yearly)7 Days trial$35.991 Year
One-time5
  • Goodnotes 6 Free TrialFree
  • Marketplace Content$1.99
  • Marketplace Content$9.99
Show 2 more
  • Goodnotes 6 One-Time Payment$28.99
  • Special Edition$35.99
4 purchases

CollaNote

One-time4
  • Lifetime Premium Loyal Users$6.95
  • Premium: Time Limited Sale$6.95
  • Lifetime Premium Welcome Offer$9.69
Show 1 more
  • Lifetime Premium$13.90

Questions

Is Goodnotes free?
Goodnotes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is CollaNote free?
CollaNote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Goodnotes or CollaNote?
Goodnotes is rated higher. Goodnotes averages 4.7 out of 5 from 467K ratings, while CollaNote averages 4.7 from 15K ratings.
Do Goodnotes or CollaNote have ads?
Neither Goodnotes nor CollaNote shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Goodnotes or CollaNote?
Goodnotes ships an update weekly, and CollaNote every 6 days. Most recently, Goodnotes was updated on November 4, 2026 and CollaNote on November 4, 2026.

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