# Goodnotes vs Noteful

Goodnotes and Noteful both sit at 4.7 stars, but that hides the real split: 88% of Noteful's written reviews are positive against 34% of Goodnotes's. Noteful also leads on iOS requirement (14.3 vs 18.6). Goodnotes's advantage is ratings volume (455K vs 24K) and update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Goodnotes sells 16 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and Noteful sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Goodnotes against 4.8 for Noteful. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Goodnotes has 455K ratings behind it against 24K, 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 88% of Noteful's.

Goodnotes ships an update weekly, Noteful every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | Goodnotes | Noteful |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.7 (455K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/goodnotes-ai-notes-docs-pdf/id1444383602/reviews) | **[4.8 (24K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/noteful-notes-and-pdf-markup/id1587904334/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **455K** | 24K |
| Positive reviews | 33.6% of reviews | **87.5% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Weekly** | Every 3 weeks |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Best chart rank | **#86** | — |
| Size | 794 MB | 158 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | **14.3** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Goodnotes Limited](https://appshunter.io/developer/1708570616) | [Noteful Technologies Ltd](https://appshunter.io/developer/1587904336) |

## What reviewers say

### Goodnotes

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/goodnotes-ai-notes-docs-pdf/id1444383602)

**Currently charting:** #86 Top Grossing · Productivity, #115 Top Free · Productivity (US App Store)

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:** Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (16)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| AI Pass (Monthly) | $9.99 | per month |
| Goodnotes 6 (1 Year) | $9.99 | per year |
| Essential (Yearly) | $11.99 | per year |
| Essential (Yearly) | $11.99 | per year |
| Goodnotes Pro (Yearly) | $35.99 | per year |
| Bunny Oasis Stickers | Free | one-time |
| Medicine-Academia Sticker Shee | Free | one-time |
| Goodnotes 6 Free Trial | Free | one-time |
| Marketplace Content | $1.99 | one-time |
| Marketplace Content | $6.99 | one-time |
| Marketplace Content | $8.99 | one-time |
| GoodNotes 5 Unlock | $9.99 | one-time |
| Marketplace Content | $9.99 | one-time |
| Marketplace Content | $10.99 | one-time |
| Goodnotes 6 One-Time Payment | $28.99 | one-time |
| Special Edition | $35.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 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

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Glitches and crashes
- 🔍 Syncing and iCloud issues
- 🔍 Lack of flexibility with text input
- 🔍 Limited eraser and highlighting options
- 🔍 Subpar performance on Mac app

**Reported bugs**

- 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**

- 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


### Noteful

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/noteful-notes-and-pdf-markup/id1587904334)

This app revolutionizes paperless note-taking on iPad, allowing for handwritten notes, document annotation, and knowledge organization. It offers a fluid writing experience, PDF markup, powerful tagging, and audio recording synced with notes.

**Highlights:** Handwritten notes with Apple Pencil, PDF and document annotation, Organize notes with tags, Layers for annotations, Audio recording synced with notes, Import PDFs and MS Office documents

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Noteful Pro, Lifetime | $6.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Smooth writing experience
- 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
- 💡 Layers feature
- 👍 Affordable one-time purchase
- 🚀 Efficient and lightweight

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional crashes or freezes
- 🔍 No handwriting recognition or search
- 🔍 Limited text editing options
- 🔍 Lack of advanced features like math conversion
- 🔍 Exporting PDFs loses some formatting

**Reported bugs**

- Syncing issues across devices
- Lasso tool not working properly with PDFs
- Eraser tool not functioning as expected

**Requested features**

- Handwriting recognition and search
- More text editing options (bullet lists, etc.)
- Improved PDF handling and annotations
- Custom templates and sticker support
- Expanded cloud storage options (Dropbox, OneDrive, etc.)


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Goodnotes free?

Goodnotes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Noteful free?

Noteful is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Goodnotes or Noteful?

Noteful is rated higher. Goodnotes averages 4.7 out of 5 from 455K ratings, while Noteful averages 4.8 from 24K ratings.

### Do Goodnotes or Noteful have ads?

Neither Goodnotes nor Noteful shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Goodnotes or Noteful?

Goodnotes ships an update weekly, and Noteful every 3 weeks. Most recently, Goodnotes was updated on September 24, 2026 and Noteful on September 24, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*