Keynote vs Goodnotes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Keynote
Design and deliver professional presentations across Apple devices and even PCs. Utilize Apple-designed themes, add rich media, and apply cinematic animations. Collaborate in real-time and present confidently from anywhere.
- Apple-designed themes
- Cinematic animations and transitions
- Multi-presenter slideshows
- Real-time collaboration
- Import PowerPoint presentations
- Export to PowerPoint, PDF, and more
- Apple Intelligence writing and image tools
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Keynote is now part of Apple Creator Studio, an amazing collection of Apple’s most powerful creative apps designed to help you bring your ideas to life. The suite includes Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Motion, Compressor, and MainStage — plus premium content and intelligence features in Keynote, Pages, Numbers, and Freeform, all in one simple plan. Creating, viewing, and editing presentations in Keynote, as well as collaborating in real time, does not require a subscription. Create memorable presentations on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro. Start with an Apple-designed theme and add text, images, charts, and shapes. Bring it all to life with cinematic animations and transitions. Confidently present from anywhere, in person or virtually, and take turns controlling a presentation in multi-presenter slideshows. Get Started Quickly • Work from iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Vision Pro, or even a PC with iCloud.com • Select from a wide variety of Apple-designed themes • Import and edit Microsoft PowerPoint presentations Create Stunning Presentations • Easily change slide layouts and backgrounds • Add recorded audio, live video, and image galleries • Use powerful graphics tools including background removal and masking • Draw or write with Apple Pencil on iPad Cinema-Quality Animations • Beautiful cinematic slide transitions and impressive animations • Emphasis builds and Magic Move let you effortlessly add impact • See live on-canvas previews as you animate your slides • Draw a motion path with Apple Pencil on iPad Present to Your Audience • Rehearse with a customizable presenter display • Practice in an immersive Conference Room or Theater environment on Apple Vision Pro • Highlight with Apple Pencil or with your finger while presenting on iPad • Control your slideshow from an iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch Share with Anyone • Share your presentation publicly or collaborate with specific people using iCloud or Box • Make changes from any device and see a list of changes from others in real-time • Export presentations to Microsoft PowerPoint, PDF, HTML, movies, and image files Apple Intelligence • Use Writing Tools to proofread, rewrite, summarize, and compose text • Create your own fun images with Image Playground based on a description Some features of Apple Creator Studio require an Apple Intelligence–capable device. For full system requirements and usage limits for Apple Creator Studio intelligence features, see Apple Support article 125029.
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.
- 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
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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
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Keynote at none against Goodnotes's 20. Keynote also leads on device support (5 vs 3). Goodnotes's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months) and rating (4.7 vs 4.4). On price 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
Both are free to download. Goodnotes sells 16 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Keynote asks for nothing beyond the download.
Goodnotes holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Goodnotes has 463K ratings behind it against 83K, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Keynote ships an update every 3 months, Goodnotes weekly. Both last shipped on October 18, 2026.
| Parameter | Keynote | Goodnotes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (83K ratings) | 4.7 (463K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 61.7% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 83K | 463K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | — | #109 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 18.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 662 MB | 775 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Apple Distribution International | Goodnotes Limited |
Customer experience
Keynote
Goodnotes
User reviews
Keynote
From 83K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use
- 🚀 Powerful features
- 💡 Great for presentations
- 🎨 Excellent animation and design tools
- 🤩 Fun and creative
Room to improve
- 🐛 Exporting issues with video and animations
- 🔒 Limited remote control functionality
- 🔍 Lack of advanced text editing options
- 🤔 Confusing UI at times
Goodnotes
From 463K App Store ratingsWhat 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
Bugs and requests
Keynote
Reported bugs
3 issues- Slides not displaying properly
- Presentation remote disconnecting unexpectedly
- Crashes when importing certain media files
Requested features
4 requests- Add more font and shape options
- Improve export capabilities for video and animations
- Enhance remote control functionality
- Streamline text editing experience
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
In-app purchases
Keynote
No in-app purchases
Goodnotes
- 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
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- Essential (Yearly)1 Year trial2 variants$11.991 Year
- Goodnotes Pro (Yearly)7 Days trial$35.991 Year
- Bunny Oasis StickersFree
- Medicine-Academia Sticker SheeFree
- Goodnotes 6 Free TrialFree
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- 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









