Comparison

Numbers vs Goodnotes

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Numbers

Design impressive spreadsheets with a flexible canvas, interactive charts, and powerful functions. Collaborate with others and access your work across devices. Includes tools for data analysis and text composition.

Highlights
  • Apple-designed templates
  • Flexible canvas for layout
  • Interactive charts and pivot tables
  • Hundreds of powerful functions
  • Cross-device compatibility via iCloud
  • Collaboration and real-time editing
  • Import/export Excel and CSV files
Features
Read full description

Numbers 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 spreadsheets in Numbers, as well as collaborating in real time, does not require a subscription. Create gorgeous spreadsheets with Numbers on iPhone, iPad and Mac. Get started with Apple-designed templates for everything from a home budget to an invoice. Add tables, charts, text, and images anywhere on the flexible canvas. Animate your data with interactive charts, find patterns with pivot tables, and use hundreds of powerful functions. Get Started Quickly • Work from iPhone, iPad, Mac, or even a PC with iCloud.com • Select from a wide variety of Apple-designed templates • Add from a library of shapes, tables, and charts with pre-defined styles • Import and edit Microsoft Excel and CSV files Create Beautiful Spreadsheets • Place tables, charts, text, and images anywhere on the flexible canvas • Create a form on iPhone or iPad to quickly enter data on the go • Draw or write with Apple Pencil on iPad Formulas for Everyone • Choose from hundreds of powerful functions, including XLOOKUP and RegEx • Search the integrated function browser for built-in help and sample formulas • Easily add stock information to spreadsheets • See results from a single formula across multiple cells using spilling arrays Everything Adds Up Beautifully • Use pivot tables and categories to see your data in a whole new way • Quickly organize and summarize tables to gain new insights • Insert gorgeous 2D and 3D charts, including bar, column, line, area, pie, donut, and radar charts • Animate data with interactive column, bar, scatter, and bubble charts • Easily filter through large tables for specific values, text, or duplicate entries • Change values in cells using sliders, steppers, checkboxes, pop-ups, and star ratings Share with Anyone • Share your spreadsheet 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 your spreadsheet in CSV, TSV, PDF, and Microsoft Excel 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.

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

Screenshots

Numbers4 screens
Goodnotes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Numbers at none against Goodnotes's 20. Numbers also leads on review sentiment (50% vs 34%). Goodnotes's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months) and chart position (#98 vs unranked). On price, rating, ratings volume 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 16 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Numbers asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Numbers against 4.7 for Goodnotes. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 223K and 461K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 50% of Numbers's written reviews are positive against 34% of Goodnotes's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Numbers ships an update every 3 months, Goodnotes weekly. Both last shipped on October 13, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Numbers versus Goodnotes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNumbersGoodnotes
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (223K ratings)4.7 (461K ratings) — better
Positive reviews49.9% of reviews — better33.7% of reviews
Number of ratings223K461K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#98 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS26.018.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size631 MB772 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperApple Inc.Goodnotes Limited

Customer experience

Numbers

All ratings223,202 ratings
Positive90.9%
Neutral3.5%
Negative5.6%
Written reviews4,973 reviews
Positive49.9%
Neutral9.5%
Negative40.6%

Goodnotes

All ratings461,453 ratings
Positive93.4%
Neutral1.9%
Negative4.7%
Written reviews6,656 reviews
Positive33.7%
Neutral11.2%
Negative55.1%

User reviews

Numbers

From 223K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Intuitive interface
  • 🚀 Seamless integration with Apple ecosystem
  • 🚀 Great for basic spreadsheet needs
  • 🚀 Visually appealing charts and formatting

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
  • 🐛 Compatibility problems with Excel files
  • 🐛 Limited functionality compared to Excel
  • 🐛 Frustrating editing experience on mobile
  • 🐛 Disappearing spreadsheets after updates

Goodnotes

From 461K 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

Bugs and requests

Numbers

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Frozen headers issue
  • Keyboard and text editing problems
  • Spreadsheet data loss after updates
  • Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
  • Slow performance and loading times

Requested features

6 requests
  • Ability to lock individual cells
  • More advanced formula and function support
  • Improved collaboration and sharing options
  • Better mobile interface and keyboard integration
  • Customizable templates and formatting options
Show 1 more
  • Pivot table and data analysis features

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

None

Numbers

No 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

Questions

Is Numbers free?
Numbers is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Goodnotes free?
Goodnotes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Numbers or Goodnotes?
Goodnotes is rated higher. Numbers averages 4.6 out of 5 from 223K ratings, while Goodnotes averages 4.7 from 461K ratings.
Do Numbers or Goodnotes have ads?
Neither Numbers nor Goodnotes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Numbers or Goodnotes?
Numbers ships an update every 3 months, and Goodnotes weekly. Most recently, Numbers was updated on October 13, 2026 and Goodnotes on October 13, 2026.

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