Comparison

Whiteboard vs Goodnotes

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

Head to head
About

Whiteboard

This digital whiteboard app offers a simple yet powerful interface for various uses, from teaching and design to note-taking and doodling. It provides flexible canvas options, including multi-page and infinite free-form canvases, and supports PDF imports.

Highlights
  • Infinite free-form canvas
  • Multi-page canvas option
  • Direct PDF import
  • Geometric shape drawing
  • Simple and clean interface
  • Quick startup
  • Small storage space
Features
Read full description

The Whiteboard App always adheres to the concept of "simplicity to the extreme" and "Nothing more Nothing less". Despite offering many small tools, its interface remains simple and user-friendly. This app is suitable for various scenarios, including teaching, creativity, meeting presentations, prototype design, and learning drafts, among others. It provides users with a variety of universally applicable paper formats, objects, and prototype designs to choose from. It also offers instant drawing of geometric shapes, making teaching, creativity, and on-site communication more convenient. Additionally, it can be used for students' homework drafts, doodling, note-taking, temporary notepads, word dictation, and math problems, among other purposes. Users highly praise its simple and easy-to-use button layout and tool exit mechanism. The app offers two forms of creating new files, allowing users to choose the one that suits them best: - The first form is a multi-page file (Pages), where each page serves as a canvas with size limitations, similar to a PDF file. This makes it easy to organize knowledge. - The second form is a free-form file (Free Form), where a file consists of one infinitely large canvas without boundaries. This allows for unlimited creativity. The app also supports direct import of PDF files, even large files with hundreds or thousands of pages, without crashing. It opens instantly. Features: - Small storage space - Simple operation - Clean interface - Quick startup - Rich functionality Welcome to download and experience the Whiteboard App as soon as possible! Contact information: - Twitter: chenlidongorg - Threads: chenlidongorg - WeChat: ichenlidong - Email: chenlidong@gmail.com - Official website: whiteboardapp.org End-User License Agreement (EULA): http://whiteboardapp.org/TermsofUse Privacy Policy: http://whiteboardapp.org/fsaf-88bdbc6b

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

Whiteboard4 screens
Goodnotes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Whiteboard at 75% against Goodnotes's 34%. Goodnotes's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.3) and ratings volume (455K vs 944). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Whiteboard sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Goodnotes sells 16 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. 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 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Goodnotes has 455K ratings behind it against 944, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 75% of Whiteboard's written reviews are positive against 34% of Goodnotes's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Whiteboard ships an update every 9 days, Goodnotes weekly. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Whiteboard versus Goodnotes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWhiteboardGoodnotes
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (944 ratings)4.7 (455K ratings) — better
Positive reviews74.6% of reviews — better33.6% of reviews
Number of ratings944455K — better
Update frequencyEvery 9 daysWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#86 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size80 MB794 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEndless AI LLCGoodnotes Limited

Customer experience

Whiteboard

All ratings944 ratings
Positive81.8%
Neutral5.4%
Negative12.8%
Written reviews228 reviews
Positive74.6%
Neutral8.8%
Negative16.7%

Goodnotes

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

User reviews

Whiteboard

From 944 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Simple and easy to use
  • 🚀 Smooth and responsive
  • 💡 Useful templates and backgrounds
  • 🤩 Great for quick sketching and note-taking
  • 👍 Clean and intuitive interface

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Eraser issues (automatically switches to marker, hard to use)
  • 🐛 Occasional crashes or performance issues
  • 🔍 Limited customization options (e.g., pen size, colors)
  • 🔍 Lack of advanced features (e.g., layers, text editing)

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

Bugs and requests

Whiteboard

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Eraser automatically switches to marker
  • Drawing sometimes gets blurry or distorted
  • App crashes or freezes after prolonged use
  • Inability to delete or clear the canvas

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add undo/redo functionality
  • Improve palm rejection and eraser usability
  • Allow customizing pen size and color presets
  • Implement text editing and formatting options
  • Add ability to save/load drawings and annotate PDFs

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

7 purchases

Whiteboard

Subscriptions2
  • Whiteboard Pro7 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Whiteboard Pro7 Days trial$12.991 Year
One-time5
  • Recharge 100 Points - Attempt$3.99
  • Sponsorship to unlock I$14.99
  • Sponsorship to unlock II$17.99
Show 2 more
  • Sponsorship to unlock III$24.99
  • Recharge 1000 Points$39.99
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 Whiteboard free?
Whiteboard is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Goodnotes free?
Goodnotes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Whiteboard or Goodnotes?
Goodnotes is rated higher. Whiteboard averages 4.3 out of 5 from 944 ratings, while Goodnotes averages 4.7 from 455K ratings.
Do Whiteboard or Goodnotes have ads?
Neither Whiteboard nor Goodnotes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Whiteboard or Goodnotes?
Whiteboard ships an update every 9 days, and Goodnotes weekly. Most recently, Whiteboard was updated on September 24, 2026 and Goodnotes on September 24, 2026.

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