Comparison

GoodNote vs Stellata

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

Head to head
About

GoodNote

Features
Read full description

Forget the tab graveyard. GoodNote saves every article, link, and story you want to read later - then strips away the clutter so you can actually read it. A clean, distraction-free reader. Your whole library synced across iPhone, iPad, and Mac. And it all stays offline, forever. SAVE FROM ANYWHERE - Share any page from Safari or any app straight into GoodNote - On Mac, drag a link in from your browser or just press ⌘N - Add links by hand, or let Shortcuts and App Intents do it for you - Everything is stored offline, so it's yours to read on a plane, a subway, or a dead-zone cabin READ THE WAY YOU LIKE - A beautiful reader view with no ads, popups, or cookie banners - Five reading themes and full typography control - text size, line spacing and typeface (Premium) - One tap flips back to the original web page whenever you want it - Highlight passages in six colors and add your own notes - Every highlight collects into a per-article Notebook FIND IT IN A SECOND - Full-text search reaches the title, the author, the tags, and the entire body of every article - not just titles - Organize with tags, custom lists, and stars - Smart lists gather what's unread, starred, untagged, or highlighted, with no setup at all - The Home Screen widget counts what's still waiting and shows the next few titles - A gentle daily reminder nudges you back to your reading PICK UP EXACTLY WHERE YOU LEFT OFF - Articles, highlights, tags, and your reading position all sync between devices - Start an article on iPhone, finish it on Mac at the very same paragraph - Syncs through your own iCloud - no account to create, no password, no email TAKE YOUR HIGHLIGHTS WITH YOU - Export any article and its highlights as clean Markdown (Premium) - Drops straight into Obsidian, Notion, or whichever editor you already live in MADE FOR THE MAC, NOT JUST RESIZED - A real three-column window: your lists, your articles, and the reader side by side - Full menu bar, keyboard shortcuts, and articles that open in their own windows - Bought GoodNote already? The Mac app is included. PRIVATE BY DESIGN - No account, no tracking, no analytics, no ads - Your reading list is yours alone. We never see it. START FREE. PAY ONCE IF YOU STAY. - Your first 30 articles are free - no trial countdown, no card up front - One payment unlocks unlimited articles, reading customization and Markdown export - No subscription, ever. Buy it once and GoodNote is yours to keep. Built natively for Apple - fast, light, and right at home on iOS, iPadOS, and Mac. Available in 12 languages.

About

Stellata

This app helps you visually organize saved links, images, videos, and PDFs. It automatically groups content by theme and offers multiple unique viewing modes, including a 3D galaxy and interactive moodboards. Collaborate with friends by merging libraries and discover content through visual search.

Highlights
  • Automatic content grouping
  • Multiple visual display modes (Grid, Board, Wall, Galaxy, Globe, Projects)
  • Interactive moodboard creation
  • Direct phone-to-phone collaboration
  • Import from existing platforms (Instagram, Pinterest, Are.na)
  • Visual and text-based search
  • Camera-based visual search
Features
Read full description

Some things stay with you. The image you stop for. The idea you come back to. Stellata is where they go. Tap Share in any app — Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, Pinterest, a blog, anything — and the picture, the words and the video come across with the link. Screenshots, photos, videos and PDFs come in too, no link needed. Then it starts to sort itself. ALIKE SAVES DRIFT TOGETHER Every link is read on your phone: its words, and what its picture shows. Nothing is sent anywhere. Tags appear on their own, and saves that belong together drift into groups in the galaxy, so even from far off you can see what your saving is really about. The same links gather into themes you can filter by — branding, motion, space, whatever you turn out to be into. SIX WAYS TO LOOK Grid — everything you saved, at a glance, image first. Pinch to see more or less at once. Board — your saves spread over one plane, like a wall. Drag to roam, pinch to zoom. Wall — your pictures in columns that go on forever, whichever way you go. Leave it be, and it drifts on its own. Galaxy — your library as a world in space, alike saves floating together in groups. Tap a link and a light travels out through everything it connects to, by picture, by meaning, by tag, through its own group and across to the others. Follow it somewhere unexpected. Sort it by color, by time, by site or by style, or place words of your own, and the links they're about gather around them. Globe — step inside the galaxy, your saves all around you, above and below. Drag to look around. Projects — a space for a trip, a piece of work, or whatever you're into this week, each with a moodboard to lay out by hand: move, pinch and twist the pictures, then draw, write and join them with arrows. Send one out as a lookbook, a PDF of every save. Hold a finger still and draw a loop in the galaxy or on a board, and everything inside is picked, ready to move, share or delete together. SIT DOWN WITH A FRIEND Put two phones side by side and your libraries become one galaxy, each in its own color. See where your tastes meet, pass a link across, and leave with a little of theirs. The phones talk to each other directly — nothing goes through a server, and only what you choose to bring ever leaves your phone. BRING WHAT YOU ALREADY SAVED Your Instagram saves come across, and your Pinterest boards and Are.na channels too, so you start with your real collection instead of an empty page, and watch it sort itself into groups. FIND YOUR WAY BACK Type what you're looking for, or tap + to pick a color, a style or a photo, and the saves that fit fly in close. Or describe what a picture shows, like “cracked ice,” and Search finds it, even when no title or tag says so. It reads the words in your pictures too, so a screenshot turns up by what it says. Point the camera at a poster or a wall to see the saves that look most like it. Filter by site, by type, by color. Or just wander. ON YOUR MAC TOO Stellata is on the Mac as well, your library kept in step by iCloud, and Stellata Unlimited comes along. IT STAYS YOURS Everything syncs through your own iCloud, and previews are kept on the phone, so your library is there with no signal. Share a project and a few people can save into it together, on one moodboard. No account to make, no feed, no one else's algorithm. STELLATA UNLIMITED The free plan holds 30 links. Unlimited holds any number, as a monthly subscription or a one-time purchase. If Unlimited ends, nothing is deleted: your newest 30 stay open and the rest wait for you. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://stellata.app/privacy.html

Screenshots

GoodNote4 screens
Stellata4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Stellata at every 2 days against GoodNote's every 2 weeks. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. GoodNote sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Stellata sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

GoodNote ships an update every 2 weeks, Stellata every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 4, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
GoodNote versus Stellata: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGoodNoteStellata
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—3 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB15 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperDang Nam NguyenAbdullah Alkhatib

In-app purchases

1 purchases

GoodNote

One-time1
  • GoodNote Premium$5.99
2 purchases

Stellata

Subscriptions1
  • Stellata Unlimited$1.991 Month
One-time1
  • Stellata Unlimited Lifetime$14.99

Questions

Is GoodNote free?
GoodNote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Stellata free?
Stellata is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do GoodNote or Stellata have ads?
Neither GoodNote nor Stellata shows ads.
Which is updated more often, GoodNote or Stellata?
GoodNote ships an update every 2 weeks, and Stellata every 2 days. Most recently, GoodNote was updated on October 4, 2026 and Stellata on October 11, 2026.

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