Book Writer One vs Goodnotes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Book Writer One
Easily create interactive multimedia books with text, images, voice, and video. Organize your thoughts, make photo books, diaries, or even PDF documents. Share your creations with the world or publish them as paperbacks.
- Create multimedia books with text, images, and video
- Organize thoughts and notes
- Design photo books, diaries, and PDFs
- Interactive page elements
- Drag-and-drop interface
- Share books via Book World, Dropbox, or email
- Paperback publishing option
Read full descriptionHide full description
Take Note, Organize Thoughts, Make a Book. Share with the World. Make your own book with Book Writer. Anyone can easily make a book. Make an interactive book and enjoy making and reading the books you made! You can use it in school, work, and at home to make all types of books such as photo book, recipe book, diary, PR booklet, PDF documents, and etc. Making a multimedia book You can add pictures, text, voice recordings, songs, and videos on the page. You can use the camera to take pictures or videos and add them right on to the book. You can draw image and edit image using Pen Tool. Provides interactive functions such as item connection and auto play to make your book more fun. Easy and intuitive interface Children of all ages can easily use the interface. Use the Item Bar to add items to the page by drag&drop. All text are shown on the page in real time with the In-Page text editor that is provided. Use the Undo function to return to the previous work. Share your books You can share your book with others using Book World. Join the Book World and upload your book to Book World, and follow your favorite author. Books in Book World can be read on diverse smartphone, PC and Mac. You can share your book with Book Writer on Dropbox, iTunes or via E-mail. Read through iBooks The books made with Book Writer can be read through iBooks. You can read your book in Book Writer directly, or Book World web reader. Paperbook publish service You can publish your book to paperbook using Paperbook publish service. Published books can also be seen in Book World via smartphone, PC, Mac. In Class Book Writer is being used in many countries by thousands of people for educational use. Book Writer helps students to make a book by organizing their thoughts. With an intuitive interface, anyone can easily express and organize their thoughts. Book Writer One is limited version. You can release limit by upgrade to unlimited using in-app purchase or purchase paid version of Book Writer. The paid version is available with a 50% discount under App Store Volume Purchase Program. Main Functions Templates are provided to make books of different styles and formats. Choosing a layout style automatically relocates your items. Use drag & drop to easily add items. You can use the photos from Photo Library to add to the book, or can add pictures taken directly from camera. Pictures can be moved, the size can be adjusted, and you can rotate or crop the pictures by touching. Supports fonts and styles of various types. You can draw image and edit image using Pen Tool. You can add videos from your album or you can directly record videos with your camera to add them. Use recorder to record your voice and add to the book, or add music from Music Library to your book. Bring any music from Music Library to add as your background music. Use the auto play function to automatically play the media at the time you want. Item connection function is provided to connect your pictures or text to sound items. The Undo function allows you to return to your previous work. Use the Page Editor to add or delete pages or change the order of the page by using drag & drop. You can combine two books together. The completed book can be read in ‘Reading Mode’. Books that have been created can be shared via Book World, iTunes, E-mail, Dropbox, etc. Share your book with others using Book World. And can be read on many smartphone, PC, Mac. You can publish your book to paperbook using Paperbook publish service. Save your book as a PDF document or you can use AirPrint or use Export to print the books The standard E-book format, epub, is supported to read the made books with iBooks and you can register your books on iBookstore. Book Writer supports the fixed-layout format of iBooks. The fixed-layout format is not ideal for books with long text like novels. Online support is included. Please visit our homepage - http://goodeffect.com
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
Read full descriptionHide 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
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Goodnotes at 4.7 against Book Writer One's 2.5. Goodnotes also leads on ratings volume (457K vs 16) and update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). Book Writer One's advantage is review sentiment (44% vs 34%) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 18.6). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Book Writer One sells 1 one-off in-app purchase 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.
Goodnotes holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 2.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Goodnotes has 457K ratings behind it against 16, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 44% of Book Writer One'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.
Book Writer One ships an update every 3 weeks, Goodnotes weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Book Writer One | Goodnotes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.5 (16 ratings) | 4.7 (457K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 43.8% of reviews — better | 33.6% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 16 | 457K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | — | #95 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 73 MB | 795 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Good Effect | Goodnotes Limited |
Customer experience
Book Writer One
Goodnotes
Bugs and requests
Book Writer One
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
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
Book Writer One
- Book Writer Unlimited$3.99
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
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- 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
Show 8 moreShow fewer
- 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









