# Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing vs Goodnotes

The clearest difference is update cadence: Goodnotes at weekly against Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing's every 4 months. Goodnotes also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.3) and ratings volume (457K vs 51). Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing's advantage is review sentiment (55% vs 34%). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 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.

Goodnotes holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Goodnotes has 457K ratings behind it against 51, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 55% of Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing'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.

Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing ships an update every 4 months, Goodnotes weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing | Goodnotes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.3 (51 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/carbo-pencil-notes-and-drawing/id956811074/reviews) | **[4.7 (457K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/goodnotes-ai-notes-docs-pdf/id1444383602/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 51 | **457K** |
| Positive reviews | **54.8% of reviews** | 33.6% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | **Weekly** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | — | **#95** |
| Size | 36 MB | 795 MB |
| Requires iOS | **18.0** | 18.6 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Creaceed SRL](https://appshunter.io/developer/291683889) | [Goodnotes Limited](https://appshunter.io/developer/1708570616) |

## What reviewers say

### Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/carbo-pencil-notes-and-drawing/id956811074)

Capture and organize handwritten notes and sketches digitally. This app preserves the expressiveness of your original drawings with innovative visualization technology. Tag, annotate, and store your creations in the cloud for easy retrieval and sharing.

**Highlights:** Hybrid visualization technology, Image-based input options, Natural sketching with Apple Pencil support, Editable notes and drawings, Tagging and annotation for search, Cloud storage integration, Customizable export styles

**Features:** Family Sharing

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pro Plan (Monthly) | $3.99 | per month |
| Pro Plan (Yearly) | $9.99 | per year |
| Pro Pack 2 | $23.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Great for sketching ideas
- 👍 Pleasantly surprised by subscription plan
- 👍 Laser-focused on B&W scanning
- 👍 Excellent for capturing notes
- 👍 Manipulate scans easily

**What reviewers complain about**

- 👎 Lacking features for daily use
- 👎 Difficult for diagrams and notes
- 👎 Rudimentary editing tools
- 👎 Lacks color
- 👎 Crippled by lack of export options

**Reported bugs**

- Keeps crashing on iPad
- Update bricks app (crashes on launch)
- Carbo keeps crashing
- Sync problem with Evernote
- Exporting pages (archiving) doesn't work

**Requested features**

- Adding colors
- More pencil sizes
- Ability to handle multi-page docs
- Viable export options (PDF, etc.)
- Ability to bundle pages into PDF


### Goodnotes

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/goodnotes-ai-notes-docs-pdf/id1444383602)

**Currently charting:** #95 Top Grossing · Productivity, #116 Top Free · Productivity (US App Store)

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:** Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (16)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| AI Pass (Monthly) | $9.99 | per month |
| Goodnotes 6 (1 Year) | $9.99 | per year |
| Essential (Yearly) | $11.99 | per year |
| Essential (Yearly) | $11.99 | per year |
| Goodnotes Pro (Yearly) | $35.99 | per year |
| Bunny Oasis Stickers | Free | one-time |
| Medicine-Academia Sticker Shee | Free | one-time |
| Goodnotes 6 Free Trial | Free | one-time |
| Marketplace Content | $1.99 | one-time |
| Marketplace Content | $6.99 | one-time |
| Marketplace Content | $8.99 | one-time |
| GoodNotes 5 Unlock | $9.99 | one-time |
| Marketplace Content | $9.99 | one-time |
| Marketplace Content | $10.99 | one-time |
| Goodnotes 6 One-Time Payment | $28.99 | one-time |
| Special Edition | $35.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 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

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Glitches and crashes
- 🔍 Syncing and iCloud issues
- 🔍 Lack of flexibility with text input
- 🔍 Limited eraser and highlighting options
- 🔍 Subpar performance on Mac app

**Reported bugs**

- 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**

- 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


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing free?

Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing 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, Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing or Goodnotes?

Goodnotes is rated higher. Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing averages 4.3 out of 5 from 51 ratings, while Goodnotes averages 4.7 from 457K ratings.

### Do Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing or Goodnotes have ads?

Neither Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing nor Goodnotes shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing or Goodnotes?

Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing ships an update every 4 months, and Goodnotes weekly. Most recently, Carbo › Pencil Notes & Drawing was updated on September 27, 2026 and Goodnotes on September 28, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*