Freenotes vs Goodnotes
We give Freenotes a 3.2 GPA and Goodnotes a 3.8, out of 4.0. Goodnotes grades higher on value for money and platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan, features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Freenotes
Handwriting and PDF annotation app with AI study tools
Goodnotes
Handwritten notes, PDF markup and whiteboards with an AI assistant
How we grade them
| 3.2GPAFreenotesVery good | 3.8GPAGoodnotesExcellent | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BPlus is $9.99 a year on the US App Store, or $29.99 once for life, and Pro is $39.99 a year. Cheap for this category. But the listing can't say what either one includes, so a B is as far as we'll go. And skip the weekly option: $1.99 a week is roughly ten times the yearly price. | AEssential is $11.99 a year and Pro is $35.99 a year. That's about $1 and $3 a month, in a category where paid plans typically start at $5.99 a month. On Apple devices there's also a one-time Special Edition at $35.99. |
| Free plan and trial | BFree to download and use, with advertising. The developer's App Store replies confirm there's a cap on the number of notes, but not what the cap is. So we can't tell you where free runs out. | BFree forever, but tight: 3 files in total, 100 MB of storage, 20 minutes of audio recording and a watermark on exports. Enough to see if you like the pen feel, not enough for a term of lectures. Essential and Pro have a 7-day trial. |
| Features | ALow-latency handwriting with Apple Pencil Pro support, an infinite canvas, PDF markup that follows the links in digital planners, and searchable handwriting. Then the study side: flashcards from your pages, a recall tape, AI summaries, chat with a PDF and live transcripts of recordings. | AHandwritten notebooks you can search, PDF markup, an infinite whiteboard, typed documents and audio recorded in sync with what you write. An AI assistant answers from your handwriting and PDFs and cites the page. Several happy reviewers do call the typed text tool clunky. |
| Ease of use | A4.7 from about 63,000 App Store ratings. The app itself rates well. It's the pricing that takes guesswork, with five memberships and no explanation of what's in them. | A4.7 from about 460,000 App Store ratings. Writing by hand and still being able to search it is the thing reviewers keep naming. |
| Platforms and integrations | CiPad, iPhone and Android, backing up through iCloud or Google Drive. No Windows or web app. On a Mac it runs as the iPad app, which the App Store marks as not verified for macOS. | AiPhone, iPad, Mac, Android, Windows and the web, with Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive and Google Calendar hooked in. Two catches: syncing one library between Apple and non-Apple devices needs Pro, and the non-iPad versions don't have every feature. |
| Best for | handwritten study notes on a tablet without paying much | handwritten notes and PDF markup on an iPad |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Freenotes and Goodnotes. How we grade
Where they differ
- Freenotes starts at $1.99 per week (Weekly Plus Member), or $9.99 per year. Goodnotes starts at $11.99 per year (Essential).
- Only Goodnotes lists a web app.
- Only Goodnotes lists macOS and Windows apps.
- Goodnotes can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- Freenotes also covers templates.
At a glance
| Freenotes | Goodnotes | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $1.99 per week (Weekly Plus Member), or $9.99 per year | $11.99 per year (Essential) |
| Free plan | Free to download and use with advertising. The developer's App Store replies confirm a cap on the number of notes; the listing does not say what Plus or Pro unlock. | Free forever: up to 3 files in total across notebooks, whiteboards and text documents, 100 MB of storage, a 5 MB import limit, 20 minutes of audio recording and watermarked exports. |
| Free trial | None listed | 7-day free trial on Essential and Pro; 30-day free trial on Teams. |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | FREENOTES AI PTE. LTD. | Goodnotes Limited |
| Price read from | apps.apple.com | goodnotes.com |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Freenotes
- Students annotating lecture slides and revising with flashcards
- People who use hyperlinked PDF planners on a tablet
- Recording a class or meeting and getting an AI summary
Goodnotes
- Handwritten notes on an iPad with Apple Pencil
- Marking up PDFs such as contracts, reports and lecture slides
- Students who want audio synced to their lecture notes
- K-12 schools using iPads, where Goodnotes Education is free
Worth knowing
Freenotes
- The vendor's website does not describe plans. Plus and Pro appear only as in-app purchases, with no statement of what each includes.
- The free version carries advertising and a cap on the number of notes; the US App Store also lists a Remove Ads purchase at $29.99.
- Google Play's US listing shows only a range of $0.99 to $54.99 per item, so Android prices may differ from the App Store's.
- No Windows or web app is offered. On a Mac it runs as the iPad app, which the App Store marks as not verified for macOS.
Goodnotes
- The Free plan stops at 3 files in total, 100 MB of storage and 20 minutes of audio recording, and its exports carry a watermark.
- Keeping one library in sync between Apple and non-Apple devices needs Goodnotes Cloud, which is included only from Pro.
- Goodnotes says the Android, Windows and web versions do not offer the full range of features available on iPad.
- Essential, Pro and Teams are priced per year, and AI Pass is a separate $9.99 per month add-on for more AI credits.
Key features
Freenotes
- Handwriting and infinite canvas
- Low-latency handwriting with Apple Pencil Pro support, custom brushes and shape recognition, plus a whiteboard-style canvas that expands for sketches and mind maps.
- PDF annotation
- Highlight, underline and comment on PDFs with custom pen styles, select text to translate or look up, and follow internal and external hyperlinks in digital planners.
- AI summaries and chat with PDF
- AI pulls key points and action items from long recordings or documents, answers questions about imported files, and explains a screenshot or uploaded document.
- Audio recording and transcription
- Recordings are transcribed in real time with AI refinement and translation. Tapping a line of the transcript replays the matching audio, and text can be copied or exported.
- Study tools
- A recall tape hides parts of a page for self-testing, flashcards are built from note pages, and picture-in-picture lets a video play while notes are taken.
- Search, folders and sync
- Handwriting is searchable through text recognition, notes are organized into folders, and notebooks back up through iCloud or Google Drive sync.
Goodnotes
- Handwritten notebooks
- Notebooks mix handwriting, typed text, images and stickers on customizable paper templates. Handwriting stays searchable and can be converted to text.
- PDF annotation
- Imported PDFs are highlighted and marked up by hand, searched alongside notes, and keep their table of contents for navigating long documents.
- Whiteboards and text documents
- An infinite-canvas whiteboard for diagrams and mind maps and typed text documents with inline blocks sit in the same library as notebooks.
- Audio recording and meeting notes
- Audio is recorded in sync with what you write. On Pro, Goodnotes AI for Meetings transcribes and summarizes discussions and links notes to calendar events.
- Goodnotes AI
- An in-app assistant answers questions from handwriting, typed text and PDFs, with citations back to the source page. AI credits vary by plan; AI Pass adds about 12 times more.
- Sharing and real-time collaboration
- Every plan can share documents by link. Essential can join real-time collaborative documents, and Pro can host them and share by private link.
Plans
Freenotes
Free$0
Free download that carries advertising and, per the developer's App Store replies, a limit on the number of notes.
Freenotes Weekly Plus Member$1.99
per week, as labelled on the US App Store
Plus membership billed weekly. The listing does not describe what Plus includes.
Freenotes Yearly Plus Member$9.99
per year, as labelled on the US App Store
Plus membership billed yearly. The listing does not describe what Plus includes.
Freenotes Plus Member Lifetime$29.99
one-time in-app purchase on the US App Store
Plus membership as a single purchase with no renewal.
Freenotes Weekly Pro Member$6.99
per week, as labelled on the US App Store
Pro membership billed weekly. The listing does not describe how Pro differs from Plus.
Freenotes Yearly Pro Member$39.99
per year, as labelled on the US App Store
Pro membership billed yearly. The listing does not describe how Pro differs from Plus.
Goodnotes
Free$0
Up to 3 files, 100 MB of storage, 20 minutes of audio recording, limited sharing and limited Goodnotes AI usage.
Essential$11.99
per year
Unlimited files and audio recording, 5 GB of storage, exports without a watermark, basic Goodnotes AI and Google Calendar integration.
Pro$35.99
per year
Adds cross-platform library sync, private link sharing, hosting real-time collaboration, Drive integration and advanced AI including meeting notes.
Special Edition$35.99
one-time purchase, Apple devices only (US App Store)
Unlimited note-taking on Apple devices without a subscription. Limited Goodnotes AI and not eligible for Goodnotes Cloud.
Teams$120
per seat / year
Everything in Pro, plus SAML SSO, domain control, consolidated billing and user and admin management.
EnterpriseCustom
For 25 seats and above: AI permissions, the Microsoft Intune App SDK, dedicated account support and custom contracts.
Ways to pay less
Freenotes
- Annual discount
Yearly memberships cost far less than weekly
On the US App Store, Plus is $1.99 a week or $9.99 a year and Pro is $6.99 a week or $39.99 a year, so a year of weekly billing costs roughly nine to ten times the yearly price.
- Lifetime license
Plus membership as a one-time purchase
The US App Store lists Freenotes Plus Member Lifetime as a single in-app purchase at $29.99, next to the weekly and yearly Plus memberships.
Goodnotes
- Education
Goodnotes Education is free for K-12 schools
K-12 schools get Goodnotes Education at no cost, with no trial period, including its classroom tools for teachers and students. It currently works only on Apple devices.
- Lifetime license
Special Edition one-time purchase on Apple devices
Special Edition unlocks unlimited note-taking on Apple devices without a subscription and is listed at $35.99 on the US App Store. Availability varies by region.
