Goodnotes vs MarginNote
We give Goodnotes a 3.8 GPA and MarginNote a 3.0, out of 4.0. Goodnotes grades higher on the free plan, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money and features.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Goodnotes
Handwritten notes, PDF markup and whiteboards with an AI assistant
MarginNote
Study reader that turns highlights into mind maps and cards
How we grade them
| 3.8GPAGoodnotesExcellent | 3.0GPAMarginNoteVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | APro Lifetime is $12.99 once for iPhone and iPad. Max, which adds the Mac, is $16.99 a year or $51.99 once. Paid plans in this category typically start at $5.99 a month, so a whole year of Max costs less than three months elsewhere. |
| Free plan and trial | 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. | CThere's no free plan. You get a 14-day free trial with no auto-charge, so it simply runs out. Watch the Max Annual trial, though: that one runs a month and renews by itself at $16.99 a year unless you cancel. |
| Features | 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. | AEvery excerpt from a PDF, EPUB, web page or video is a card, a mind-map node and a flashcard in one. Ten mind-map styles, FSRS spaced repetition, OCR for equations and handwriting, and AI that summarises chapters. Advanced OCR is Max only. |
| Ease of use | 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. | B4.48 from about 730 App Store ratings. Buying it is the confusing bit: five licences, and App Store and direct Mac ones are separate systems, so one doesn't give you the other. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | CiPhone, iPad and Mac only, so no Windows, Android or web. It does hook into Zotero, iCloud, Google Drive and YouTube. And the cheapest licence leaves the Mac app out. |
| Best for | handwritten notes and PDF markup on an iPad | turning textbook highlights into mind maps |
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: Goodnotes and MarginNote. How we grade
Where they differ
- Goodnotes starts at $11.99 per year (Essential). MarginNote starts at $12.99 one-time (Pro Lifetime, iPhone and iPad only).
- Goodnotes has a free plan. MarginNote does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Goodnotes lists a web app.
- Only Goodnotes lists Android and Windows apps.
- Goodnotes also covers transcription and whiteboard.
- MarginNote also covers linked notes, mind mapping and highlights.
At a glance
| Goodnotes | MarginNote | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $11.99 per year (Essential) | $12.99 one-time (Pro Lifetime, iPhone and iPad only) |
| Free plan | 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. | None |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial on Essential and Pro; 30-day free trial on Teams. | 14-day free trial with no auto-charge; the Max Annual trial runs 1 month and auto-renews |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Goodnotes Limited | MarginSoft Technology (Hong Kong) Limited |
| Price read from | goodnotes.com | marginnote.com |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Oct 6, 2026 |
Who each one suits
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
MarginNote
- Students preparing for exams from textbooks and PDFs
- Researchers working through many papers for a literature review
- Readers who want highlights to become flashcards without retyping
Worth knowing
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.
MarginNote
- Apple devices only, and the $12.99 Pro Lifetime license does not include the Mac app.
- AI runs on credits: Pro gets 500 once, Max Lifetime gets 500 a month for 3 years only, and add-on packs start at $1.39 for 500.
- App Store and DMG licenses are separate systems; buying one does not produce a license for the other.
- The Max Annual trial auto-renews at $16.99 a year unless it is cancelled before the month ends.
Key features
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.
MarginNote
- One card, three views
- Each highlight becomes a card that is at once an excerpt on the page, a node in a mind map and a flashcard, with a link back to its source page.
- PDF, EPUB, web and video sources
- Annotates PDF and EPUB files, web pages and video, with OCR for equations, tables and handwriting. Advanced OCR is limited to the Max tier.
- Mind maps and outline
- Ten mind-map styles, including tree, fishbone, timeline, concept map and matrix, and an outline view that shows the same map as plain text.
- FSRS spaced repetition
- Flashcards are scheduled with the Free Spaced Repetition Scheduler, which sets the next review date for each card individually.
- Title Link
- Card titles work as keywords: when a term from earlier notes appears in a new document, the earlier annotation is surfaced on the page automatically.
- MarginNote AI
- Summarizes chapters, answers questions and generates cards, drawing on a credit allowance. The vendor offers no way to use your own API key.
Plans
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.
MarginNote
Pro Lifetime$12.99
one-time purchase
App Store license for iPhone and iPad only: reading, annotation, mind maps and review, with a one-time gift of 500 AI credits. No Mac access.
Max Annual Subscription$16.99
per year
iPhone, iPad and Mac, adding advanced OCR, AI OCR templates, AI translation, the Database channel and 500 AI credits a month.
DMG Standard$35
one-time purchase
Direct Mac download activated with a Paddle code. Mac only, equivalent to App Store Pro, with no monthly AI credits.
DMG Premium+ $10
one-time upgrade pack on top of DMG Standard
Adds the Max-level features to the Mac download. No iPhone or iPad coverage and no monthly AI credits.
Max Lifetime$51.99
one-time purchase
Same features as Max Annual on iPhone, iPad and Mac. The 500 monthly AI credits are included for the first 3 years only.
Ways to pay less
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.
MarginNote
- Lifetime license
Lifetime licenses from $12.99
Pro Lifetime ($12.99, iPhone and iPad) and Max Lifetime ($51.99, all platforms) are one-time App Store purchases, and the Mac DMG Standard license is $35 one-time.
- Education
Student and faculty discount
The pricing page says students and faculty can apply for an education discount through an application guide, and schools arrange bulk purchases by email. No rate is given.
