Goodnotes vs Notewise

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

Notewise

• Students and professionals who mix handwriting, PDFs and recordings
• People who move between an iPad and an Android phone or tablet
• Handwriting-only users who prefer a one-time purchase

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.

Notewise

• Apps are offered for iPhone, iPad and Android; browser access is for viewing synced or shared notes and needs a Notewise Cloud subscription.
• Classic Unlimited has no AI, sync or collaboration, and its license is tied to the Apple ID or Google Play account it was bought with.
• AI features share a monthly credit allowance and pause when it runs out; Basic gets about a third of Starter's allowance.
• When a subscription ends, cloud notes are kept for a 30-day grace period and then permanently deleted.

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.

Notewise

Mixed-source notes

A single note can hold typed text, audio recordings and transcripts, handwriting, PDFs, documents, slide decks, images and website links, and AI works across all of them.

Handwriting canvas

A freeform canvas with pens, brushes, highlighter, lasso, shapes, tables, sticky notes, rulers and connectors for diagrams. The advanced canvas tools need a paid plan.

PDF and document annotation

PDFs, slides and other documents of up to 1 GB import for highlighting, comments and drawing: up to 50 pages per document on Classic Free and 3,000 on paid plans.

Transcription and AI chat

Subscriptions transcribe recordings in 20+ languages and answer questions about one note, all notes or a meeting still being recorded, pointing to the passage an answer came from.

Interactive Tabs

Captured notes can be turned into flashcards, quizzes, action items, decision logs or a custom format. Guided AI podcasts are limited to Starter and Pro.

Sync and collaboration

Subscriptions sync notes between iOS and Android with 1 GB to 100 GB of cloud storage, and add real-time collaboration on canvas and sharing by link with viewing in a browser.

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.

Notewise

• Classic Free$0

  Up to 10 canvases of 50 pages each, with PDF, slide and document import. No advanced canvas tools, AI, sync or cloud storage.

• Classic Unlimited$16.99

  one-time purchase on the website (Android); $19.99 in the iOS app

  Unlimited offline canvases of up to 3,000 pages, advanced canvas tools and no watermark. No AI, sync or collaboration.

• Basic$2.42

  per month, billed yearly ($28.99); $4.99 billed monthly

  AI notes, chat, transcription and handwriting recognition with 0.3x AI credits, 1 GB of cloud storage, cross-device sync and real-time collaboration.

• Starter$3.08

  per month, billed yearly ($36.99); $6.99 billed monthly

  Everything in Basic with 1x AI credits, 10 GB of cloud storage and guided AI podcasts. Includes the 7-day free trial.

• Pro$10.83

  per month, billed yearly ($129.99); $15.99 billed monthly

  Everything in Starter with 3x AI credits and 100 GB of cloud storage, for heavy AI use and large note libraries.

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.

Notewise

• Annual discount

  Save 32% to 56% with yearly billing

  Basic, Starter and Pro cost $28.99, $36.99 and $129.99 a year against $4.99, $6.99 and $15.99 a month, which works out about 52%, 56% and 32% lower over twelve months.

• Lifetime license

  Classic Unlimited as a one-time purchase

  Classic Unlimited is bought once and does not renew: $16.99 on the Notewise website for Android, with iOS users buying it inside the app, where the US App Store lists $19.99.

• Other savings

  Volume licenses for schools and businesses

  Organizations can buy discounted one-time Notewise Unlimited licenses for a verified email domain, starting with a minimum of 20 licenses. Cloud sync is not included.