Goodnotes vs Pencil Planner
We give Goodnotes a 3.8 GPA and Pencil Planner a 3.0, out of 4.0. Goodnotes grades higher on features and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan and ease of use.
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
Pencil Planner
Handwritten planner for iPad and iPhone layered over your calendar
How we grade them
| 3.8GPAGoodnotesExcellent | 3.0GPAPencil PlannerVery 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 is $19.99 a year on the US App Store, or $4.99 a month. A typical planner asks about $7.99 every month, so the yearly plan is a fraction of that. One wrinkle: the vendor's own upgrade page quotes $24.99 a year. There's no lifetime purchase. |
| 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. | BA limited version is free to use, but the vendor doesn't publish which features or how many entries it includes. Pro is described as unlimited entries, storage and devices with cloud backup and sync, so expect caps on those. |
| 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. | BIt does one thing and does it properly: handwriting over your calendar in day, week, month and year layouts, with pens, highlighters, partial erasing and notes linked to dates. But Apple Reminders lists are only shown here, not edited, and backup is to the vendor's own cloud alone. |
| 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. | A4.6 from about 12,500 App Store ratings. If you can use a paper planner you can use this: pick up the Pencil and write. Your events are already there from the calendars on your device. |
| 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. | DiPhone and iPad only, which we grade the same as an app that's Android only. A Mac app is on the vendor's roadmap as upcoming. It shows iCloud, Google, Outlook and Yahoo calendars once they're added in the device's Calendar settings, plus Apple Reminders lists. |
| Best for | handwritten notes and PDF markup on an iPad | handwriting your plans 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: Goodnotes and Pencil Planner. How we grade
Where they differ
- Goodnotes starts at $11.99 per year (Essential). Pencil Planner starts at $4.99 per month, or $19.99 per year.
- Only Goodnotes lists a web app.
- Only Goodnotes lists macOS, Android and Windows apps.
- Goodnotes can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- Goodnotes also covers transcription and whiteboard.
- Pencil Planner also covers tasks and calendar.
At a glance
| Goodnotes | Pencil Planner | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $11.99 per year (Essential) | $4.99 per month, or $19.99 per year |
| 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. | A limited version of the app is free to use. The vendor's pages do not list the limits; Pro Access is described as unlimited entries, storage and devices with cloud backup and sync. |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial on Essential and Pro; 30-day free trial on Teams. | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Goodnotes Limited | Wasdesign, LLC |
| Price read from | goodnotes.com | apps.apple.com |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Oct 9, 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
Pencil Planner
- iPad users who want to handwrite a planner with Apple Pencil
- People who want handwriting layered over a digital calendar
- Paper-planner users moving to a tablet
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.
Pencil Planner
- iPhone and iPad only. The vendor's roadmap lists a Mac app as an upcoming feature.
- The free version is limited and the vendor does not say where the limits fall. There is no lifetime purchase, only monthly and yearly plans.
- Planner data is stored on the vendor's own Pencil Planner Cloud. There is no iCloud, Dropbox or Google Drive backup option.
- The vendor's upgrade page quotes $24.99 a year for Pro, while the US App Store lists Pro Yearly at $19.99.
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.
Pencil Planner
- Handwriting on the calendar
- Plans are written directly over and around calendar events with Apple Pencil, Logitech Crayon or a finger, including priorities, time blocks and sketches.
- Day, week, month and year layouts
- With the Version 2 layouts, schedule handwriting is shared between the Day and Week views, and a day's highlights also appear in the Week and Month views.
- Calendar events from the device
- Events come from the accounts connected in the iPad or iPhone Calendar settings, so iCloud, Google, Outlook and Yahoo calendars appear once added there.
- Apple Reminders lists
- The Version 2 Day tab shows lists from Apple Reminders next to the schedule. Lists are still added and edited in the Reminders app.
- Linked notes
- Handwritten or typed notes can be linked to a date or a calendar event, organized in folders and pinned. Handwritten notes take blank, lined or dot-grid pages.
- Drawing tools
- Pens, pencils and highlighters have adjustable colors and thickness. Handwriting can be moved, erased by whole stroke or in part, and zoomed for precise writing.
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.
Pencil Planner
Free$0
A limited version of the planner. The vendor does not publish exactly which features or how many entries it includes.
Pro Monthly$4.99
per month
Pro Access to all planner features, with unlimited entries, storage and devices plus cloud backup and sync.
Pro Yearly$19.99
per year
The same Pro Access billed once a year, as listed among the in-app purchases on the US App Store.
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.
Pencil Planner
- Annual discount
About 67% less on the yearly plan
The US App Store lists Pro Monthly at $4.99 and Pro Yearly at $19.99. Twelve monthly payments come to $59.88, so the yearly plan costs about 67% less.
- Other savings
$10 off the first year for buyers of the original app
People who bought the earlier Pencil Planner & Draw Calendar app can email support for a promo code worth $10 off their first year of Pro.
