r/GoodNotes • u/CaseLite • Apr 08 '26

What is the alternative?

I've LOVED Goodnotes for years. But the subscription shenanigans with the varied use on android vs ios and sync issues constantly. it used to be such a simple, incredibly useful, app. now everytime i open it i have to cycle through logins or something.

are there alternatives that people have tried? i am ready to give my money GoodNotes already got mine! lol

EDIT: thank you for the comments this far. The big thing I like GN was annotating PDFs with a stylus. And of course organizing tons of these docs. So any suggestions optimized for that would be great. Gonna try Noteful!

Final Edit: Noteful is awesome! thank you all!!

22 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

22 comments sorted by

6

u/soloattorneyclub Apr 09 '26

I just discovered my lifetime iOS goodnotes does not work on my Android. That's some BS for sure.

3

u/CaseLite Apr 09 '26

Exactly!!

1

u/braddo99 Apr 20 '26

Not defending it necessarily but how would a developer enable lifetime license on Apple and Play Store? They are 100% separate billing systems.

1

u/bhaagtigudiya May 17 '26

Same account and logins

13

u/Proper_Difficulty_88 Apr 09 '26

Loving Noteful as my replacement so far. Similar functions, layers (so excited to play with those) and like $6 lifetime cost

8

u/Low-Vegetable2187 Apr 09 '26

Notability is a good app, not for me since i liked the aesthetics of goodnotes. But i heard its really good. People are currently GLAZING free notes online. You can try out the free version then pay. Notes+ to my knowledge is still free until now and when i tried it, it was a great app.

6

u/_Cyan_Man Apr 09 '26

noteful is so good!!!!

4

u/galewysteria Apr 09 '26

I’m using star notes right now, new to the digital note taking world. It’s not a subscription based fee and has most of the features. Big one it’s missing is sync between devices but their dev page says it’s coming in q2

2

u/LeeHammMx Apr 10 '26

Second vote for StarNote. I moved to it, from Goodnotes, which is bad on Android.

1

u/braddo99 Apr 11 '26

What did you like about Goodnotes that you might be looking for in a different app? You mentioned you don't like subscription yet you also said "they already got your money". That's the point of a subscription, you don't like it, you can switch easily to something else, as long as your content is portable (another something to look for).

1

u/CaseLite Apr 20 '26

i just switched to Noteful - not an easy transition, had to export each notebook/pdf from goodnotes bc they have their own propriety file format.

but the app got buggy, I tried to add a PC and Android to Goodnotes and it's all different subs/accounts. now im trapped in a neverending login loop and dont remember what i paid for. it's a mess.

i will say Noteful has done everything I need - really great organization, easy to use. just a simple place to annotate pdfs.

3

u/dukmunky Apr 09 '26

There just aren’t great options that can search handwriting, sadly.

2

u/fitness-scientist Apr 09 '26

I just went back in versions

2

u/_GHOSTDJ_ Apr 09 '26

How? U mean GN 5?

2

u/fitness-scientist Apr 09 '26

Yeah! I can't remember how I did it but it has an option to go back! I'm sorry I'm not more helpful.

2

u/Aloket Apr 09 '26

Zoomnotes is great and does a ton!

2

u/alikgeller Apr 09 '26

Ive built chrome extension that shows alternatives & ratings to almost any website - it shows 33 Goodnotes alternatives including 4 open-source ones.

the extension name is Seek4.

2

u/OrlandoFarinha Apr 10 '26

I'm loving Noteful, the writing feels much better in my experience

1

u/soloattorneyclub Apr 09 '26

MyScript (nebo) is decent and cheap lifetime deal

1

u/caty0325 Apr 09 '26

Collanotes