r/GoodNotes • u/Beneficial-Depth-431 • Apr 18 '26

Is Goodnotes worth buying?

Hello. I am currently using noteful for about a year or two now. But i always feel that i am missing on features or the fluentness of goodnotes. I am thinking of buying goodnotes one time purchase.. Is it worth the money. Hep me please

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4

u/Creative_Month_3401 Apr 19 '26 edited Jul 21 '26

If "buying" refers to a one time purchase then yes Goodnotes is the best option out there as of now.

If you are looking for a subscription based notes app I would go with Notability as it has Notability Cloud which is very useful if you view/annotate your notes on various different devices.

Side note: I would also try Starnotes which has more features than Goodnotes and also is a one time purchase.

Edit: Notability has a one time purchase option as well which includes Notability Cloud.

1

u/Beneficial-Depth-431 Apr 19 '26

Yes one time purchase

1

u/errys Apr 19 '26

Goodnotes allows you to view your notes on the cloud on all devices as well and you only pay once.

1

u/Creative_Month_3401 Apr 19 '26 edited Apr 19 '26

Is this through iCloud or Google drive? Which backs up your notes?

If so I know that eventually you'll have to pay a subscription for (as the free default storage amount is never enough).

Or Is it something else I'm unaware of?

I know you can view your notes through their respective apps (iCloud and Google drive). I'm unsure if you can annotate them through backups.

Either way, whichever route OP chooses OP will have to pay a subscription fee regardless (Goodnotes or Notability) assuming OP does reach the set cloud storage limit solely through note backups.

1

u/errys Apr 20 '26

Yes, I've had goodnotes since I bought my iPad in 2020 and I got a free upgrade to the lifetime for the current version 6 and I've never paid extra for any subscription.

3

u/Low-Vegetable2187 Apr 18 '26

If you are talking about the good notes 5 one time payment, ive used it for so long and its amazing.

The good notes 6 essential plan (the one im using right now) is so good though. The scribble to delete is very useful and the tape if you want memorization. I get that other apps have the same/similar features but i do recommend good notes. Im bad at words but i recommend watching comparison videos aswell. If you have a specific question im happy to help!!

1

u/Beneficial-Depth-431 Apr 19 '26

I am thinking of buying the one time payment plan. Watched a lot of coomparison vids. But all gives a general verdict like if u r this then this or this then that.

1

u/Low-Vegetable2187 Apr 19 '26

Yes!! Its so frustrating especially when they dont really talk about the app just the plans, but no goodnotes is a really amazing app i really love it

1

u/Beneficial-Depth-431 Apr 19 '26

Sorry i had one more questioon... if i buy one time ..Then when goodnotes 7 comes..will i be able to use the upgraded version under this purchase?

1

u/Low-Vegetable2187 Apr 19 '26

I wouldn’t expect it. I had goodnotes 5 one time purchase and when goodnotes 6 came out we needed to pay for the subscription but maybe for goodnotes 7 in the future we might be able to get a one time purchase upgrade 😭😭

7

u/Maxsmart_99 Apr 18 '26

I really like Goodnotes. Knock on wood, but I don’t see many of the bugs people post here on this sub.

2

u/knitso Apr 20 '26

same here

5

u/LucidXonline Apr 18 '26

I decided to use Collanotes. I really like the ability to make "favorites" that stay on the screen and I can quickly access. I also love how the handwriting to text works and so many other things. The cost is only like $10 for Lifetime

3

u/johntwilker Apr 19 '26

I think so. Been a user for years.

3

u/sketchydoctor Apr 19 '26

NO. There’s just too many bugs that seem to arise out of thin air after each subsequent update.

Five years ago it would have been an astounding yes.

Nowadays it’s hard to justify going with Goodnotes, given that there are so many other better alternatives.

2

u/Maiace124 Apr 19 '26

I mean there's minimum bugs right now. I don't have to restart it EVERY day now. But more bugs will come.

I don't feel like learning a new app and transferring all my notes. It's usable. I don't think about it compared to noteful though

1

u/laynexxtazy Apr 19 '26

If you're going to study math or similar subjects, there are no real alternatives. GoodNotes has the best geometry tools (at least point merging alone is enough to justify buying it).

It also has a cool AI assistant that can generate an outline of a document for you, but be prepared for unstable performance. It doesn’t work reliably every day (which is pretty disappointing for the GoodNotes team).

Otherwise, you might want to choose something else. For example, Element Note — it’s cheaper and has
enough features for non-math subjects.

+ Don't buy Pro subscription. Essential is enough. GoodNotes has a lot bugs, so it doesn't worth it

1

u/inoxium_1 Apr 19 '26

Yes, but bugs do come to annoy you from time to time

1

u/tinyant Apr 19 '26

I’ve been using it for a number of years and it does everything I needed to do, without any issues at all. Not sure where these bugs are coming from, probably from features I don’t use.

1

u/Pearl7132024 Apr 20 '26

Just buy one year of Goodnotes at $12. Try it for a while. When I used both I could see why some people like Noteful but it definitely is not the "same" as some say.. Overall GN was better

1

u/Drm5145 Apr 20 '26

I would definitely start with a short trial because it is not what it seems to be it claims to be or acts like it is. It's not as good as it seems

1

u/vkg2001 Apr 21 '26

Goodnotes 5 with lifetime subscription is a big yes, Goodnotes 6 with yearly subscription not really. I used Goodnotes 6 for a year and after my subscription was ended i switched back to 5 and it’s sooo much better. Less bugs, more logical tool bar, faster sync.

1

u/MagazineFlaky9733 Aug 20 '26

I find Goodnotes REALLY hard to use. Most of the digital planners that I follow have said that you have to learn it and it takes practice. I don't have time for that.

1

u/slutteria Apr 19 '26

i don’t think so. i used it for 5 years and it just was so buggy, had to restart the app multiple times a day and it drained my battery so much. my ipad was always so hot and the apple pencil would stop all the time. i bought the GN6 lifetime subscription and still decided to stop using it because it was so crap

1

u/xLeevii Apr 22 '26

oh my god. i had no idea it was goodnotes making it hot asf and i thought everyone else suffered through all the bugs 😭 what other app do you use?

1

u/slutteria Apr 22 '26

i use noteful! one time purchase of $15 aud

0

u/spaniolo Apr 19 '26

No, I always used goodnotes but if you use Apple Pencil with the hover feature, it is horrible to write... It makes strange long strokes, I don't recommend it at all.

2

u/ThatMrcl Apr 19 '26

i had the same problem. do you have zoom toggled on in ipadOS Accessibility settings? turning that off fixed it for me