# Goodnotes 11 Hacker News commenters recommended Goodnotes and 9 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months. **Verdict:** People recommend Goodnotes for handwritten notes that stay searchable, and it is especially liked on the iPad. Critics often say the "lifetime" license wording is misleading. ## Why people recommend it - Handwritten notes that stay searchable (2 comments): "So many people swear by Goodnotes because you get all the benefits of handwriting your notes without giving up the niceties of search-ability, auto correct, etc." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47251124)) "it is pretty good at searching handwriting" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47577178)) - Well developed, reliable product (2 comments): "Goodnotes is such a well developed product" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47577433)) "GoodNotes is doing everything correctly" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45898608)) - Strong iPad note-taking (2 comments): "I almost wish I could go back to school so I could use Goodnotes or Notability with my iPad to take notes awesome." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48332777)) "I have been using every ipad there is with Notability and Goodnotes. You don't need anything else." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49069349)) ## What people warn about - Misleading "lifetime license" wording (3 comments): "it would've been fair if Goodnotes were selling their lifetime licenses with the clear remark that this license is for the current version only" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45897651)) "I don't think Goodnotes should have worded it as "lifetime license", the "lifetime" has no real meaning." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45897990)) "And this is without addressing the fact they sold a "lifetime" license." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45897588)) - Bloated and different from original (2 comments): "Looks quite different from the original app, but pretty neat app." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49789028)) "Notability/Goodnotes seem to have become overly bloated" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46310152)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Obsidian](https://hackerapproved.com/p/obsidian.md): 447 recommend - [Org mode](https://hackerapproved.com/p/org-mode.md): 175 recommend - [Notion](https://hackerapproved.com/p/notion.md): 91 recommend - [Logseq](https://hackerapproved.com/p/logseq.md): 52 recommend - [Apple Notes](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-notes.md): 39 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://www.goodnotes.com/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Goodnotes", https://hackerapproved.com/p/goodnotes/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).