Goodnotes
Ranked 19 of 33 note-taking apps by recommenders
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.
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.
20 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 11
- criticize it
- 9
- approval share
- 55%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 11 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1.2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Handwritten notes that stay searchable
“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.”
Comment from 4 Mar 2026 in “Apple Introduces MacBook Neo” “it is pretty good at searching handwriting”
Comment from 30 Mar 2026 in “Take Better Notes, by Hand” Well developed, reliable product
“Goodnotes is such a well developed product”
Comment from 30 Mar 2026 in “Take Better Notes, by Hand” “GoodNotes is doing everything correctly”
Comment from 12 Nov 2025 in “You will own nothing and be (un)happy” Strong iPad note-taking
“I almost wish I could go back to school so I could use Goodnotes or Notability with my iPad to take notes awesome.”
Comment from 30 May 2026 in “Citing 'severe' math deficits, UC faculty demand a return to SAT tests for STEM” “I have been using every ipad there is with Notability and Goodnotes. You don't need anything else.”
Comment from 27 Jul 2026 in “Writing by Hand is Good for your Brain”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Misleading "lifetime license" wording
“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”
Comment from 12 Nov 2025 in “You will own nothing and be (un)happy” “I don't think Goodnotes should have worded it as "lifetime license", the "lifetime" has no real meaning.”
Comment from 12 Nov 2025 in “You will own nothing and be (un)happy” “And this is without addressing the fact they sold a "lifetime" license.”
Comment from 12 Nov 2025 in “You will own nothing and be (un)happy” Bloated and different from original
“Looks quite different from the original app, but pretty neat app.”
Comment from 21 Sep 2026 in “Goodnotes releases new AI notetaker” “Notability/Goodnotes seem to have become overly bloated”
Comment from 18 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (December 2025)”
Other note-taking apps people recommend
The four most recommended other note-taking apps, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
See all 33 note-taking apps, rankedWhat people said
18 of the 20 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Looks quite different from the original app, but pretty neat app.”
“free to be migrated to other apps instead of being locked inside the proprietary Goodnotes ecosystem”
“I have been using every ipad there is with Notability and Goodnotes. You don't need anything else.”
“I almost wish I could go back to school so I could use Goodnotes or Notability with my iPad to take notes awesome.”
“Goodnotes is such a well developed product”
“it is pretty good at searching handwriting”
“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.”
“Vim and Goodnotes does the trick for me.”
“Notability/Goodnotes seem to have become overly bloated”
“Why Goodnotes 6 and an iPad over org-mode and a laptop?”
“since Goodnotes 6 released, I've started seeing frequent issues with erased text not disappearing and menus behaving poorly”
“GoodNotes is doing everything correctly”
“I don't think Goodnotes should have worded it as "lifetime license", the "lifetime" has no real meaning.”
“But there is no option to do that.”
“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”
“until we decide to change our pricing model”
“And this is without addressing the fact they sold a "lifetime" license.”
“the quickest way to make them usable (no bullshit, no ads”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.