Reviewed by Rick Castro, Founder & lead analyst · Last updated July 2026
Heads up: This is a handwriting and PDF-annotation app built for stylus and tablet use. The SoftwareScore rates every app on the same typed note-taking axes, which do not measure handwriting feel or PDF markup, so this score understates it for that use. A dedicated handwriting category is coming to rate these apps fairly. How we score →
★ 4.6 / 5 · 466k user reviews
· App Store + Google Play + Capterra + G2, cross-referenced · display-only, not part of the SoftwareScore
56
SoftwareScore · ranked #25
The market-leading handwriting and PDF note-taking app for tablets, with rich pen tools, templates, and handwriting search, now well beyond the iPad.
Excellent, natural handwriting with deep pen and highlighter tools, paper templates, and PDF import
Handwriting search and text recognition make handwritten notes findable
Strong folder organization, now on iPad, Mac, Windows, Android, and web (Editors' Choice, 4.7 on the App Store)
Cons
Android app is noticeably laggy and lacks full offline sync versus the iPad version (3.1 on Google Play)
Sharing and collaboration are limited, often to one page at a time
No databases or backlinks, and recurring complaints about the subscription pricing
Best for Students and iPad users who handwrite notes and mark up PDFs with a stylus.
Skip it if You are primarily on Android, or you want typed, database-driven knowledge management.
On the SoftwareScore, Goodnotes is strongest on Ease of use (8/10) and weakest on Collaboration (3/10). That's what drives its 56/100.
Hands-on notes from Rick Castro
I spent about a month with Goodnotes on an iPad Pro, mostly for digital planning with interactive templates and indexing my handwritten study cards. The handwriting is what kept me there: palm rejection was flawless, the pen options with stroke stabilization made writing feel natural, and the template marketplace kept everything tidy. What wore on me was value and going cross-platform. The free tier is tight, and the Windows and Android versions felt like an unpolished web wrapper that needed a constant connection. If you are all-in on Apple and want a premium, tactile notebook, it is excellent; if you live on Windows or Android, I would look elsewhere.