Productivity & Business · Education & Productivity

Goodnotes

Goodnotes is a note-taking and PDF-markup app for Apple, Android, Windows and web: Free is capped at 3 files, Essential is $11.99 a year, Pro $35.99.

Our take: Goodnotes prints its prices on its own pricing page: Essential at $11.99 a year, Pro at $35.99 a year and an AI Pass add-on at $9.99 a month, with Free capped at 3 files.

Best forHandwritten notes and PDFs

ReviewedNov 2026Freemium

7.15 criteria · see breakdown

Try GoodnotesFree; Essential $11.99/yr; Pro $35.99/yr

Goodnotes is a note-taking, whiteboard and PDF-markup app from Goodnotes Limited, a company with its registered office in London. Its Free plan costs $0 with no time limit but is capped at 3 files on the pricing page, Essential is $11.99 a year and Pro is $35.99 a year, each with a 7-day trial, and the AI Pass add-on is $9.99 a month (checked 1 November 2026). Special Edition, a one-time purchase, is sold only on Apple devices, and no page read prints its price.

Goodnotes plan names changed in September 2025

Goodnotes's help center says its September 2025 plan update renamed Goodnotes 6 One-Time Payment to Special Edition and Goodnotes All Platforms Yearly to Essential, and that the Android and Windows Yearly plan has not been sold to new buyers since 23 September 2025. The third table maps the old names to the current ones.

Checked November 1, 2026

The bottom line

Free is permanent but hard-capped, and the paid plans are low yearly prices; compare older articles and the Free-limits table with the old plan names.

Our score

Reviewed by the Conversion Gems editorial team. Hover a facet to focus it; click to pin.Tap a facet to focus it.

What it is, and why we rate it

One line each. Open a row for detail.

What it really isA note-taking, whiteboard and PDF-markup app from Goodnotes Limited for Apple devices, Android, Windows and the web, with a capped Free plan and yearly paid plans.

Our takeGoodnotes prints its prices on its own pricing page: Essential at $11.99 a year, Pro at $35.99 a year and an AI Pass add-on at $9.99 a month, with Free capped at 3 files.

The harder questions sit in the help center: the Free cap is worded two ways, the one-time Special Edition is Apple-only with no price on the pages read, and the September 2025 plan update renamed older plans and ended sales of the Android and Windows Yearly plan.

Why we rate itGoodnotes prints plan prices, trial lengths and plan renames on its own pages and its help center, but it states the Free cap two ways and leaves the Special Edition price off the pages read.

The catchThe Free plan is capped, advanced AI costs extra or needs Pro, and the pages Goodnotes publishes word the Free cap, Free link sharing and cross-platform sync differently.

Best / not good for

Best for

People who take handwritten notes or mark up PDFs on a tablet
Buyers who want a low yearly price instead of a monthly subscription
K-12 schools that can use the free Goodnotes Education offer

Not good for

Heavy users who need more than 3 files on the Free plan
Anyone who wants a one-time purchase on Android or Windows, since Special Edition is Apple-only
Families who want to share Pro or AI Pass through Apple Family Sharing

Trade-offs

Friction report

Trade-offs to know before signing up.

Time to value
Sign-up is at goodnotes.com/signup, and the Essential and Pro trials last 7 days; Special Edition, where offered, is bought in the Apple App Store.
Scale breakpoint
The Free plan stops at up to 3 files, 5MB imports and 20 minutes of audio, and extra notebooks become read-only when you downgrade to Free.
Walled garden
Special Edition works only on Apple devices and does not include Goodnotes Cloud, and a library synced across Apple and non-Apple devices needs Pro.

Still a fit?

If none of these block you, start on the free plan.

Try Goodnotes

Goodnotes plans and prices, as Goodnotes lists them

Plan	Price shown	Trial	What Goodnotes says it includes
Free	$0, 'Free forever'	Not applicable	Up to 3 files, 5MB import size, 20 minutes of audio recording and the note-taking tools
Essential (was All Platforms Yearly)	$11.99 a year (US)	7 days free	Unlimited files and audio recording, all note-taking tools and limited AI capabilities
Pro	$35.99 a year (US)	7 days free	Everything in Essential plus Drive integration, private link sharing, real-time collaboration, sync across devices and AI capabilities
AI Pass (add-on)	+$9.99 a month; the help center says '+$10/month in the US'	7 days free for Essential users when shown on the paywall	The full AI feature set and about 12 times more AI credits; needs Special Edition, Essential or Pro
Special Edition (was Goodnotes 6 One-Time Payment)	One-time purchase on the Apple App Store; price not shown on the pages read	Not applicable	Unlimited Apple note-taking without a subscription, limited AI and no Goodnotes Cloud; does not expire; availability varies by region
Teams	$120 per seat a year	30 days free	Everything in Pro plus SAML SSO, domain control, consolidated billing, user and admin management and advanced collaboration
Enterprise	Custom price	Contact sales	Everything in Teams plus privacy and security requests, AI permissions, dedicated account support and the Microsoft Intune App SDK

From goodnotes.com/pricing (individual tab), its FAQ and Goodnotes's help center, checked 1 November 2026. The help center states the Essential and Pro prices 'in the US' and says prices vary by region. Goodnotes Education is free for K-12 schools and is set up by the school, not by a student. Apple Family Sharing is not available for Pro or AI Pass.

Goodnotes Free plan limits, as each Goodnotes page states them

Limit on Free	Pricing page and its FAQ	Help center article
Files	Up to 3 files in total across notebooks, whiteboards and text documents	Up to 3 notebooks, 3 text documents and 3 whiteboards
Folders and storage	Folders: up to 3. No storage figure	Up to 3 folders and 100 MB of storage
Import size	5MB	5 MB
Audio recording	20 minutes	20 minutes per notebook
Exports	Watermarked exports	Watermarked exports
Link sharing	FAQ: 'link sharing to collaborate'; the page's own comparison table marks public and private link sharing as not on Free	No public or private link sharing
AI credits a month	No credit number; Q&A support and Quiz generator up to 5 monthly each	10
Going over the cap	Not stated	Notebooks above 3 become read-only until you upgrade; you choose which 3 stay editable

From goodnotes.com/pricing and its FAQ and from Goodnotes's 'Compare Goodnotes Plans and Features' help article, checked 1 November 2026. The two sources word the file cap, folders and link sharing differently, and the table shows both without picking one.

Old Goodnotes plan names and what they became

Previous plan	What it is now	Where
Goodnotes 6 One-Time Payment	Goodnotes Special Edition. You keep the paid features and can buy AI Pass separately.	Help center
Goodnotes All Platforms Yearly	Goodnotes Essential. You keep your existing features and gain new ones.	Help center
Android & Windows Yearly	Being retired by Goodnotes. Not sold to new buyers since 23 September 2025; existing subscribers keep it until the period ends. The renewal window in the original announcement ended in March 2026.	Plan changes article
Goodnotes 5 (paid)	No forced upgrade. You can keep using Goodnotes 5, and may qualify for discounts when upgrading to Essential.	Help center

From Goodnotes's help center, checked 1 November 2026. Goodnotes says older plans map to current ones automatically in most cases, with no repurchase needed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Goodnotes free?

Yes, with limits. Goodnotes calls its Free plan free forever, not a trial. Its pricing page caps it at up to 3 files, 5MB import size and 20 minutes of audio recording, and its pricing FAQ adds watermarked exports. A help article words the cap as 3 notebooks, 3 text documents and 3 whiteboards, plus 3 folders and 100 MB of storage. If you move to Free with more than 3 notebooks, the extras become read-only until you upgrade, and you choose which 3 stay editable. Essential and Pro lift the file cap (checked 1 November 2026).

How much does Goodnotes cost?

Goodnotes lists Essential at $11.99 a year and Pro at $35.99 a year, each with a 7-day free trial that its help center calls auto-renewing, plus an AI Pass add-on at $9.99 a month. Teams is $120 per seat a year with a 30-day trial, and Enterprise is a custom price. Its help center gives the same US yearly prices, calls AI Pass '+$10/month in the US' and says prices vary by region. The one-time Special Edition is sold on the Apple App Store, and its price is not shown on the pages read (checked 1 November 2026).

Is Goodnotes a one-time payment?

Only on Apple devices. Goodnotes sells Special Edition as a one-time purchase through the Apple App Store; the help center says it never expires and may not be available in every region. Special Edition has fewer features than Essential or Pro, with limited AI and no Goodnotes Cloud, and it is hidden while a subscription is active. If you bought Special Edition and subscribe later, access falls back to Special Edition, not to Free, when the subscription ends. The old Goodnotes 6 One-Time Payment became Special Edition in the September 2025 plan update, and Goodnotes shows no Special Edition price on the pages read (checked 1 November 2026).

Is Goodnotes free for students?

Students can use the Free plan like anyone else, and Goodnotes Education is free for K-12 schools: students at a school that uses it get access at no cost. The school sets it up, using Apple School Manager or an Admin Console, not the individual student. The pricing page read shows no student discount for individual or university students. A Goodnotes blog post dated 16 September 2024 says students can get 10% off a subscription through Student Beans; the pages read do not show whether that offer still runs (checked 1 November 2026).

What is Goodnotes AI Pass, and do I need it?

AI Pass is an optional add-on, $9.99 a month on the pricing page and '+$10/month in the US' in the help center. Goodnotes says it adds the full AI feature set and about 12 times more AI credits, and it needs Special Edition, Essential or Pro because it is not available on Free. The help center lists 10 AI credits a month on Free, 525 on Special Edition, Essential and Pro, and 6,300 more with AI Pass. Essential users can get a 7-day AI Pass trial when it shows on their paywall. Apple Family Sharing is not available for Pro or AI Pass (checked 1 November 2026).

Does Goodnotes work on Android and Windows?

Goodnotes says it works on Apple devices, Android, Windows and the web, with core note-taking and PDF markup on every platform. Its pricing FAQ says keeping one library in sync between Apple and non-Apple devices needs Pro, which includes Goodnotes Cloud, although a help article lists cross-platform sync under Essential and says Pro's cross-platform library sync is rolling out gradually. Goodnotes stopped selling the separate Android and Windows Yearly plan on 23 September 2025, and existing subscribers keep it until their period ends. Special Edition is Apple-only (checked 1 November 2026).