Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
User consensusAlternativesIs it worth it?
The verdict on

Goodnotes

55
User verdict / 100 High confidence Divided

Goodnotes is a powerful note-taking app praised for its organization and customizability, particularly for students, but recent updates have introduced significant bugs, performance issues, and a frustrating shift towards subscription models.

4.7★ lifetime (434,222) Free + in-app purchases since 2019 by Goodnotes Limited updated 0.1 mo ago recent negative 52% 50 reviews across 1 regions
Performance & Stability Subscription Model User Experience (UX) Note-Taking Features Memory & Sync
5★14
4★6
3★4
2★8
1★18
recent reviews across 1 regions, vs the 4.7★ lifetime average

Goodnotes is widely regarded as a highly functional and customizable note-taking application, especially beneficial for students using an Apple Pencil. However, recent updates have led to a decline in user experience, with frequent crashes, glitches, and performance issues, alongside concerns about its subscription model and lack of accessibility features.

What users like

  • Excellent for organizing notes and study materialsR3R6R16R40
  • Highly customizable features for note-taking and other usesR6R40R42
  • Beneficial for students, supporting assignments, flashcards, and PDF annotationsR16R33R36
  • Intuitive and easy to use for many, especially with an Apple PencilR3R36R46

What users complain about

  • Frequent crashes, glitches, and performance issues, especially after updatesR1R11R12R20
  • Subscription model is seen as extractive and limits basic functionality for free usersR2R8R13R27
  • Poor user experience (UX) and unintuitive design elementsR1R7R11R22
  • App consumes significant device memory due to lack of selective syncingR9R34
  • Lack of essential accessibility features like text zoom on MacR5
  • Issues with iCloud sync and importing documentsR1R14

Latest update · v7.1.2

What the developer says changed (the verdict above weighs this against what reviewers report):

- When connecting shapes, customize how your connectors appear with new control points - Fixed several Goodnotes AI issues, including response language, math graph rendering, and converting handwriting to text. - Improved audio recording and playback: permission prompts before recording, the floating player in portrait, the audio sidebar toggle, and playback after deleting a recording. - Fixed several toolbar issues: a missing audio button on customized toolbars, and toolbars getting stuck when switching tools. - Fixed a crash in the Library view, and fixed shared links not always opening to the correct page. - Fixed layout and loading issues in the Library, including the empty-state view and built-in templates. - Fixed several toolbar issues: the ruler covering the bottom toolbar, color picker display, a missing audio button on customized toolbars, and toolbars getting stuck when switch

Recurring themes

Performance & Stability negative
Many users report constant crashing, lagging, and glitches, especially after recent updates, making the app unusable for some. This contradicts developer notes claiming fixes.R1R11R12R20
Subscription Model negative
Users are frustrated by the shift to a subscription model, with basic features like notebook limits (3 notebooks for free users) and cross-platform access now requiring payment. Many who paid for Goodnotes 5 feel pressured to upgrade to Goodnotes 6.R2R8R10R13
User Experience (UX) negative
Several users find the app's UX clunky, unintuitive, and frustrating, citing issues with text box behavior, auto-cropping images, and unexpected tool changes (e.g., reverting to lasso tool).R1R7R11R22
Memory & Sync negative
The app is criticized for being a 'memory hog' because it downloads all documents to every device, with no option for selective syncing, leading to storage issues on iPhones and iPads. iCloud sync is also reported as unreliable.R1R9R34
Note-Taking Features positive
Despite the issues, many users praise the app's core note-taking capabilities, organization, and customizability, finding it very useful for studying, assignments, and PDF annotation.R3R6R16R36

Who it's for

Goodnotes is for students and users who need a highly organized and customizable note-taking app, especially those who use an Apple Pencil and are willing to pay for a subscription to access full features R16R36R42. It is not for users with limited device storage, those who prefer one-time purchases, or individuals who rely on accessibility features like text zoom R5R9R34.

Evidence note: The recent reviews skew heavily negative (0.52 recent-negative), which contrasts with the high lifetime rating. Many positive reviews are general praise, while negative reviews provide specific, recurring issues. The developer notes mention fixing AI issues and improving audio, but recent reviews do not significantly address these specific points, instead focusing on broader stability and UX problems.

Frequently asked

Does Goodnotes offer a free version?
Yes, Goodnotes offers a free version, but it has limitations, such as a cap of 3 notebooks, which many users find restrictive R2R8.
Are there ongoing issues with Goodnotes' performance and stability?
Yes, recent reviews indicate ongoing and frequent issues with the app crashing, lagging, and experiencing glitches, particularly after updates R1R11R12R20.
Does Goodnotes consume a lot of device storage?
Yes, users report that Goodnotes can be a 'memory hog' because it downloads all documents to every synced device without an option for selective syncing R9R34.
Is Goodnotes accessible for users with limited vision?
According to one review, the MacBook version of Goodnotes lacks essential accessibility features like text zoom, which can be a significant drawback for users with limited vision R5.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 50 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R3] 5/5 · AU Wow: Really easy to organise and take notes with! This app is a hidden gem.
  2. [R6] 5/5 · AU Great app!: I used to study on this app Goodnotes but I found out that you can also make mood boards and birthday Wishlist’s which made this app even better!!
  3. [R16] 4/5 · AU First time use: I recommend watching YouTube videos to get how to use it, but after watching a few WOW this app does ALOT. Im a student using it for all my assignments, notes, flashcards, documents, PDF annotations. Love it s far.
  4. [R40] 5/5 · AU Best note taking app: So easy to use. I love that everything is customisable and I can put all of my notes in different folders.
  5. [R42] 5/5 · AU Game Changer: Goodnotes 6 has changed my life. It has all the features I could want and some I didn't know I wanted until I discovered them. Easy to use and surprisingly fun!
  6. [R33] 5/5 · AU GOOD for students: Convient
  7. [R36] 5/5 · AU Fantastic for Study notes: Extremely good when using an Apple Pencil/equivalent. Lacks when trying to type in written documents and palm card documents, although is very good for typing in the ‘Doc’ document type. Overall I highly recommend. Also the price is phenomenal for the service
  8. [R46] 5/5 · AU Best of the best love it!: Keep going teams, I tried other note apps but not it was not intuitive or natural for me. I used this for school till now. I barely comment unless it is either best or worst. It is easy no thinking when using it no learning curve, no question how to use it, just use it, Thank you so much
  9. [R1] 3/5 · AU In theory great, execution is clunky: Good app and in theory does what it says on the box, and very useful for study. But the UX is poor. I agree with the sentiments of some of the other reviews and it feels like the company doesn’t use its own app. Simple things like cut and paste on Mac are still totally inferior to other apps. iCloud sync has never really worked without restarting the app. Impo
  10. [R11] 1/5 · AU Incredibly Glitchy and Unintuitive: With each update comes more glitches and problems.
  11. [R12] 1/5 · AU Please fix these issues: Used to love this app, it was great but not any more. It constantly crashes every five seconds. You have to reopen the app, then it crashes again; over and over. When it doesn’t crash, it’s unbearably slow and glitchy. Unusable
  12. [R20] 2/5 · AU Goodnotes review: Bug problems, glitches out of app every 3 minutes and deletes the notes I’ve written. Very disappointed.
  13. [R2] 2/5 · AU Please read this report 🙏🏼: So I download this app and I get a notebook that I accidentally deleted it. I press on the notebook again and it doesn’t work. It keeps saying to get more supply. I need to pay for premium like I understand you guys want money but just for one notebook who accidentally deleted it has to pay for this. PleaseeeeEeee fix and do somethingggg 🙏🏼 Regards Liliana🍡🫧🎀🛍️😝🍎
  14. [R8] 3/5 · AU Really great… but has some problems: It’s actually a really good app, and I really loved it, but I have on essential problem. Your notebook limit is 3. 3! I cannot organise my life into just 3 notebooks. I can’t use the app.
  15. [R13] 1/5 · AU Subscribe for a notebook?: Not a fan of extractive subscription models for software that had already addressed needs.
  16. [R27] 2/5 · AU I used to love it: This app used to be one of my favs but then they updated it and even though my family has been using practically since it came out, we now have to sign up and pay or have a 7 day free. I used to love it but they have ruined it now.
  17. [R7] 1/5 · AU Image auto uncrops photos: Your ui sucks
  18. [R22] 3/5 · AU Used to be good, but the app has some very undesirable issues now: I used to love this app. But it’s very counter intuitive now. I select the text box and it auto reverts to the lasso when I don’t want it to. Then sometimes I select a text box and it suddenly changes the font to bold and I have to go back and change everything. Then sometimes app auto takes me back to the default home page too whe
  19. [R9] 2/5 · AU Memory hog: There is no way to sync only the documents that you need on your phone. All documents will be on your phone, nothing you can do about it. So if you have limited iPhone storage, paying up for access to the benefits of the app might not be worth it.
  20. [R34] 3/5 · AU Memory hog - no selective syncing: Since it insists on downloading every single thing to every device at all times, my devices fill up. I just can’t use this app to its full potential because that would destroy my iPhone and my iPad.
  21. [R5] 1/5 · AU Not so good for accessibility: I purchased a subscription for this app and I am disappointed with the MacBook version. In 2026 who develops an app that has no text zoom. The developer should know that there are people with limited vision and rely on zoom to read and write.
  22. [R14] 1/5 · AU I own V5: I still own a legal copy of GoodNotes 5. l am trying to up load to the cloud but it tells me to upgrade and l don’t wish to so l won’t be up grading because l don’t know what’s going to change in 6 l have a lots of content on my V5 (not sure what upgrade l need to make it work V5 iCloud)
  23. [R10] 1/5 · AU I do not like the constant promotion to upgrade to Good notes 6.: It’s annoying to have GoodNotes 6 promoted every time I use it. I paid for GoodNotes 5 and they keep badgering me to upgrade. I do not want the AI features. And I do not want my hand writing corrected. I am satisfied with my personal hand writing and the right to self expression without correction. I do not like my freedom of expres

Synthesized from 50 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store