The Best Digital Planner for Goodnotes
Discover the best digital planner for Goodnotes and beyond! Compare top apps, templates, and tools like Notability, Noteshelf, and more to boost your productivity today.
Key Takeaways
GoodNotes handles digital planners best. Hyperlinks work reliably, customization is easy, and there's a huge library of templates available.
Notability is solid for planners but shines brightest when you need audio recording. If you don't need that, GoodNotes is probably better.
Noteshelf has the nicest handwriting feel and works on Android. Good middle ground.
Apple Notes isn't really meant for structured planning. Use it for quick capture, not as your main planner.
LiquidText and MarginNote are for research and reading, not planning. Different tools for different jobs.
Quick Context
This post is specifically about which app to use for digital planner templates—those PDF planners with hyperlinked tabs, monthly/weekly spreads, and customizable pages.
If you want a general comparison of note-taking apps, we have a full app comparison guide. This post focuses on how each app handles planners specifically.
GoodNotes: The Default Choice for Digital Planners
There's a reason most digital planner templates are designed with GoodNotes in mind. It handles them better than anything else.
What makes it work well for planners:
Hyperlinks are reliable. Tap the "March" tab and you go to March. Tap "Week 12" and you're there. This sounds basic, but some apps break these links or make navigation clunky. GoodNotes just works.
PDF handling is excellent. Import a planner template, and it looks exactly like it should. Pages load quickly. You can zoom, write, and navigate without issues.
Organization makes sense. Each planner can be its own notebook. You can have separate planners for work and personal, or different years, and find them easily.
Customization options. Change covers, add pages, insert additional templates. You're not stuck with exactly what the designer made—you can adjust it.
Where to find GoodNotes planners:
Etsy (search "GoodNotes planner"—thousands of options)
The downsides:
No audio recording. If you need to capture lectures or meetings alongside your planning, GoodNotes can't help.
Apple-only. No Android or Windows version. If you might switch ecosystems, your planners don't come with you easily.
Best for: Most people doing digital planning. Students, professionals, anyone who wants a reliable planner experience. This is the safe choice.
For a deeper dive: best digital planners for GoodNotes.
Notability: Best When You Need Audio
Notability can handle digital planners, but that's not its main strength. Its killer feature is audio recording synced to your handwriting—tap a word you wrote and hear what was being said at that moment.
For planning specifically:
Hyperlinks work, but navigation isn't quite as smooth as GoodNotes. Some users report occasional issues with complex templates.
The interface is more streamlined, which is good for note-taking but means fewer customization options for planners.
Multi-note view is useful—you can have your planner open alongside another document.
When Notability makes sense for planning:
You're a student who uses one app for everything. Rather than switching between Notability for lectures and GoodNotes for planning, you keep it all in one place.
You take planning notes during meetings and want the audio context. "What did we decide in that meeting?" Tap your notes to replay the conversation.
When to use GoodNotes instead:
You don't need audio. If recording isn't part of your workflow, GoodNotes is better at pure planning.
You want more template variety. The market for Notability-specific planners is smaller, though most GoodNotes planners work fine in Notability too.
The subscription factor:
Notability moved to a subscription model ($14.99/year for full features). GoodNotes is a one-time $9.99 purchase. If you're only using it for planning, GoodNotes is better value.
Best for: Students who record lectures and want their planner in the same app. Professionals who take meeting notes with audio. Anyone whose workflow genuinely benefits from audio sync.
Noteshelf: The Handwriting-First Option
Noteshelf occupies an interesting middle ground. The handwriting experience is arguably the best—smooth, natural, great pressure sensitivity. And unlike GoodNotes and Notability, it works on Android too.
For planning:
Planner templates work well. Hyperlinks function properly. You can import PDF planners and use them like you'd expect.
The template library is good. Noteshelf comes with more built-in paper styles and layouts than competitors.
Audio recording is included (like Notability, but with a one-time purchase).
Cross-platform availability. If you use both an iPad and an Android tablet, Noteshelf syncs between them.
The handwriting experience:
This is subjective, but many people feel Noteshelf mimics real pen-on-paper better than GoodNotes or Notability. The stroke smoothing, pressure response, and ink appearance are slightly more natural. If you're picky about how your handwriting looks and feels, try Noteshelf.
Downsides:
Smaller community. Fewer tutorials, fewer third-party templates explicitly designed for it, less help available when you get stuck.
Less name recognition. Most planner creators optimize for GoodNotes first. Templates usually work in Noteshelf, but you might encounter occasional quirks.
Best for: People who prioritize handwriting feel. Android users who want a GoodNotes-quality experience. Anyone who wants audio recording without a subscription.
Apple Notes: Probably Not for Serious Planning
I'll be direct: Apple Notes isn't really a digital planning tool. It's great for what it does—quick capture, simple lists, fast sync across Apple devices. But it lacks features that make structured planning work.
What's missing:
No hyperlink support between notes. You can't tap a tab to jump to a different section. Navigation in a multi-page planner would be tedious.
No PDF template import. You can't bring in a designed planner and write on it.
No structured layouts. No monthly spread, no weekly grid—just blank pages or basic formatting.
What it's actually good for:
Quick capture. Jot something down fast, deal with it later.
Simple to-do lists. The checkbox feature works fine for basic task tracking.
Scanning documents. The built-in scanner is convenient.
The verdict:
If you want structured digital planning with templates, monthly/weekly views, and hyperlinked navigation, use GoodNotes, Notability, or Noteshelf. Apple Notes is a different tool for a different purpose.
If you just need a simple to-do list and some quick notes, Apple Notes is fine. But don't try to make it into something it's not.
What About LiquidText and MarginNote?
These apps come up in planning discussions sometimes, but they're solving a different problem.
LiquidText is for deep reading and research. You import documents (PDFs, articles), highlight passages, pull excerpts into a workspace, and draw connections between ideas. It's excellent for lawyers reviewing case files, researchers synthesizing sources, or students working through dense readings.
It's not a planner. There's no calendar view, no task management, no weekly spreads.
MarginNote is similar—reading, annotation, flashcards, mind maps. It's more structured than LiquidText, with features designed for memorization and study.
Also not a planner.
When these make sense:
You're doing serious academic or professional reading and need to organize your annotations and insights.
You want to create study materials from your reading (flashcards, mind maps).
When they don't:
You want to plan your week, track habits, or manage tasks. That's what GoodNotes/Notability/Noteshelf are for.
I mention these because people sometimes ask "which is better, GoodNotes or LiquidText?" and the answer is: they do completely different things. Use both if you need both.
Evernote vs OneNote: The Archive Tools
Similarly, Evernote and OneNote sometimes get compared to planning apps, but they're more like information archives than planners.
Evernote excels at capturing and finding information. Web clips, scanned documents, notes—everything searchable, organized by notebooks and tags. It's where you store stuff you'll need later.
OneNote is similar but free, integrates with Microsoft 365, and allows more freeform layouts. Better for collaboration, better if you're already in the Microsoft ecosystem.
For planning:
Neither is ideal. They lack the tactile, handwriting-focused experience of GoodNotes. They don't handle hyperlinked PDF planners well. The mobile apps are clunkier for daily planning use.
Some people use Notion (different from these, but often grouped together) for planning, and it works reasonably well for typed, database-style planning. But for handwritten digital planning with templates, GoodNotes-style apps are better.
The hybrid approach:
Use GoodNotes for your actual planner. Use Evernote or OneNote to archive reference material, meeting notes you need to keep long-term, or information you'll search for later. Different tools for different jobs.
How to Choose
Start here:
Do you record audio (lectures, meetings, interviews)?
Yes → Notability or Noteshelf
No → GoodNotes
Do you use Android devices?
Yes → Noteshelf (or consider if you really need an app that works across both)
No → GoodNotes
Is handwriting feel your top priority?
Yes → Try Noteshelf, see if you prefer it
No → GoodNotes is fine
Do you want to avoid subscriptions?
Yes → GoodNotes ($9.99 once) or Noteshelf ($9.99 once)
Doesn't matter → Notability is fine
Decision made? Now get a planner:
Import it into your app, spend 10 minutes learning the navigation, and start using it. Don't overthink—you can always switch later.
Mixing Apps (It's Fine)
You're not married to one app. Plenty of people use:
GoodNotes for their main planner and structured planning
Notability for lectures or meeting recordings
Apple Notes for quick capture throughout the day
Evernote or OneNote for archiving reference material
The apps sync separately, but that's okay. You don't need everything in one place—you need each tool doing what it does best.
If you're just starting out, though, pick one planning app and learn it well before adding complexity.
FAQ
Do GoodNotes planners work in Notability? Usually, yes. PDF planners designed for GoodNotes typically work in Notability too. Hyperlinks should function. Occasionally there are minor display differences, but most templates are compatible.
Which app has the best templates available? GoodNotes, by far. It's the most popular, so creators design for it first. Etsy, creative marketplaces, and individual designers overwhelmingly target GoodNotes users. That said, most GoodNotes planners work fine in other apps.
Is the handwriting difference between apps noticeable? Yes, if you're sensitive to it. Noteshelf generally feels smoothest. GoodNotes and Notability are both good but slightly different. If handwriting quality is your priority, try all three with the same stylus and see what feels best to you.
Can I switch apps later? Sort of. You can export your planner as a PDF, but you'll lose some functionality (like easy editing). Handwritten notes export as flat images. It's possible to switch, but not seamless. Better to test apps before committing.
What if I want typed planning instead of handwritten? Consider Notion instead. It's database-driven, great for typed planning and task management. Not covered in this post because it's a different category, but worth looking at if handwriting isn't your thing.
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