GoodNotes Expands Features to Serve Professional Users
GoodNotes, a note-taking application historically popular among students, is broadening its focus to accommodate professional users. The company announced new features today, including a collaborative whiteboard, enhanced document creation capabilities, and an AI assistant designed to streamline content generation and summarization.
The newly introduced AI assistant in GoodNotes can process various input formats such as handwriting, typed text, sketches, and voice commands. It offers functionalities like meeting summarization, visual content creation—including charts and diagrams—text proofreading, and template generation for notes and documents. This AI capability is powered by technology from a South Korean startup specializing in meeting and video summaries, which GoodNotes acquired last year to enhance its product offering.
Alongside AI enhancements, GoodNotes has launched a whiteboard feature that enables users to collaborate on a blank canvas, integrating text and diagrams in real time. Additionally, the app now supports document creation that incorporates text, images, GIFs, and tables, catering to diverse office workflows. These additions align GoodNotes with other productivity platforms like Grammarly and Canva, which are increasingly integrating document creation to enrich context for AI-driven assistance.
“We still have a large user base of students, but we want to expand our product to become useful for everyone, especially professionals. Text documents are popular in offices for people who type a lot, and a whiteboard is great for collaboration using different tools. Going forward, we want to be a well-rounded note-taking app for every scenario and every device,” said GoodNotes founder Steven Chen.
Updated Subscription Plans and Pricing
GoodNotes is replacing its previous numbering system with two new subscription tiers: Essentials and Pro. The Essentials plan, priced at $11.99 per year, includes access to new file formats, AI-powered Q&A, and math features. The Pro plan costs $35.99 annually and adds integrations with Google Calendar and OneDrive, private link sharing and collaboration, a desktop AI bot for meeting transcription, and AI-driven content suggestions. Users face usage limits on AI features even with the Pro subscription but can purchase an AI pass for $10 monthly to gain unlimited AI credits. A one-time purchase option remains available for Apple device users at $35.99, though it excludes cloud synchronization and cross-platform support.
Originally launched on iPad in 2011, GoodNotes has expanded to support iOS, Android, and Windows platforms. The company reports more than 25 million monthly active users, an increase from 21 million in 2023, signaling robust growth and adoption.
FinOracleAI — Market View
GoodNotes’ strategic pivot towards professional users through collaborative tools and AI integration positions the app to compete more directly with established productivity platforms. The combination of versatile AI features and enhanced collaboration capabilities addresses growing market demand for integrated workplace solutions.
- Opportunities: Expansion into professional markets could increase user engagement and subscription revenue.
- Risks: Intense competition from established productivity suites may limit market share gains.
- Technology leverage: Acquisition of AI technology strengthens product differentiation.
- Monetization: Flexible pricing and AI pass offerings balance accessibility and premium feature monetization.
Impact: GoodNotes’ evolution toward a comprehensive, AI-enabled collaborative platform is likely to enhance its competitive position and drive sustainable growth in the productivity software sector.
