A GoodNotes alternative for iPad and Mac
GoodNotes is a very good notebook. People go looking for an alternative for a few reasons: the pricing moved to a subscription, they picked up a Windows or Android machine, they want a canvas instead of pages, they want the handwriting to become real text, or they need the page on a Mac where the work happens. I built Pen Friend, so weigh what follows accordingly.
Seven alternatives, and who each is for
Notability is best for meetings and lectures, because the audio links to the exact spot in your notes.
Nebo is best if you want handwriting converted to text as you write. It is listed as MyScript Notes on the App Store now.
Noteshelf is best for planner and journal templates, and it runs on Android and Windows.
OneNote is best if your work already lives in Microsoft, and it is free everywhere.
Obsidian is best for an archive you own outright, in plain files, though it is typed first.
Apple Notes is best for free and already installed, though it is lighter on PDFs and organisation.
Pen Friend is best for getting the handwritten page onto a Mac.
Where GoodNotes still wins
Pencil feel and document markup. GoodNotes has years of polish there that Pen Friend does not have. If marking up documents by hand is most of your day, stay where you are. None of the seven beats it there, and Pen Friend does not try.
What Pen Friend does differently
A Mac screenshot lands on your iPad page a second later, you write around it, and one flick sends the page back to the Mac clipboard. PDFs arrive as pages you can write between. Search works by writing the question by hand, and finds notes by what they mean.
When you get stuck mid-note, you can write the question on the page and the answer comes back in ink underneath. That part is off until you agree to it, and without it Pen Friend is still a complete notebook.
It is free, with no in-app purchase, no subscription and no account. Notes live on your iPad and back up to your own iCloud. There is no server of mine in the middle; the iPad and the Mac talk over your own network.
How to pick, by the reason you went looking
Handwriting as editable text: Nebo. Audio tied to your notes: Notability. Free with nothing to set up: Apple Notes. The same notes on Windows or Android: OneNote, Noteshelf or Nebo. Templates for planning: Noteshelf. A permanent local archive: Obsidian. A handwritten iPad page on your Mac without a round trip: Pen Friend.
