Goodnotes, the popular note-taking app that once dominated classrooms and lecture halls, is making a bold leap into the professional world. On September 23, 2025, the company rolled out a suite of features designed to transform how office workers, creative teams, and enterprise users collaborate and organize their work. With a new collaborative whiteboard, enhanced document creation tools, and a sophisticated AI assistant, Goodnotes is signaling its ambition to become the go-to productivity platform for modern professionals.
For years, Goodnotes built its reputation on the iPad, offering students and educators a seamless way to blend handwriting with digital convenience. But as hybrid work environments have become the norm, the company recognized a new opportunity. "We still have a large user base of students, but we want to expand our product to become useful for everyone, especially professionals," GoodNotes founder Steven Chen told TechCrunch. "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 notetaking app for every scenario and every device."
This pivot is more than just a rebranding. Goodnotes’ latest update introduces a robust set of tools tailored for the demands of modern workplaces. The collaborative whiteboard allows teams to brainstorm in real time, combining typed notes, sketches, diagrams, and even GIFs on an infinite canvas. This is a game-changer for architects mapping out designs, strategists planning campaigns, or legal teams dissecting complex cases. The new document creation feature lets users build files with text, images, tables, and more—all within the app’s familiar interface.
But the real star of the update is the AI assistant, which Goodnotes describes as a "true collaborator." Unlike basic chatbots, this AI works with handwriting, typing, sketches, and even voice input. It can summarize meetings, generate charts and diagrams, proofread text, and create templates for documents or notes. Professionals can ask it to analyze legal contracts, solve math problems, or even turn meeting notes into a podcast. According to Geeky Gadgets, the "AI Notebook That Thinks With You" feature offers an infinite whiteboard mode, letting professionals expand their workspace without worrying about page limits—a feature that’s especially useful for project planning and mind mapping.
These AI capabilities didn’t appear overnight. Last year, Goodnotes acquired a South Korean startup specializing in meeting and video summaries, and that technology now powers much of the app’s AI-driven features. The integration of external data sources like PubMed also means researchers can pull in scientific articles for instant analysis or summarization. For busy executives, the AI offers tailored question flows and intelligent summaries, reducing cognitive load and helping users focus on decision-making rather than data wrangling.
Collaboration is at the heart of Goodnotes’ new direction. The app now supports sharing notebooks for joint editing, complete with live updates and simultaneous annotations. Teams can conduct remote brainstorming sessions, maintain joint journals, and even sync transcriptions and annotations in real time. These features echo the collaborative advances seen in tools like Google Workspace and Notion, but with the added twist of AI-powered assistance and the flexibility of handwritten input.
To accommodate these advanced features, Goodnotes has revamped its pricing structure. The new Essentials plan, priced at $11.99 per year, offers access to new file formats and AI for Q&A and math. The Pro plan, at $35.99 per year, adds integration with Google Calendar and OneDrive, private link sharing and collaboration, a desktop AI bot for meeting transcription, and AI-powered content suggestions. There’s also an AI pass for $10 per month, granting unlimited AI credits for power users. For Apple device fans, a one-time purchase option remains at $35.99, though it lacks cloud sync or cross-platform support.
Of course, with great power comes great responsibility—and a few caveats. Goodnotes has placed limits on how much AI users can access, even on the Pro plan, to manage costs and ensure fair usage. Privacy concerns have also been raised, especially when AI is processing sensitive business documents. Goodnotes addresses this with encrypted sharing options, reassuring users that their data remains secure even as it’s analyzed by powerful algorithms.
The competitive landscape for productivity tools is fierce. Rivals like Notability and Canva are also integrating AI and document creation features, hoping to capture the attention of professionals seeking smarter workflows. A Yahoo Finance report from October 2024 noted that Goodnotes, with over 24 million monthly active users at the time, was already leveraging AI to extract key data from documents—giving it a leg up in the race for workplace adoption. As of September 2025, that number has climbed to more than 25 million monthly active users, a testament to the app’s growing appeal beyond the classroom.
Goodnotes’ cross-platform availability is another major selling point. What began as an iPad-exclusive app in 2011 now runs on iOS, Android, Windows, and web browsers, making it accessible to teams regardless of their device preferences. This universal access is crucial for hybrid and remote teams who need to collaborate across different operating systems and locations.
Industry observers are watching closely to see how Goodnotes adapts to emerging trends like offline mode and AI-powered formulas, which could further enhance its appeal for professionals. As noted in a recent Paperless X post, the future of digital note-taking lies in apps that offer intelligent, collaborative features without overwhelming users with complexity. Goodnotes appears to be walking this fine line, blending powerful AI with an interface that remains intuitive and approachable.
Some critics remain cautious, warning that the rush to integrate AI could lead to feature bloat or privacy missteps. Others see Goodnotes’ evolution as a natural response to the shifting demands of the modern workplace. As more professionals seek tools that can bridge creative ideation and structured collaboration, Goodnotes’ new features may well set the standard for what a digital notebook can—and should—do.
With its latest update, Goodnotes is no longer just a digital notebook for students. It’s staking its claim as an indispensable productivity hub for professionals everywhere, offering a blend of collaboration, intelligence, and flexibility that’s hard to beat in today’s ever-changing work landscape.
