an honest comparison
GoodNotes is the best-known handwriting app on the iPad and has grown into a subscription with cloud sync, AI tools and apps on every platform. If you like GoodNotes but don't want a yearly plan, want your notebooks as plain files, or want your notes, novel, sketches and flashcards in one place, Tansy is built for that.
GoodNotes facts checked October 2026 on their own site; plans and prices change, so check before you buy. Tansy launches August 12, 2027.
| What | Tansy | GoodNotes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $29.99 once ($19.99 for the first 30 days after launch). 14-day free trial. | Free plan limited to 3 files with watermarked exports. Essential $11.99/year, Pro $35.99/year (needed to sync between Apple and non-Apple devices). AI Pass +$9.99/month. A one-time Apple-only edition is sold in some regions, without cloud sync. |
| Platforms | iPad, iPhone, Mac, Windows and Android. One Apple purchase covers iPad, iPhone and Mac; Windows and Android are bought in their own stores. | iPad, iPhone, Mac, Windows, Android and the web. |
| Sync | Your own folder: iCloud Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox or Google Drive. No account. Edits from two devices merge. | GoodNotes Cloud with an account. Syncing between Apple and other platforms needs the Pro plan. |
| Your files | Regular files in a folder you can see, back up and keep. Nothing uploaded to us. | Notebooks live in GoodNotes' own format in its cloud or iCloud; export to PDF or GoodNotes files. |
| Handwriting | Pressure and tilt, imported Procreate, Photoshop and Clip Studio brushes, layers on every page, shape snapping, lasso to text, handwriting search. | Pressure-sensitive pens, shape recognition, lasso, handwriting search and conversion. |
| Beyond notes | Notebooks, planners, documents, manuscripts, scripts, canvases, storyboards, sheet music, flashcards, tasks, tables and boards in one library. | Notebooks, PDF markup, whiteboards, text documents, flashcards from notes, and AI features on paid plans. |
| AI | None. Tansy reads your writing aloud and transcribes recordings, but has no AI writing or summarising tools. | AI summaries, Q&A and writing help, mostly on the AI Pass add-on. |
| Import from the other | Imports GoodNotes exports. | Does not import Tansy files; share PDFs instead. |
Export your notebooks from GoodNotes and import them into Tansy. Your pages, PDFs and planners come across; Tansy keeps them as files in your own library.
Nothing is locked away afterwards either: every Tansy file stays a file in your own folder, and exports to common formats whether or not you buy. How your files work →
Yes. $29.99 once ($19.99 in the first 30 days after launch), with a 14-day free trial and no file limits.
Yes. Tansy runs on iPad, iPhone, Mac, Windows and Android. Windows and Android are each bought in their own store. There's no web version.
Yes. Export from GoodNotes and import into Tansy.
Yes. Put your library in iCloud Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox or Google Drive. There's no Tansy account and no plan to pay for.
Try Tansy before anyone else and help shape it before it launches on August 12, 2027. The beta is small, so we'll email you if you get a spot. Everyone on the list hears when Tansy launches.