10 Best Note-Taking Apps for iPad of 2026

Goodnotes is the closest thing to a single answer for iPad note-taking because it covers both sides of the typed versus handwritten choice. Notebooks are built for Apple Pencil, with handwriting that stays searchable, shape recognition, a lasso, a ruler and layers on iPad. When you would rather type, Text Documents give you a keyboard-first page in the same library, and the whiteboard adds an infinite canvas for diagrams. On iPad and iPhone, audio recordings sync to what you wrote, so tapping a line replays that part of a lecture or meeting. The catch is the free tier: 3 files and 20 minutes of audio is a trial, not a plan. Essential at $11.99 per year removes both limits, and the App Store also lists a one-time Goodnotes 6 purchase at $28.99. Pro, at $35.99 per year, adds real-time collaboration and sync across devices, and full AI needs AI Pass at $9.99 per month.

Notability has long been the lecture app of choice on iPad, and its documentation still centers on that job. Audio recordings are synced to the exact moment you write, so tapping a word in your notes jumps the recording to that point. You can mix handwriting, typed text, images, diagrams and PDFs on the same page, and view two notes side by side, which helps when you compare a reading with your own summary. The plan ladder is clear on the pricing page: Starter is free with 5 notes, Lite is $11.99 per year on the current 20% discount (regularly $14.99) with unlimited notes, Plus adds limited AI transcription and quizzes for $15.99 per year, and Pro removes the AI limits for $79.99 per year. The App Store notes that a Classic one-time purchase is back. Typing is serviceable, but Notability is still a handwriting app first, and heavy typists will find Notion or Obsidian more structured.

Apple Notes is the default answer for iPad owners who do not want another subscription. It handles typed notes well, with headings, checklists, tables, collapsible sections and highlighting, and it lets you sketch with Apple Pencil inside any note or on an inline PDF. Search reaches into your handwriting and into scanned documents and photos, so a receipt or a whiteboard photo becomes findable text. You can record and transcribe audio directly into a note, open a Quick Note by swiping up from the corner with Apple Pencil, and organize with folders, tags and rule-based Smart Folders. Collaboration covers shared folders, mentions and an Activity view. The limits show when handwriting is the main job: there are no notebook-style pages, layers or large template libraries, and the app stays inside the Apple ecosystem. For typed notes and casual sketching, though, it does the job at no cost.

Noteshelf is the iPad note app for people whose notebooks double as planners and journals. It ships with more than 200 templates for planners, diaries and trackers, plus covers, stickers and fancy headers to dress up pages. The core writing tools match the leaders: lifelike pens and highlighters, handwriting search and conversion to text in 65 languages, audio recording while you write, and import of PDFs, Word documents and PowerPoint files for markup. Organization includes folders, subfolders, tags, bookmarks and linked notebooks, and notes can be locked with Face ID. Backups go automatically to Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox or WebDAV. The free tier allows 3 notebooks. Premium unlocks unlimited notebooks, all templates, handwriting recognition and 100 monthly AI credits, and the US App Store lists a Lifetime Premium at $14.99 alongside several yearly options, which makes the price you see depend on the current offer.

CollaNote is the value pick for handwriting on iPad. It offers more than 25 pens and brushes with a stabilizer for smoother lines, imports PDFs, PowerPoint, Word files and images for markup, and has an in-built scanner. Study tools go further than most rivals at this price: flashcards with audio and images, planners for deadlines, a translation tool covering over 90 languages, and audio recording synced inside notes. Real-time collaboration supports unlimited participants, and the AI features include a calculator, shape drawing and document chat. Notes back up to iCloud and sync across Apple devices. The main draw is price: Lifetime Premium is $13.90 on the US App Store, with no subscription. The limits are the platform, since there is no Windows or Android version, and a fairly recent system requirement of iPadOS 18.6.

OneNote is the strongest free option for iPad owners who already live in Microsoft 365. Pages are freeform, so you can type a heading, ink a diagram with Apple Pencil underneath, and drop an image beside it. Voice dictation covers 27 languages with auto-punctuation, and the built-in scanner extracts text from documents and pictures. Notes are organized into notebooks, sections and pages with to-do tags and custom labels, and they sync across your devices when you sign in with a Microsoft account. The newer Copilot Notebooks add AI chat, summaries of meetings and classes, and audio overviews built from your notes. For paid extras, the US App Store lists Microsoft 365 Personal at $9.99 per month. The trade-offs are a freeform canvas that some people find untidy and a recent system requirement of iPadOS 26.0, which rules out older iPads.

MyScript Notes, the app formerly called Nebo, is the best bridge between handwriting and typing on iPad. Its recognition engine reads handwriting in 66 languages and converts it, along with math, into typed text, while hand-drawn diagrams become clean shapes that stay editable in PowerPoint. You can write, type or dictate in the same sentence, and the document mode reflows handwriting when you rotate the iPad or split the screen. Boards offer an infinite canvas for brainstorming, notebooks hold fixed pages, and imported PDFs can be annotated. Editing relies on pen gestures, such as scratching out a word to delete it, which is fast once learned but less obvious than a toolbar. Pricing is the weak spot for this list: the vendor page shows monthly, yearly and lifetime plans without USD prices, so we mark the price as pending. A 7-day trial unlocks everything before the app drops to a limited free version.

Craft is for iPad owners who type and want notes that look like finished documents. Pages support Markdown and keyboard shortcuts, which pairs well with a Magic Keyboard, and documents can be shared by link or published to the web. Craft has built-in tasks with target dates, due dates and reminders, Daily Notes with a calendar view, and an AI Assistant that searches and answers questions about your own content. Everything works offline and syncs when you reconnect. The free plan is usable but capped at 1,500 blocks, 1 GB of storage and 25 MB uploads, with 7 days of version history. Plus removes those caps and is listed on the US App Store at $9.99 per month or $95.99 per year, which is more than most apps here. Craft is typed-first: the App Store description focuses on writing and tasks rather than Apple Pencil handwriting.

Notion is the pick for iPad owners who type their notes and want them to live inside a larger system. Every page is built from blocks, with more than 50 content types, and pages can sit inside databases that track classes, projects or reading lists with your own status labels. AI Meeting Notes transcribe and summarize discussions, and Notion AI can answer questions about your workspace. The free plan covers individuals with unlimited notes and docs, which is generous for personal use. On iPad, the trade-off is clear: the App Store description covers typing, templates and databases but lists no Apple Pencil handwriting canvas, so this is not a replacement for Goodnotes. Paid plans bought through the App Store are listed at $11.99 per month or $119.99 per year for Plus, and $23.99 per month for Business. Notion also takes longer to set up than an app that opens straight to a blank page.

Obsidian suits iPad owners who type and care about owning their files. Notes are plain text Markdown files in a folder on your device, so they stay readable in any editor and no account is needed. The iOS app brings the desktop feature set to iPad, including tabs, the command palette, the graph view of linked notes, themes and community plugins, plus sidebar pinning for tablets and iCloud vaults. The core app is free with no limits. Obsidian Sync costs $4 per user per month billed annually, or $5 monthly, and adds end-to-end encryption and version history; students and nonprofit staff get 40% off. The App Store listing for iOS does not describe handwriting tools, so Apple Pencil users will want a separate app for drawing. Obsidian also asks more of the user than Apple Notes: links, folders and plugins are powerful but you set them up yourself.