Open Source GoodNotes Alternatives
The best open source alternative to GoodNotes is xournal. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 25 alternatives to GoodNotes and 11 is open source so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source alternatives to GoodNotes are Xournal++, OpenBoard, NoteLab and Quillnote.
GoodNotes alternatives are mainly Note-taking Tools but may also be Todo List Managers or Audio Recorders. Filter by these if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of GoodNotes.
- Free • Open Source
- Windows
- Linux
Xournal is an application for notetaking, sketching, keeping a journal using a stylus. It is free software (GNU GPL) and runs on Linux (recent distributions), Windows and other GTK+/Gnome platforms.
Discontinued
It hasn't been updated since 2017, but there is an active fork
Xournal++
- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Android
- Chrome OS
- Android Tablet
- Self-Hosted
Xournal++ (a fork of Xournal) is a handwriting Notetaking software with PDF annotation support. Written in C++ with plattform independent GTK, supporting Linux, e.g. Ubuntu, Debian, Arch, Suse, macOS and Windows 10. Supports Pen input like Wacom Tablets.
Xournal++ vs GoodNotes opinions
violoncelloIt allows you to store your notes wherever you want and doesn't force you to use whatever cloud synchronisation
Pen works with cursive but not so well with print.
OpenBoard is a cross-platform (Linux / Windows / macOS) interactive whiteboard application. It is currently maintained by the Education Department (DIP) of the Canton of Geneva in Switzerland.
- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
NoteLab brings the power of digital note taking to Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, and Solaris.
- Free • Open Source
- Android
- F-Droid
Take beautiful markdown notes whenever you feel inspired. Place them in notebooks and tag them accordingly. Stay organized by making task lists, set reminders and keep everything in one place by attaching related files.
- Free • Open Source
- Linux
Rnote aims to be a simple but functional note taking application for freehand drawing or annotating pictures or documents. It eventually should be able to import / export various media file formats.
Jarnal is an open-source application for notetaking, sketching, keeping a journal, making a presentation, annotating a document - including pdf - or collaborating using a stylus, mouse or keyboard. It is similar to Microsoft .
- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Android
- Android Tablet
Butterfly is a note app where your ideas come first. You can paint, add texts, and export them easily on every device. This app works on android, windows, linux, and in the web.
Notetaking and blackboard replacement application. Inspired by Xournal. Written in C++/Qt for Linux / Windows / Mac.
Notetaking and blackboard replacement application. Inspired by Xournal. Written in C++/Qt for Linux / Windows. It has the ability to annotate PDF files and has a few other options (e.g. markdown support).
No screenshots yetMrWriter_PDF vs GoodNotes opinions
IanDorfmanThough it is not available on iOS, this application supports handwritten notetaking as well as PDF annotation. This makes it an alternative based on featureset.