There are a lot of handwriting apps for iPad.
Freeform, GoodNotes, Notability…

With so many options, it's easy to get lost.
Every app has its own strengths and ideal uses, so the best way to choose is to start from what you actually want to do.

This article focuses on handwritten journaling — writing out what's in your head to sort through it — and covers how to choose an app, along with recommendations.

Features you'll want for handwritten journaling

First, here are the features worth having if you journal by hand on an iPad.

1. An infinite canvas

Handwriting apps come in two types: notebook-style and infinite-canvas.

Notebook-style apps work like a paper notebook — easy to organize by page, but you can't write beyond the page. Your writing space is always limited.

Infinite-canvas apps, on the other hand, give you space that extends endlessly in every direction. You can keep writing with no constraints at all.

A limit on space is a limit on thinking.
For journaling — where the whole point is pouring out and expanding what's in your head — infinite-canvas apps are by far the better fit.
Once you've written without boundaries, it's hard to imagine going back.
An infinite canvas is the one feature I'd call non-negotiable.

2. Export

What do you do with the journal pages you've built up day after day?
Are they just sitting there, untouched?

If so, that's a huge waste.

Export your pages as PDFs and run them through OCR (text recognition), and your journaling history becomes an asset you can actually use.

Even better: convert past entries into a text file (Markdown, for example) and hand them to an AI. It can surface things you'd never notice on your own — patterns in your thinking, swings in your mood.

If you want journaling to be more than a one-time ritual — something that feeds your self-understanding and your output later — export is essential.

3. A timer

Ever get so absorbed in journaling that you look up and way too much time has passed?

That's where a timer helps. Decide on a time before you start writing, and you won't overrun it.
And if you struggle to make journaling a habit, deciding "just five minutes" makes it much easier to start — and to keep going.

An external timer works too, so this isn't strictly required. But when the timer lives in the same app you write in, nothing pulls your attention away.

Recommended iPad apps for handwritten journaling

The right app depends on what you value. Here are recommendations along three axes: price, features, and focus.

If price matters most: Freeform and Journal

If you want free, Apple's own Freeform and Journal win.

Freeform

It comes preinstalled on iPad, so anyone can start right away, for free. It has an infinite canvas, and boards can be exported as PDFs.

That said, it isn't built for any particular purpose — it simply lets you write anywhere — so it falls short of paid apps on features.
There's no timer, and honestly, the pen feel isn't great (that's subjective, of course, so try it yourself — it's free).

Journal

With iPadOS 26, Apple's Journal app came to iPad, with Apple Pencil handwriting support.
It's a diary-style app where you add entries by date, though — not a canvas for spreading your thoughts out. The writing space only extends vertically.
If you want to mix typed text with handwriting, or you like keeping records organized by date, Journal is worth considering.

If features matter most: GoodNotes

For sheer functionality, it's GoodNotes. It has been the go-to note-taking app for years, and it keeps gaining and refining features with every update — it's hard to find an app that beats it on functionality.

It started as a page-based notebook app, but an update added a Whiteboard document type, which gives you an infinite canvas too. There's even a built-in stopwatch/timer feature called Time Keeper.

There are three pricing options (as of this writing — check the App Store for the latest):

If you want one app for everything — journaling, class notes, PDF markup, work memos — you can't go wrong with GoodNotes.

If focus matters most: BarePaper

GoodNotes is genuinely powerful and convenient. But all those features can get in the way — you find yourself fiddling with the app instead of writing.

You want to focus on journaling. You want nothing tugging at your attention — just you, writing.
That's exactly what BarePaper was built for.

Open it, and there's almost nothing but paper — a UI stripped to the bare minimum.
The tools are a simple pen, a marker, an eraser, and a lasso. No pressure sensitivity, no complexity — on purpose.
There's no "which pen should I use?", no "how should I make this look?". It's a place designed for one thing: getting what's in your head onto the page.

And it still covers everything this article says journaling needs:

It doesn't have GoodNotes-level breadth, so it's not for someone who wants one app for every use. But if you want a place to write, think, and face yourself, I think it will click.

The download is free, and one full canvas is yours to use. No description can convey how writing actually feels — so write one page for free and see if it fits you.

Summary

Freeform Journal GoodNotes BarePaper
Infinite canvas ◯ △ ◯ ◯
Export ◯ △ ◯ ◯ (Pro)
Timer × × ◯ ◯
Price Free Free Free version / from $11.99 USD per year / $35.99 USD one-time Free version / $17.99 USD one-time (Pro)
Best for Starting free Date-based records One app for everything Focusing on writing

Whatever you choose, I hope you find the app that fits your purpose — and a journaling practice you enjoy.

Curious about BarePaper? It's a free download on the App Store.

Download on the App Store
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