Digital Planner for GoodNotes: Free Templates & How to Create Your Own

GoodNotes has become the default app for digital planning on iPad. Whether you downloaded a free planner PDF, bought one from Etsy, or built your own — chances are you’re using it in GoodNotes with an Apple Pencil.

But finding the right digital planner for GoodNotes can be overwhelming. There are thousands of free and paid options, and the quality varies wildly. Some look beautiful but have broken hyperlinks. Others work perfectly but look like they were designed in 2019. And if you want to create your own digital planner for GoodNotes — either for personal use or to sell — the process of building hyperlinked pages, dated calendars, and navigation tabs is notoriously time-consuming.

This guide covers both sides: where to find great free digital planner templates for GoodNotes, and how to create your own custom planner that’s optimized for the GoodNotes experience. We’ll also show you how to skip the manual work entirely with a tool built specifically for this.

For a broader look at planner creation tools, see our 8 Best Planner Maker Tools comparison.

What Makes a Good Digital Planner for GoodNotes?

Not all digital planners work well in GoodNotes. The best ones share a few key traits.

Hyperlinked navigation. Tabs on the side or top that let you jump instantly between months, weeks, days, and sections. Without hyperlinks, you’re scrolling through hundreds of pages manually — which defeats the purpose of going digital.

Correct page sizing. GoodNotes works best with landscape layouts sized for iPad (a 4:3 ratio like 10 × 7.5 inches is ideal for full-screen use). Portrait planners work too, but landscape planners feel more natural on a tablet and give you more writing space.

Functional layouts, not just pretty pages. A planner that looks stunning but has tiny writing areas or no structure for actual planning isn’t useful. The best GoodNotes planners balance aesthetics with function — enough room to write, clear sections for schedule, tasks, and notes.

Dated calendars that are actually correct. It sounds basic, but many free planner templates have wrong dates, wrong starting days, or are from previous years. A 2026 digital planner for GoodNotes should have all 12 months with correct dates for 2026.

Tab visibility and consistency. Tabs should appear in the same position on every page so you always know where to tap. Inconsistent tab placement breaks the navigation experience.

GoodNotes-compatible export. The planner must be a PDF with embedded hyperlinks. Some tools export PDFs where links don’t survive — particularly Google Slides and some Canva exports. Always test links in GoodNotes before committing to a planner.

Free Digital Planner Templates for GoodNotes

If you just want a planner to use (not create), here are the best places to find free digital planner templates for GoodNotes in 2026.

GoodNotes Marketplace. GoodNotes has a built-in marketplace with free and paid planners. The quality is generally high since templates are curated. You can import them directly into the app without downloading a separate file. The selection is more limited than Etsy, but everything is guaranteed to work properly with GoodNotes.

Etsy. Thousands of free and paid digital planners designed for GoodNotes. Search “digital planner GoodNotes 2026” to find dated options. Free planners on Etsy are often sample versions of larger paid products — they’ll include a month or two plus a few template pages, with the full version available for purchase. Prices for complete GoodNotes planners typically range from $5 to $30.

Creator websites. Sites like World of Printables, HappyDownloads, and Noty Studio offer free digital planners with 100+ hyperlinked pages, dated calendars, and themed designs. These are often the most complete free options available — some rival paid planners in terms of page count and features.

Planify Pro templates. Planify Pro offers 3,000+ planner-specific templates that you can customize and export as GoodNotes-ready PDFs with automatic hyperlinks. You can explore and build for free — export requires a subscription. More on this below.

How to Import a Digital Planner into GoodNotes

If you’ve downloaded a planner PDF, importing it into GoodNotes is straightforward.

Download the PDF file to your iPad (save it to the Files app). Open GoodNotes and tap the + button on the Documents tab. Choose Import and select your PDF from Files. The planner opens as a new notebook in GoodNotes.

To test that hyperlinks work: switch to Read Only mode (tap the pen icon to deselect all tools) and tap a navigation tab. If it jumps to the correct page, the links are working. If nothing happens, the PDF may not have properly embedded hyperlinks — a common issue with planners exported from Google Slides or Canva.

Why Create Your Own Digital Planner for GoodNotes?

Using a pre-made planner is great for personal planning. But there are strong reasons to create your own.

Sell on Etsy. Digital planners are one of the most popular digital product categories on Etsy. GoodNotes planners specifically dominate the market because of the iPad’s popularity. A well-designed planner with good hyperlinks and dated content can generate passive income for years — especially if you update it yearly. Read our guide to starting a planner business on Etsy for more.

Perfect customization. Pre-made planners are always a compromise — you’ll love the layout but dislike the colors, or want a habit tracker page that doesn’t exist. Building your own means every page, every widget, every color is exactly what you want.

Stand out as a creator. The GoodNotes planner market is competitive. Creators with unique designs, niche-specific layouts (ADHD planners, teacher planners, fitness planners), and premium features like calendar integration command higher prices and better reviews.

The Hard Way: Building a GoodNotes Planner Manually

Most tutorials teach this workflow: design pages in Canva, import them into Google Slides or PowerPoint as background images, add hyperlink tabs manually on every slide, export as PDF, import into GoodNotes, and test all links.

This works, but the hyperlinking step is a nightmare. A 50-page planner with 15 tabs requires 750+ manual hyperlinks. A full-year dated planner requires thousands. Creators routinely spend 8–15 hours on linking alone — more time than they spend designing.

For a detailed walkthrough of this process (including shortcuts), see our tutorials on making planners in Google Slides or PowerPoint. Or read about what’s free and what’s missing in Canva planner templates.

The Fast Way: Create a GoodNotes Planner with Planify Pro

Planify Pro was built specifically for creating digital planners — and everything it produces is optimized for GoodNotes and Notability.

Here’s what’s different from the manual workflow.

Drag-and-drop planner widgets. Instead of drawing rectangles and lines in Canva, you drop in pre-built widgets — calendars, daily schedules, habit trackers, to-do lists, notes grids, water trackers, mood logs. Each widget is functional and customizable. This alone cuts design time from hours to minutes.

Automatic calendar generation. Select a year and month, choose Sunday or Monday start, pick from 30+ languages — dates populate instantly. No more typing 365 dates by hand across 12 calendar grids.

One-click automatic hyperlinking. This is the feature that eliminates the biggest pain point. Planify Pro auto-generates every hyperlink across your entire planner — every tab on every page, linked to the correct destination. But it goes further: it also links dates on monthly calendars directly to daily pages, links week numbers to weekly spreads, and can embed Google Calendar and Apple Calendar shortcuts so your customers can add events to their phone calendar with one tap.

The process that takes 8–15 hours manually happens in seconds.

Global style controls. Change your accent color, font, or widget style across every page with one click. In Canva, changing a color means updating shapes on every slide individually.

4,000+ stickers and patterns built into the editor. No need to source graphics from Creative Market or Creative Fabrica.

GoodNotes-optimized PDF export. The exported PDF has tested, reliable hyperlinks specifically built for GoodNotes and Notability — not the “hopefully they survive” export from Google Slides.

Step by Step: Create a Digital Planner for GoodNotes in Planify Pro

Here’s the quick version of the workflow. For the full detailed walkthrough, see our step-by-step beginner guide.

1. Sign up free at planifypro.com. No credit card required.

2. Choose a template or start blank. Browse 3,000+ planner-specific templates organized by type — daily, weekly, monthly, habit, budget, fitness, student, and more. Or start from scratch with a blank canvas.

3. Set your page size. For GoodNotes on iPad, a landscape 4:3 ratio works best. Planify Pro also supports A4, A5, US Letter, and custom sizes.

4. Add widgets and pages. Drop in calendar widgets, schedule blocks, to-do lists, and other planner elements. Duplicate pages for multiple months or weeks. Use the “Run Dates” feature to auto-create 365 daily pages with correct dates.

5. Customize the design. Apply colors, fonts, patterns, and stickers. Use the global style controls to keep everything consistent.

6. Export as digital planner PDF. Choose “Digital Planner” export, select GoodNotes single-page or double-page spread format. Planify Pro syncs all hyperlinks automatically before export.

7. Import into GoodNotes. Transfer the PDF to your iPad and import into GoodNotes. All tabs, calendar links, and navigation work immediately.

Free vs. Paid: What Do You Actually Need?

Planify Pro’s free plan lets you explore every feature, use all 3,000+ templates, add widgets, customize designs, and build your complete planner. PDF export is the only paid feature.

Personal Plan ($9.99/month): Export unlimited planners for personal use. Ideal if you’re creating planners for yourself.

Business Plan ($19.99/month): Includes commercial license to sell your planners on Etsy, Amazon KDP, your own website, or anywhere else. Unlimited exports and sales.

Annual plans are available at 25% off. See pricing for full details.

If you’re just creating a personal planner and don’t want to pay, the free templates from GoodNotes Marketplace or creator websites listed above are excellent options.

Tips for Selling Digital Planners for GoodNotes on Etsy

If you’re creating GoodNotes planners to sell, a few things matter more than design.

Hyperlinks must work perfectly. Broken navigation is the #1 reason for negative reviews on Etsy planner listings. Always test every link in GoodNotes before listing. With Planify Pro’s auto-linking, this is less of a concern since links are generated programmatically — but always verify.

Include both Sunday and Monday start versions. International buyers expect Monday start. US buyers expect Sunday. Offering both versions doubles your appeal.

Dated planners sell better than undated (but require yearly updates). A dated 2026 planner sells from October 2025 through mid-2026 — roughly 8 months of peak sales. Use Planify Pro’s date auto-generation to create and update yearly without redesigning.

Niche planners command premium prices. Generic “2026 Digital Planner” competes with thousands of listings. “2026 ADHD Digital Planner for GoodNotes” or “2026 Teacher Digital Planner with Grade Tracker” faces much less competition and can sell for $15–$30. Browse 50+ planner template ideas for niche inspiration.

Include clear import instructions. Many GoodNotes planner buyers are new to digital planning. A simple PDF instruction sheet explaining how to import and use hyperlinks significantly reduces support requests and improves reviews.

The Bottom Line

Whether you want to use a digital planner for GoodNotes or create one to sell, 2026 is the best time to get started. Free templates are more polished than ever. The tools for creating custom planners have eliminated the manual linking nightmare. And the market for GoodNotes planners on Etsy continues to grow.

If you’re looking for a planner to use — start with the GoodNotes Marketplace or the free templates from sites listed above.

If you’re looking to create and sell — Planify Pro gives you everything you need to build professional, fully-hyperlinked GoodNotes planners in a fraction of the time it takes with any other workflow.

For more planner creation guides, explore our tutorials on Google Slides, PowerPoint, and Canva planner templates. Or read the complete guide to making digital planners with hyperlinks.