2021 Digital Planners for GoodNotes: 11 of Our Picks!
(If you’re looking for a new digital planner for 2022, see our updated list here!)
Looking for the perfect digital planner to use in GoodNotes?
We’ve got you! We took the liberty of researching and testing various digital planners and have selected 11 recommendations to share.
But first, let’s go over some quick pointers so we’re all on the same page:
How to Use Custom Digital Planners in GoodNotes: Quick Tips
- To import your digital planner, you can either import it from your Files app from GoodNotes, or if you’re downloading a file from Dropbox or Safari, simply tap “Open in GoodNotes” from the share menu.
- How to click embedded PDF links in GoodNotes: Go to Read-Only Mode, which will take away the blue toolbar, as shown below. Now the links in your planners will be clickable!
- Use the bookmark option to save your favorite pages. Some planners have upwards of 500 pages, which can be a lot to flip through. We’d recommend taking advantage of the bookmark option in GoodNotes, to mark your favorite or most frequented pages for easy access.
Now, without further ado, here are our picks for 2021 digital planners to use in GoodNotes, grouped into the basics, planners for enthusiasts, and niche planners.
Basic 2021 Digital Planners
1. A-hong Paper log — 2021 Diary
This is the free 2021 planner created by A-hong Paper log, who regularly shares free digital planning templates and stickers for GoodNotes on YouTube.
This one is geared towards those brimming with creativity and want to personalize their planners with stickers, doodles, and images to be distinctly their own.
Includes:
- A combination of colorful monthly spreads
- Undated weekly planners on black and white paper
- Bullet journal-like spreads to record books and movies
Recommended for:
- Creating photo logs for each day, or monthly overviews which you can easily refer back to in the future
- Someone who wants a highly customizable planner that’ll help them record weeks and months in their life, but doesn’t need a daily schedule
2. Pink Petiole – Undated Minimalist Weekly Planner
True to its name, these weekly plans from Pink Petiole come with minimal distractions, pointers, and prompts, and no excess of pages to get lost in.
Includes:
- Weekly spreads in five different colors
Recommended for:
- People mainly looking for well-designed paper templates to use when planning their weeks
- Minimalist planners, who don’t need any bells and whistles with their planners
(If you like the look and feel of these weekly plans, but are looking for a full 2021 daily planner with trackers, links, and custom pages, Pink Petiole also offers that here.)
3. DigiSparkles – HoboWeekly Planner
This 2021 digital planner features a Japanese-inspired design on a two-page spread, reminiscent of an open notebook. It’s a simple and distraction-free planner designed for monthly and weekly planning, and leaves a lot of room for creativity.
Includes:
- Linked monthly and weekly spreads
- Important dates of the year at a glance
- Optional undated daily planning pages which you can insert whenever needed
Recommended for:
- Those who prefer to plan at a weekly and monthly scale, instead of on a daily scale.
- People who want a straightforward planner to get the job done without the need for extras such as goal setting or pre-made lifestyle trackers
Advanced 2021 Planners for Enthusiasts
4. Million Dollar Habit — the Inspire Planner
At its core, the Inspire Planner from Million Dollar Habit is a straightforward weekly planner that’ll give you the space to plan each week in 2021. However, it also includes a variety of bonus templates for you to copy and insert at will, for example, weekly check-ins, monthly goals, and milestone trackers, so you can really make it your own.
Includes:
- Linked monthly and weekly planning pages
- Undated pages to insert as you like, such as monthly goals and weekly check-ins
- Bonus wellness templates such as meal planners, reading lists, and savings trackers
- Stickers
Recommended for:
- People who prefer to plan on a weekly basis, but also want bullet journal-like extras like budget trackers, reading lists, and habit trackers
5. The Dash Planner
This is another packed planner with a clean and sophisticated design that’s going to allow you to plan each hour of every day to a perfect T. Overflowing with internal links and bonus pages, this planner is thoughtfully designed to support your affinity for organization in all aspects of your life.
Includes:
- Linked monthly, weekly, and daily spreads which include sections to list out
- 6 pages of pre-cropped stickers
- Bonus pages like quarterly overviews, event plans, grocery lists, and expense trackers too
Recommended for:
- Very avid planners and organized individuals, who want to be able to use their planner for everything, from daily schedules and to-dos to event planning
- People who prefer a daily planner with numerous sections to cover all your bases
6. PaperNRoses — 2021 Neutral Stars Planner
Designed to look like an old school planner or address book, this 2021 planner is unapologetically pink, playful, and brimming with positivity.
It encourages you to track things you’re grateful for every day, and at the end of every week as well.
What’s more, while this planner includes hundreds of pages of content, it’s relatively straightforward (it doesn’t have too many extra pages to flip through) and because of the eye-catching tabs on the side, it’s easy to navigate to the page you want.
Includes:
- Daily spreads that prompt you to record items of gratitude, and wins of the day
- Weekly plans and weekly reflections
- Linked monthly overviews that include important events and trackers, finances, and reflections for each month
- Goal planning pages
Recommended for:
- People who could use something bright and cheerful to open up every day
- This could be a great gift for nieces and nephews
7. My Daily Planners – 2021 Planner
With a clean and straightforward design, the 2021 planner from My Daily Planners is favorite because it has everything you’ll need to plan your days and weeks and is very easy-to-use.
While they have a variety of planning pages and bonus templates, everything is labelled clearly in the index and easy to find. Along with colour coded tabs on the side, you’ll always know where you are in the planner.
Includes:
- Linked monthly, weekly, and daily planners
- Monthly habit and budget trackers
- Extra templates like birthday trackers and meal planning templates
Recommended for:
- Someone who wants a straightforward planner to plan the schedule and tasks of each day and get the job done without too many bells and whistles.
8. Template Stack — 2021 Digital Planner for GoodNotes
This planner is a team favorite, featuring an effective, aesthetic, and well-thought out design.
For example, each daily plan has the space for tasks and notes. If you don’t get through the tasks you’d planned, you can follow a conveniently placed link to the “Someday” backlog task tracker. A simple menu on the bottom of the planner streamlines navigation throughout the many pages, making it easy to jump to what you’re looking for.
Includes:
- Daily pages with a daily schedule, task list, and focus, as well as linked weekly, and monthly planning pages
- “Backlog cards” that allow you to list out tasks you’ll need to reprioritize in the future
- A selection of different covers
- Stickers
Recommended for:
- People who are looking for a straightforward but robust daily planner that’s going to help them plan through the days, without
- If you find yourself reprioritizing a lot of tasks, the unique backlog template could be well suited for you
Niche 2021 Digital Planners
9. The Sweet Setup Focus Planner
The Sweet Setup’s Focus Planner for 2021 is one of the most methodical goal-focussed planners we’ve come across. This is more than a planner to simply organize your daily tasks or schedules: it’ll help you focus on the vision you want for yourself this year, and prompt you to break that down into quarterly, monthly, and weekly goals.
Includes:
- Linked daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly pages
- Goal setting sections, and regular retrospectives at the end of every week and month
- Habit trackers for each month
- “Life assessments” every 4 months to help you track your progress against your yearly vision
Recommended for:
- If you’re someone who sets a bunch of goals at the beginning of the year, but then forgets about them as life gets in the way, this planner will prompt you to keep them top of mind
- Working professionals who thrive on using OKR frameworks and sprint planning to organize their work will find this planner very in-line with their way of thinking
10. Laurel Studio — 2021 Academic Planner
The Laurel Studio Academic Digital Planner is a specialized daily planner that in addition to daily spreads, includes custom templates to fit even the most meticulous straight-A student.
Includes:
- Linked monthly, weekly, and daily spreads
- An overview schedule page which links to individual assignment trackers for each class
- Essay planners, reading summaries, semester overviews, study session planners
- Goal setting and reflection pages
- Lifestyle spreads, like mood trackers, workout trackers, and budget planners as well
- Stickers
Recommended for:
- Students who want to plan every part of their academic year together with daily life in GoodNotes, from assignments, readings, class schedules, to meals, and well-being as well
(Laurel Studio also makes specialized planners for teachers and business owners too.)
11. Perfect + Paperless — Memory Planner
This simple but charming 2021 digital planner is created to be something you can look fondly back on, to remember weeks in your life through the photos that defined those moments. Each page has a dedicated blank space for you to insert photos, framed in polaroids.
Includes:
- Linked monthly and weekly planners
- Monthly recaps to reflect on what happened that month
Recommended for:
- Those who’d like more guidance during their planning, and appreciate prompts to record memorable moments or thankful thoughts
- People who prefer a simple but visual planner for weekly planning
Bonus: Your Recommendations
Trangsadventures – 2021 Digital Planner
Many of you recommended Trang’s digital planner to us, and we’re happy to share! This is another free 2021 digital planner for GoodNotes.
Includes:
- Linked monthly and weekly planning spreads
- Monthly habit trackers and finance trackers
iPad Planner — 2021 Day Planner
This is another very popular digital planner geared towards the working professional that we’ve seen GoodNotes users using left right and centre.
Includes:
- Linked daily, weekly, and monthly spreads
- Daily sections that include space for meeting logs
- Blank pages to jot down thoughts
Recommended for:
- No-fuss working professionals who want an easier way to juggle daily projects, tasks and appointments
Tell us your digital planning picks!
To the hundreds of talented creators making digital planning templates for GoodNotes, a huge cheers to you. We know we weren’t able to cover everything, so if you make or use an amazing digital planner, tweet us @goodnotes.app or tag us on Instagram with your picks!
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