What are the best Evernote alternatives?

Question

ProductivityNote Taking

What are the best Evernote alternatives?

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738

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Jan 6, 2024

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Updated

57 Options Considered

Best Evernote alternatives	Price	Platforms	Export
73 Joplin	Free	Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS	Yes
72 Turtl	Free	Windows, Linux, Mac, Android	-
69 Notion	-	Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Web	-
67 Simplenote	Free	Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS	-
-- Boostnote	-	Windows/MacOS/Linux/Android/IOS	Yes - Text (.txt), MarkDown (.md)

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score 52 · Answer 1

Joplin

Top Pro

E2E Encryption

Top Con

No widget support on mobile

Miroslav's Experience

The very best Evernote alternative-it works simillar, but it's open-soruce and doesn't have upload limitations like Evernote. It can also import notes from Evernote! Featured in Privacy Tools. See More

Specs

Platforms:Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS

Export:Yes

Sync:File System, OneDrive, Next Cloud, WebDav, DropBox, JoplinCloud, s3 (Beta)

License:MIT

See All Specs

Top Pro

Open source

Peace of mind that there is no malicious piece of software in the app. See More

Top Con

Writing and Editing in Indic utf8 script is problematic

miss render fonts while writing, but after finished writing a word, it renders nicely. adds extra pseudo spaces, clunky writing. backspace removes unexpected character from unexpected position because of it. See More

TrustingEpione's Experience

Tried them all (free & paid) this is the best open-source alternative to OneNote/Evernote out there. See More

Top Pro

Cross-platform

Supports Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iOS. See More

Max Yakin Bozek's Experience

Good free alternative to Evernote. See More

Top Pro

Offline access

Top Pro

Web Clipper

Browser extension saves full pages, clean content, or screen selections to new notes. See More

Top Pro

Synchronization with various cloud services

The notes can be synchronised with various cloud services including Nextcloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, WebDAV or the file system (for example with a network directory). See More

Top Pro

Supports markdown

Top Pro

Encryption

Top Pro

Supports file attachments

Top Pro

Supports tags for notes

Top Pro

Nextcloud support

Top Pro

Optional CLI interface

Provides a CLI interface for terminal lovers. See More

Top Pro

Timed alarm reminder for to-do lists

Top Pro

Supports multiple languages

English, French and Spanish. See More

Top Pro

Active user forum with support from app creators

Support, troubleshooting, and new feature requests are easy to make at the user forum and you can contact the app creator directly. See More

Top Pro

All notes are in one central SQLite database

Stores all notes in one single file, one SQLite database. so one can query notes in external database software. Backing up is also easy See More

Top Pro

Dropbox support

Can sync using Dropbox. See More

See All

score 20 · Answer 2

Turtl

Top Pro

Multiple Platforms (Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, Firefox, Chrome)

Turtl has applications for all the major operating systems, as well as Android. In addition, there are extensions available for Firefox and Chrome that cooperate with the downloadable applications. See More

Top Con

No iOS app

While many other operating systems have a client, iOS does not have one yet (though it is planned). See More

CourteousTapio's Experience

Best simple note taking app for the security conscious on the go. See More

Specs

Platforms:Windows, Linux, Mac, Android

Top Pro

Open source

The app is licensed under GPLv3 making it open source. This means that anyone can use the code and contribute. This also makes it easy to use on one's own server or for company solutions. See More

Top Con

No image embedding

Instead of image embeddings, there's a sort of poor man's substitute: image + description. If you add an image, you can create a description of any size and with all the formatting features. It can be used instead of image embedding but much more limited: only one image and only at the very top. See More

Top Pro

Good security

After assigning a password to your account in Turtl, a key is created to encrypt the entire account. No data is stored on their servers meaning they have no access to unencrypted content. This is a huge leg up when comparing to other Evernote alternatives. See More

Top Con

Internet dependent

Requires Internet connection to initiate offline mode, loses access to notes without Internet or server. See More

See All

score 62 · Answer 3

Notion

Top Pro

Full-featured on desktop, mobile and web

Even the right-click menus on the web are the same as the app. See More

Top Con

Not very fast using native apps

Can take time if you're switching between lots of pages often as it needs to load the data each time See More

Hussein Horack's Experience

This app is so good it's almost hard to believe. So many features, so many functions. You could survive off only this app if you had to, or wanted to. It's truly amazing! See More

Specs

Platforms:Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Web

Markdown support:Export

Offline access:No

Collaborative:Yes

See All Specs

Top Pro

Unlike anything else

One of the most complete applications one can use to build a personal dashboard (or professional) and migrate all other services to it. No more calendar, task, notes, financials, lists, writing and wiki apps, just Notion. See More

Top Con

Not always very intuitive

Column filters are not that intuitive to apply. See More

Daniel R's Experience

Amazing See More

Top Pro

Pages within pages within pages, to infinity

You can have a ridiculous amount of information within a single note. Look at how it works, you'll be surprised! See More

Top Con

No true backup

True backup can only exist if it's automated and easily recoverable. Else, it's just an outdated copy or useless scrambled data. See More

KindCaerus's Experience

good experience, nice design and amazing easy to get all the things in one page See More

Top Pro

Flexible contents storage and organization

You can upload files and embed online stuff in any hierarchical structure using pages, toggle lists, etc. See More

Top Con

Designed with teams in mind, and less formatting than Evernote

Evernote may be more individual-oriented and has more formatting and such options available, but whether that affects you is down to personal preference. Try both and see which you prefer. See More

PrincipledHarmonia's Experience

Very streamlined experience for notetaking, I used to use Ulysses and Evernote, but after finding notion, I've come to realize how much better this application is over both. I'm a programmer and an ML scientist, I use this for a variety of notes on many different topics. The customizable templates are so freaking cool! I love the emojis and fun covers you can add to pages it really brings to life a lot of your notetaking whether it be technical or personal or whatever! See More

Top Pro

Highly visual, with icons next to every new page and so on

This feature makes it very easy to find certain notes and such. And great for visual people as well. You could also add images as icons instead, if you like. See More

Top Con

Not yet a new protocol, as it could be! (or could it?)

Think of scuttlebutt or email. the best Evernote alternative would be a "web 3.0" of sorts. Something that would be just a simple file added to a computer and automatically replicated to other computers along with a website and any company could easily pick up the concept and make their own hosting, including some awesome google drive/host of sorts. See More

Carlo Samaniego's Experience

I used Evernote, but i could use it in 2 devices only... I discovered Notion, made an account and imported all my notes from Evernote (that was easy af); Now, i have my notes on my Macbook, Desktop PC, iPad and Smartphone... no limits ;) See More

Top Pro

Blocks offer incredible flexibility

The basic unit of organization in Notion is the block, which can be a chunk of text, an image, a bullet point, or even a link to another page. Each page consists of these blocks, which can be easily reorganized, moved to other pages, converted into other content types, or generally manipulated in many useful ways. Because of blocks, restructuring information in Notion is way easier than in any other wiki or notebook app. See More

cregox's Experience

crazy former programmer here: it's fairly good. but it ain't a 90% awesome yet. i don't even use it, after spending some time trying it. google keep is still fairly better. sadly. because i'm growin' to hate google. See More

Top Pro

Does a great job with both notes and to-dos

To-dos in Notion aren't just dot point lists. You can drag and drop them into columns just like Trello (Kanban style), you can have sub-tasks, and you can easily mark things off as completed so they are no longer in your way. Notes are also powerful, with proper formatting and ways to manage and search for them, which makes it a great Evernote alternative. See More

raccooninja's Experience

I mainly wanted to organize personal notes and todos in different format - that's how I discovered Notion. But I also love its collaboration features. For example, getting my wedding organized in with its help :D See More

Top Pro

Cross platform

Works with Android, iOS, Windows, & Mac OSX. See More

Top Pro

Awesome for wikis

You can easily start writing a bunch of web pages, share it with co-workers and choose whether to publicize or keep your contents private. It's also easy to hyperlink pages. See More

Top Pro

Amazing view flexibility

You can create different views for a page's content and easily toggle between kanban, table, etc. (As long as the content is able to allow different views.) See More

Top Pro

Quick and effective search

Just type in a word and you'll have results in no time at all. See More

Top Pro

Attach files in tables

You can attach files in table cells, which is a feature missing in most spreadsheet-like applications. See More

Top Pro

Great spreadsheet functionality

You can use calculation/formula, links, attachment, inter-referencing of data from other pages or tables, embed documents and images in the table cells. See More

Top Pro

Renders Markdown Syntax

Add code blocks, Headers, bullet point, numbered lists, or To-Do boxes by typing using Markdown Syntax (instead of klunkily moving the mouse to formatting boxes) See More

Top Pro

Less headaches when editing pages

Lets you restore your page to a past edit. Also works with sub-pages and databases. Though it is worth mentioning that it's a paid feature. See More

See All

score 39 · Answer 4

Simplenote

Top Pro

Wide range of great clients with great sync

Official native apps are available on popular platforms such as Android, iPhone, iPad, Kindle, OS X, Windows and Linux. Open-source clients extend this support even more widely to various other platforms, such as webOS and the BlackBerry PlayBook. These apps embody the core philosophy of Simplenote: minimalism and focus on the note taking. There are multiple unofficial clients (including the excellent Notational Velocity and NValt, a fork of the app with markdown support and other goodies.) See More

Top Con

Not completely open source

Specs

Platforms:Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS

Collaborative:yes

API:No

Top Pro

Very simple and clean interface

As the name implies, Simplenote takes a minimalist approach to its interface. There are no toolbars full of formatting options or extra features like notebooks to group notes. The entire desktop interface consists solely of a sidebar with your tags and trash filters, the list of existing notes with search, a button to add a new note and a simple view for looking an existing note or writing a new one. See More

Top Con

No support for file attachments

Simplenote doesn't provide support for embedded attachments. This can limit the use for some as many other note-taking apps do support this type of feature. See More

Top Pro

Works offline

Users can edit and create documents offline, can then sync their content the next time they are online. This way a user can work even when there's no data connection without the worry of losing work. See More

Top Con

Save-to-disk feature is poor

The only way to download your data off Simplenote is via a "download zip" feature that unfortunately loses all the semantic structure of your data (tags, for instance). See More

Top Pro

"Time machine" style revision control on the notes

Each edit of a note is saved in order to allow the user to go back to a previous version of a document. This way, if mistakes are made or something is deleted, you can go back to the previous version without any hassle. See More

Top Con

No Markdown support in OS X and mobile apps (except web, Windows, and Linux app)

While Markdown was once supported fully, its now only available when using the web interface, Windows, and Linux app. There is no Markdown support in the OS X and mobile apps. See More

Top Pro

Desktop app is open source

The desktop version of Simplenote is hosted on the GitHub and since it is open source, it can allow developers to fork the code in order to improve the app. See More

Top Con

No 32-bit version

Top Pro

Collaborative features

Notes can be shared with others or worked on collaboratively. See More

Top Pro

Completely free

Top Pro

Can export your data

The program enables exporting of notes as text documents. See More

Top Pro

Linux client available

Top Pro

Geared towards fast usage

Unlike other Evernote alternatives that are laden with features, Simplenote is fast to use and sync. Reviews from the Verge, Lifehacker, and a variety of other sources all describe using the Simplenote apps as very fast. While it may not be as feature-rich as other apps, the responsiveness of the app and simple interface keep it easy to use while never slowing down the user when they need to quickly take a note. See More

Top Pro

Markdown support via web interface

There is support for Markdown when using the web app. This can be convenient for those who want to use Markdown in a particular note. See More

Top Pro

Excellent iOS app

See All

score 58 · Answer 5

Boostnote

Top Pro

Markdown support

Top Con

Some of the features are not consistent

ophouce's Experience

It is very easy to use because functions are gathered together. Evernote of programmers. See More

Specs

Platforms:Windows/MacOS/Linux/Android/IOS

Markdown support:Yes

Export:Yes - Text (.txt), MarkDown (.md)

Offline access:Yes

See All Specs

Top Pro

Cross platform support

Supports Windows, macOS and Linux. See More

Top Con

Must use third-party service for sync-ing (Dropbox, etc.)

Boostnote does not have sync-ing capabilities and relies on third-party services to fulfill notes storage. There are additional steps involved to set this up. See More

Top Pro

Free

Top Pro

Global search, tag feature

Top Pro

Supports code snippets and syntax highlighting

Boostnote has the ability to store code snippets and comes with syntax highlighting out of the box, supporting many languages. See More

Top Pro

Works offline

Boostnote doesn't require an internet connection to work. You can write notes offline and sync later. See More

Top Pro

Open source

https://github.com/BoostIO/Boostnote See More

Top Pro

Comes with many themes

Boostnote comes with many themes out of the box, most of which are popular themes and color schemes for code editors: e.g. 3024, base16, solarized, tomorrow. See More

See All

score 21 · Answer 6

Org-mode

Top Pro

Very flexible

Org-mode is characterized by a flexible and versatile system with adaptability to different workflows, making it comparable as an Evernote alternative. It is at once simple and complex., which helps it to compete as an Evernote alternative. See More

Top Con

Difficult to learn

Org-mode has a difficult learning curve since you have to learn all the keybindings and commands. It's especially difficult if you are not used to Emacs. See More

PerceptiveTethys's Experience

Independent of vendor lock-in. Multi-platform. Easy to re-use data. Easy to incorporate in versioning systems. See More

Top Pro

Built-in agenda

Org-mode has some built-in agenda functionality. You can schedule tasks and assign various degrees of importance to each of them. Org-mode agenda can also be synced with Google Calendar. See More

Top Pro

Versioning can be tracked and synced using Git or other VCS

Org files are plain text, and lend themselves well to version control. Emacs also has good integrations for various VCS. See More

Top Pro

Great sync support

Notes and to-dos can be synced with Trello, Toodledo, Simplenote, Orgmobile, or with tools like Git on Github, Dropbox, Google Drive, and Bitbucket, while WebDAV (with iOS and Android) can also be exported to PDF, mind map, LaTeX, HTML, Docbook, or txt. See More

Top Pro

Basic spreadsheet functionality

Org-mode has some basic spreadsheet functionality. Other than auto-formatting ASCII tables (a notoriously annoying problem), it also has support for LISP-like syntax to define equations or any other functionality that can be achieved through spreadsheets. See More

Top Pro

Out-of-the-box Latex support

Org-mode has out-of-the-box support for Latex: it can immediately parse equations (or other Latex markup) and can even compile notes to PDF or HTML. See More

See All

score 23 · Answer 7

Quip

Top Pro

Offline editing

Quip allows for offline editing of documents which then sync upon connection to Wi-Fi. This way users can continuing working while not connected to a data signal, but they can still back up their work when they do finally get one. See More

Top Con

New version has performance issues

…on my old phone. Yes I know my phone is at fault but the old version wasn't annoyingly slow in the Spreadsheet component. See More

Top Pro

Amazing mobile interface

Unlike other mobile apps, Quip has really innovated the text editor on mobile, making for a good Evernote alternative. It has a great interface for formatting text that stays out of your road so to maximize how much room you have to type. See More

Top Con

Not really free with stringent controls on trial

The trial is content limited which means if you start using it quite a bit they'll pick the perfect moment to swoop in and start charging you. It's better for them because it means they can look at your account and pick the best time to ask you to pay (hey we notice you're using Quip lots and have a new project you just started how about you pay now or you lose everything). See More

Top Pro

Private document sharing

Files can be shared with others via a URL. The owner of the shared document can set it to be in read-only mode or they can allow anyone to edit it. Collaborators don't need to have a Quip account to participate. This feature makes for a great Evernote alternative, for those looking for a different app that has this similar function. See More

Top Con

Limited formatting on spreadsheets

Within spreadsheet cells, you can't do things like, for example, taking part of the text and aligning it to the center or to the left. Furthermore, in the mobile app, you can't jump to the next line to keep writing inside the same cell. See More

Top Pro

Highly compatible

Quip can export documents to several formats, including .DOC, .PDF, .HTML, as well as a couple of others. This allows for compatibility with a wide selection of other apps. See More

Top Con

Can't rename files

You can't really rename documents per se in Quip. What you do is put the first line of the document as its title, so that it is displayed on the main list of documents on the app. The program suggests to combine it with a HL (Large Heading) format. See More

See All

score 18 · Answer 8

Standard Notes

Top Pro

Encrypted

Notes are encrypted and secured so only you can decrypt them. See More

Top Con

Formatting enabled only as extension for money

Specs

Platforms:Windows, Linux, Mac, iOS, Android, Web

Technology:TypeScript, Docker

Top Pro

Extensible

Editors, components, actions, and themes. See More

Top Pro

Open-source

Top Pro

Simple

Faster and lighter than most notes apps. See More

Top Pro

Cross-platform

Available on Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, and Linux. See More

Top Pro

Themes

See All

score 9 · Answer 9

Tomboy

Top Pro

Free and open source

All the components of Tomboy are free, open source, and it allows for self-hosting the sync server. this freedom may appeal as an Evernote alternative, being that Evernote is pretty locked down. See More

Top Con

No longer supported

Tomboy and its clones were brilliant note-taking applications before most of the other offerings were the beginning of an idea in some developer's head. There was cloud support with Ubunto One before they dismantled that offering. The apps offered links between notes, rich text, and an easy-to-work-with xml saving format that made it easy to backup and unlikely you would ever lose your data should program support cease. Unfortunately and inexplicably, support has ceased. Tomdroid never reached feature parity with Tomboy, and neither of the two is being developed anymore. The clone, gnotes, is still available for linux, but without any other platform support or easy cloud syncing it's just not as useful as it was before smart phones killed handheld linux devices. See More

ColorfulOrmenos's Experience

I have used Tomboy extensively -- first on LInux and then on Windows too. It is deceptively simple -- but in fact is a full-blown wiki. And very easy to manage. I used to manage travel and project notes for clients. Everntually for a variety of reasons went to OneNote (which apparently is now EOL and a migration to something new). I would have preferred if Tomboy was still a viable project. The foundation idea is great. If you'd like something that works (especially try the "only-a-note" interface -- and have multiple linked notes open) and isn't stupid - like Keep -- give it a try. See More

Specs

Platforms:Windows; OSX; Linux

Markdown support:No

Tables:No

Top Pro

Can be extended with add-ins

If Tomboy doesn't have the features you want out of the box, you may be able to find them here as a plug in. Being able to add extensive add-ons makes it suitable as an Evernote alternative. See More

Top Con

Cannot save images or screenshots

Top Pro

Intuitive links, organizing and searching abilities

Save under "Notebooks" for easy organizing. Under each title, you can make a hyperlink to any other note by simply typing its name. See More

Top Pro

Can share notes between devices using cloud storage

Top Pro

Can share notes between devices using cloud storage

See All

score 57 · Answer 10

Microsoft OneNote

Top Pro

Comprehensive organization methods

Notes can be arranged in sections and pages within OneNote. This makes it a lot easier to organize one's content in a way that is navigable and readable. See More

Top Con

Requires a Microsoft account

You need to have a Microsoft email to sign up for OneNote (Outlook, Hotmail, or Windows Live). See More

John Smith's Experience

My favourite notes taking app. See More

Specs

Platforms:Windows / OSX / iOS / Android / Web

Export:*.one, *.docx, *.doc, *.pdf, *.xps, *.mht

Offline access:Yes

Collaborative:Yes

See All Specs

Top Pro

Integrates with other Microsoft services

OneNote integrates well with other services including Outlook, Office, and OneDrive. See More

Top Con

The added flexibility means your notes may feel cluttered

Since you can place elements anywhere you'd like on your note, you have to pay attention to how you structure it. For some this added flexibility is a huge selling point, but for others it could become distracting and makes notes feel difficult to digest. See More

IngeniousAlexaires's Experience

Ugh I have the UX of recent Microsoft products because they break their own UX guidelines, are always pushing their cloud service vs their own Explorer file system, and don't have the same level of organization/findability of Evernote. I've tried for a couple of years now to make OneNote work (because I subscribe to Office) but I still rely on Evernote for my style of "injest from anywhere, organize with folders and tags" style of usage. See More

Top Pro

Bulleted list enhances user's view

The collapsible bulleted list in OneNote makes it easy for the user to quickly look at the high level of notes and then drill deep into each point. See More

Top Con

UX makes the app usage difficult

UX is bad on native apps on mobile devices, making it difficult to use this app. See More

Top Pro

Cross-platform

It's available Windows Mobile, Windows Store, Android, a Desktop Version, and a Web app. Apple macOS and iOS are also supported. See More

Top Con

Locks up your data

Can only extract notes into a local file on Windows versions. See More

Top Pro

Supports hierarchical organization of information / notes

OneNote is designed to allow hierarchical organization of information. This is achieved with grouping into the following categories and UI elements (Notebooks, Sections, and Pages). Both Sections and Pages allow additional groupings that can be expanded / collapsed in list view. This can be incredibly helpful for quickly taking notes and organizing them for work or personal projects. For example, you could have a Notebook for "Cooking Recipes", with sections for "breakfast, dinner, desserts", where individual recipes would be page entries (i.e. the "Desserts" section would have pages for brownies, chocolate cheesecake etc). See More

Top Con

Platform dependent

OneNote for Mac for example is very different from OneNote for Windows. Because Microsoft has a vested interest in making sure the Windows version is superior, the Mac version tends to lag behind in terms of functionality. Tutorials and other forms of documentation available online generally apply only to the Windows version, which implies non-Windows versions are undocumented. Even worse, because the documentation rarely, if ever, indicates it only applies to Windows, it's easy to waste hours trying to make non-existent features work. As such, the documentation is "negative documentation" (i.e. worse than no documentation at all). See More

Top Pro

Add notes through email

You can choose what notebook the notes will save to. E-mail notes to your special Onenote e-mail and it will be accessible across all devices. See More

Top Con

Unintuitive copy and paste

When copying and pasting text into other apps, the content is pasted as an image rather than as text. See More

Top Pro

Insert files into your notes

You can add a variety of different files into your notes including images, video, audio, and more. See More

Top Con

Not available for Linux

There is no native Linux client for OneNote available, and it more than likely will never be created. Users can use the web-based client, but a native app would be a better choice for those who use the app frequently. See More

Top Pro

Free on all platforms with free cloud sync

OneNote is available for free as a web app, as well as natively on iOS, Android, OS X, and Windows. It allows for syncing across as many devices as the user would need. See More

Top Con

No secondary searching

Top Pro

Notes can be structured in text boxes

OneNote allows you to arrange text freely on digital paper, mimicking the way it would be done with a real pen on real paper. See More

Top Con

No tags

This is huge disadvantage because tags allow advanced searching and organizing notes. See More

Top Pro

Browser plugins allow easy saving of web pages

The ability to quickly file away web clippings is a key part of note taking. See More

Top Con

Limited storage

Every user receives 5 GB of cloud storage through OneDrive (it used to be 15 GB). This can be limiting, especially if OneDrive is being used to store other files as well. Add a few videos inside a note and it will be easy to max out this storage quickly. More storage of course can be purchased, but may be too costly for some. See More

Top Pro

Import and link calendar events and tasks in Outlook

This is great for taking meeting minutes. You can import all the meeting details, including a checklist of attendees and a link back to the original event in your Outlook calendar. You can tag all the actions coming out of a meeting and you can create linked tasks from them in Outlook. Much quicker and more effective than writing meeting minutes the traditional way. See More

Top Con

Some feature require external apps

Sort Pages, find and replace, etc need external apps called onestatics. See More

Top Pro

Stylus and digitizer pen support

OneNote can be used on all touch screen devices via stylus or digitizer pen. This makes for an intuitive and easy way to take notes by hand, which can often be faster or just preferred over typing. See More

Top Con

Search function is lacking advanced features

e.g. Searching for "friend" will find "friendship" and "friendly" (because "friend" is at the beginning of the word); using this query will not find words such as "girlfriend" or "boyfriend." See More

Top Pro

Great formatting tools

Top Con

You cannot use local OneNote files with the version of OneNote that is included with Windows

There is a difference between the OneNote that is included with Windows 10 and the OneNote that comes with Microsoft Office. The version included with Windows cannot use local OneNote files and requires you to be online to access your notes. See here for this and other differences. See More

Top Pro

Real-time collaboration

Multiple users can edit a note simultaneously and in real time within OneNote. See More

Top Con

Uninspired, bland user interface

Many of OneNote's competitors use Material Design and bold colors to create a minimal, clean looking interface. OneNote has a bit more of an outdated look and can feel over crowded at times. See More

Top Pro

OCR features for iPad save space and permit speedy searches

OneNote for iPad has support for handwriting with a stylus, as well as optical character recognition. OCR enables you to search for and extract text from images or handwriting in your notes. This is particularly helpful when capturing an image of a whiteboard or other text from your environment. See More

Top Con

Text editing is weird (poor UX)

When clicking in the middle of a note, it adds something like a text-box positioned in the middle. If you move that field to the bottom right, it gets weirder. You can end-up with an empty note, having an empty text-box 1km to the bottom-right of it. See More

Top Pro

Allows attaching videos and files to items

Microsoft OneNote allows users to embed videos and files into notes so that they can directly refer to the attached files without having to find the file in the cloud. See More

Top Con

Not open-source

This application is proprietary, and thus cannot be modified or freely distributed. See More

Top Pro

Text can be added anywhere like a whiteboard

OneNote allows you to arrange text freely on the digital paper mimicking the way it would be done with a real pen on real paper. See More

Top Con

No way to create an automatic "Table of Contents"

However, it is possible to do this with macro or extensions like NoteGem. See More

Top Pro

Powerful table editor

Adding and resizing rows and columns is easy and flexible within OneNote. This makes for a straight-forward way to adjust a note as it grows in content size. See More

Top Con

Sync isn't stable

Many users have reported synchronization issues in OneNote. While not everyone will experience this, it can be difficult to troubleshoot, with some fixes resorting to editing registry keys in Windows when using the Windows client. See More

Top Pro

Mouse-free table saves time

The mouse-free table and wiki-style hyperlink creation in OneNote make usage speedier and save the user time from having to move away from the keyboard to click the mouse. See More

Top Con

No good way to print (paper, PDF, or any other neutral file format)

OneNote pages are semi-infinite (like Excel) and great for taking notes in the application. However, there is no Page Break view (unlike Excel), or any other good way to export your note to someone not using OneNote (ie. teachers, colleagues, supervisors, etc). Neutral file formats exist for a very good reason, and OneNote does not have a professional way to do this (because it comes out as an uncontrollable garbled mess). See More

Top Pro

Strong search features let you quickly find what you're looking for

If you don't want to search through all of your notes, you can narrow it down by specifying the page, section, group, or notebook. You're not limited to just searching through your text either. You can search for text in images, video recordings, and audio (this is off by default). See More

Top Con

Lacks notifications

The OneNote app can be used to create a to-do list, but it doesn't feature notifications (except when they are edited by someone else) or due dates. See More

Top Pro

Offers flexible encryption

Unlike most other apps, you can selectively password protect and fully encrypt individual documents or entire folders. This is especially important to many people with data stored in the cloud. As of early this year, even the free version supports encryption. Microsoft has also enhanced their internal security methods for storing data on OneDrive (where OneNote performs sync), which makes it more secure than most of their competitors (including Evernote). See More

Top Con

No way to generate a list of actions or flagged items from the notes

If you are keeping notes from various parts of your day in OneNote and keep writing lists of things that you need to do (e.g. grocery list, homework assignments, books or movies to check out, and errands to run), these are scattered across different pages. Even if these are tagged with different tags, there is no way to filter all the actions (in one notebook section or entire notebook or across notebooks) that have a certain tag. See More

Top Pro

Table is sortable

Top Con

Drawings tend to disappear randomly

Your drawings may disappear shortly after being created, for no good reason. See More

Top Pro

Sharing and collaboration via OneDrive

You can keep all of your notes on Microsoft's cloud storage service, OneDrive (formerly known as SkyDrive), and collaborate on them with other people. See More

Top Con

Cannot create to-do lists offline

Microsoft OneNote cannot create to-do lists when user does not have internet connection: the user can only view the offline to-do list. See More

Top Pro

Easy to transfer notes to OneNote

OneNote offers quick and easy transfer software which allows the user to import from other services. See More

Top Con

Cannot be modified or freely distributed

This application is proprietary, and thus cannot be modified or freely distributed. See More

Top Pro

Lots of options for customizing fonts

You can fully customize your default font (the color, type of font, and font size). You can override this styles with the same options (and more) in individual notes. See More

Top Pro

Great sharing and collaboration features

You can share your notes by inviting people with an e-mail, or by giving them a direct URL. You have control over what kind of access the user has on your note (read only, edit) and can revoke it at any time. OneNote will alert you when a chance in made on your shared note. See More

Top Pro

On Android, you can tap a badge to start a note

The badge on Android hovers over on your screen similar to Facebook Messenger's Chat Heads. You can tap it and instantly start jotting down your thoughts without having to flip to the app first. See More

Top Pro

Large variety of themes available

You have quite a few options for themes available with illustrated backgrounds. If you want something a bit more simple while still having personality, there are also several color themes. See More

See All

score 22 · Answer 11

WorkFlowy

Top Pro

Facilitates deep nesting

Workflowy's interface makes it easy to keep expanding on topics, no matter where or how deep in the hierarchy they are. And still, when you want to make a branch of a new top-level list, simply click on it. See More

Top Con

Pasted URLs are kept as-is

When you have to link to a website for instance, you can't attach the URL of the site to a word. Instead, you have to post the full URL. You can't have, for example, [Slant](http://slant.co) showing up as Slant: you instead have to post http://slant.co. It's especially annoying if you have a long URL that takes up a lot of space in the document. See More

Max Yakin Bozek's Experience

The most minimal and versatile software of them all. See More

Specs

Platforms:Web, Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, iOS

Top Pro

Outline-style hierarchy with zoom

Any sublist can be viewed as a top-level list. This sounds simple but makes WorkFlowy extremely powerful. For example, the same line item "write my book" can simultaneously be a to-do in my task list and the container for my entire working document. See More

Top Con

No product enhancements or improvements for 2+ years

Top Pro

Supports tags

Enables users to search by tags. See More

Top Con

Poor formatting functionality

WorkFlowy does not let you format text in terms of color, font size, etc. It does support bold, italic and underlined text however. See More

Top Pro

Quickly focuses on a specific topic

WorkFlowy enables users to focus on specific topic areas, which is referred to as "hoisting" within the software. See More

Top Con

Doesn't support images

Top Pro

Deep nesting

Workflowy's 'everything is in a tree' interface makes it easy to keep expanding on topics, no matter where, or how deep in the hierarchy they are. See More

Top Con

Mostly online

WorkFlowy web interface (on desktop) is mostly available online, while there is a Chrome app that allows for offline access and edition. See More

Top Pro

Cross-platform web and mobile

WorkFlowy can be accessed from either a browser or their apps, which include a Chrome app for desktops as well as an iOS and Android app. This makes it easy to access ones notes no matter the platform or device being used. See More

Top Con

Only supports one big text file

Although with Workflowy's focus feature this can work, you might prefer managing separate text files. See More

Top Pro

Quickly focus on a specific topic

Enables users to focus on specific topic area, which is referred to as "hoisting" within Workflowy. See More

Top Con

Offline desktop app requires Chrome

The offline desktop requires installing Google Chrome first before the WorkFlowy app can be installed. This is not good news for non-Chrome users, especially those who frequently use Firefox or Safari as their default browsers. The Chrome app also suffers memory leak and battery issues. See More

Top Pro

Easy to overview and organize notes

All notes are part of a list, which makes it easy to organize everything. Nested lists allow for organizing notes into hierarchical categories of infinite depth. All lists can also be folded. Furthermore, WorkFlowy has tags and instant full-text search, which allows it to be a good Evernote alternative. See More

Top Con

Doesn't work well in mobile browsers

The functionality of the mobile version of the site is a bit limited. While new features have been added such as the ability to move lines of text, even that is limited on Android to only being functional on Chrome. See More

Top Pro

Minimalistic interface

The interface of WorkFlowy has no clutter. It allows the user focus on thoughts to be noted down. This keeps things simple and easy to understand, which can help to keep everything organized in an intuitive manner, making for a good Evernote alternative. See More

Top Pro

Tasks can be added and manipulated quickly

WorkFlowy lets the user enter several tasks very quickly. This is especially useful for meeting minutes or a "brain dump" when you have to type fast. After typing in all your thoughts, it's very easy to then organize and sort multiple groups at once. See More

Top Pro

Text formatting

You can have bold, italic, and underlined text. See More

Top Pro

Super fast sync between devices

While adding a to-do list on the web, it syncs with the user's iPhone and iPad apps very quickly. This way you can jump between devices without experiencing delays due to content that is not yet up-to-date. See More

Top Pro

Cross-platform web and mobile allows for easy note access

WorkFlowy can be accessed from either a browser or their apps, which include a Chrome app for desktops as well as an iOS and Android app. This makes it easy to access one's notes no matter the platform or device being used. See More

Top Pro

Import and export via OPML

OPML (Outline Processor Markup Language) is commonly used for text exchange. With two-way support for OPML, you are never locked into Workflowy. Importing/exporting via copy/paste of entire outlines is a snap. See More

Top Pro

Daily digest email

WorkFlowy can send you an email with that day's activity which is a great way to track progress. See More

Top Pro

Strong community

There are number of talented coders who help customize WorkFlowy with extensions and styles. It has an active blog and welcomes collaboration, which makes it a strong contender for an Evernote alternative. See More

See All

score 25 · Answer 12

Dynalist

Top Pro

Dynalist is what WorkFlowy promised to become, and much more

Anyone seriously considering WorkFlowy should take Dynalist for a test drive first. I used WF for a year and switched to Dynalist, and don't regret it for a moment. Workflowy was languishing in development hell, but the Dynalist team has a roadmap, is constantly making progress on it, and have been extremely helpful and courteous to me. And Dynalist's folders and documents approach is better than Workflowy's one-document approach. It allows you to better focus your searches and tags, and has many other advantages. See More

Top Con

Subscription-based application

A $100/year subscription is way too expensive for the present features. See More

Specs

Platforms:All major platforms (Web/Windows/Mac/Linux/iOS/Android)

Top Pro

Bullet hierarchy with zoom

Able to zoom in in bullet points, collapse bullets, move bulleted information, etc. See More

Top Con

It is not an Evernote alternative

It is a WorkFlowy alternative. See More

Top Pro

Granular control over notes

You can organize notes manually in a granular and detailed way. See More

Top Pro

Fast and easy to use thanks to the simple interface and keyboard shortcuts

Adding, editing, and rearranging tasks is lightning fast. See More

Top Pro

Search and link to other notes

Top Pro

Ability to create documents and organize by folder, and search by title

Top Pro

In constant development

Has a fast development cycle despite there is only 2 main developers and some part-time ones working on the program. They even have an open trello board here of what features they are implementing. See More

Top Pro

Unlimited notes

Which is perfect for personal knowledgebase. See More

Top Pro

Inline images

Top Pro

Free options are sufficient

Top Pro

Numbered lists

Top Pro

Checkboxes

Top Pro

Inline code

Can insert inline code within your lists. Handy for developers who need that functionality in their note taker/list maker. See More

See All

score 5 · Answer 13

MindMup

Top Con

Node capacity is limited

MindMup is good for mapping out thoughts that could be summarized in bullet points, but longer notes aren't as practical for this service. See More

Top Pro

No need for additional installations

MindMup is browser-based, meaning there's no need to install anything. Simply open the website and you are set to go. This makes the web app accessible from just about any device that has a browser. See More

Specs

Platforms:Web

Top Con

Unconventional note-taking style

MindMup is a mind-mapping application, not a traditional text-based note storage platform. While you can easily store notes in the app, the design is not going to focus on many text editing and note-taking features, which may make it a poor Evernote alternative. See More

Top Pro

Easy sharing and presenting

After taking notes, it only takes seconds to share and/or prepare them for presentations. Sharing can be done with specific people or anyone/everyone, while exporting for presentations is simply done by exporting to the preferred format. See More

Top Pro

Compatible with Google Drive and Github

For those who do not want to pay for the cloud storage offered by MindMup in their gold package, they can sync and backup their documents to their personal Google Drive or Github account. See More

Top Pro

Free and open source

MindMup is free with source code available on GitHub. This means that anyone can contribute and use the source code for their own projects. See More

Top Pro

Frictionless, intuitive interface

The design of MindMup allows for focusing on thoughts in order to productively capture them without getting in the way. A simple interface that is intuitive and minimal. See More

See All

score 5 · Answer 14

TiddlyWiki

Top Pro

Web browser support makes it highly flexible

TiddlyWiki is just a HTML document so you can use it in any web browser on any platform. This is great for those who use multiple devices and OS's. See More

Top Con

Does not save user's history

The only document this uses is a single HTML file, so in order to create sections there is a function called Tiddlers. These Tiddlers do not save any history of edits, deletions, or new content, which means if something is accidentally changed, there is no going back. See More

Specs

Platforms:Windows, Linux, Mac, iOS, Android

Top Pro

Extremely customizable

This is a major aim and point with TiddlyWiki: people can relatively easily modify it to fit their particular application needs, unlike Evernote, making it a good alternative. See More

Top Con

May be too basic

There are no mobile or desktop apps available: TiddlyWiki only works with the user's browser. It can function offline as it is a local file, but this then limits cloud sync options because there is no built-in sync. As such, users will need to store the document in one of their cloud storage solutions on their own. See More

Top Pro

Mature, stable design

Mature software with an active community from all over the world. As it has been around for so long, the design and function of TiddlyWiki is stable and well thought-out. See More

Top Pro

Free and open source

TiddlyWiki has no commercial interests, no ads, no registration, no nonsense. You own your notes 100%, something Evernote does not offer, making it a good alternative. See More

See All

score 4 · Answer 15

Zim

Top Con

No mobile app support

This is a desktop app and there are no mobile versions available. This can make it more difficult to use on-the-go if using cloud storage to store files from the app, as there is no mobile app version to access those files. See More

Top Pro

Allows for organized, wiki-style navigation

Notes can contain links to other notes, allowing you to reference important information when needed. This way the user can connect and reference many different pages in the app, keeping things clean and structured, unlike Evernote, which makes this a good Evernote alternative. See More

Specs

Platforms:Windows, Linux, Mac

Markdown support:Export

License:GPL

Technology:Python

Top Con

No native sync support

Zim notes don't automatically synchronize with other devices or offer built-in cloud sync support. Of course the user can add the files to Dropbox, or something similar, to then open them on another device with the app installed. But this is more of a work-around than a built-in solution. See More

Top Pro

Plain text data format rather than proprietary

If/when the app is no longer developed (or if the user simply decides to no longer use the application or view/edit it on a non-supported platform), this can still be done with any plain-text editor. See More

Top Con

Looks ancient

Zim has a very plain and outdated interface. See More

Top Pro

Automatically manages files and folders

Zim will automatically create a folder structure that fits your page hierarchy and adds/removes files such as images to/from appropriate folders. See More

Top Pro

Good export options

Zim supports HTML, LaTeX, Pandoc Markdown, and RST. This allows ones documents to be easily used in a wide selection of other apps. See More

Top Pro

Support for multiple platforms

Windows, Linux, and BSD are supported with their own clients. This is nice for those that use multiple operating systems but still want to use the same app on each. See More

See All

score 10 · Answer 16

Bear

Top Pro

Flawless sync

It's everything Dropbox Paper promised to be, but without the embarrassment. The notes are always in sync between devices. See More

Top Con

No collaboration features

Specs

Platforms:iOS, OSX

Top Pro

Beautiful interface

Well-designed app. See More

Top Con

Annoying markdown display

You can't hide the (non-standard) markdown which gets in the way of the otherwise nice typography. Would be better with a proper edit-mode/preview-mode. See More

Top Pro

Hashtag support

Adding Hashtag with a keyword tags the note to make it easy to search. See More

Top Con

No inline editing and markup of pictures

The only option is to open in an editor (thereby creating a copy) and saving it again. See More

Top Pro

Easy to use

Top Con

Importing from Evernote causing massive tag pain

Bear tries to guess the meta tags you’ve used in Evernote, which it does, but adds many hundreds more. Only way around this is via SQLite on the notes database post import to clean up. See More

Top Pro

Easy tagging

For example: #tag/sub tag/foo/bar #tag2/foo/bar See More

Top Con

Not cross-platform

Top Pro

Lots of export formats

PDF, RTF, DOCX, HTML, TXT and MD. See More

Top Pro

Simple to back up/export entire note database

Notes are exported as plain text, not a proprietary format, along with all embedded objects. See More

Top Pro

Instant markdown preview in the editor while preserving original MD code

Top Pro

Free

See All

score 6 · Answer 17

Gingko

Top Pro

Easy to overview

Despite the complexity of the tree structure, it's always clear where you are in Gingko, and how to quickly add your thoughts. See More

Top Con

Subscription based software

It's a typical saas product with artificial scarcity in the free version. I would prefer to just buy it ones and own it. The subscription model does not add any user benefits. Even though the concept is original, very intuitive and user-friendly it's a fairly simple application I'm not willing to pay on an ongoing basis just to be able to use it and I don't want my brilliant ;-) ideas and concepts in the cloud on somebody else's server. See More

Specs

Platforms:Web

Preview:Live Preview

Top Pro

Allows for focusing on one piece of information at a time

Since Gingko documents are "trees", they are always organized on-the-go. And since everything is written in cards, it is possible to focus on one chunk of content at a time. See More

Top Pro

Allows focusing on one piece of information at a time

Since Gingko documents are "trees", they are always organized on the go. And since everything is written in cards, it is possible to focus on one chunk of content at a time. See More

Top Pro

Non-linear

Non-linear notetaking allows you more flexibility, freedom and creativity. See More

Top Pro

Markdown support

All formatting in Gingko is done via Markdown. Markdown is a quick and easy way to style text, and means that the user need not take their hands off the keyboard nor learn several complicated codes and shortcuts. This allows the markdown feature to be comparable as an Evernote alternative. See More

See All

score 5 · Answer 18

Mobisle Notes

Top Pro

Intuitive checklists

The most common use for a notepad app is as a quick checklist. Mobisle Notes allows the user to switch to checklist mode with a button press, so it's possible to easily mark things as done, rather than having to delete all the text. See More

Top Con

Major limitations for free users

Free users are not able to share their notes via direct URL, they cannot sync notes over devices, and they have to deal with ads at the bottom of every note. See More

CooperativeErato's Experience

simple checklist, no ads whatsoever See More

Specs

Platforms:iOS; Android

Top Pro

Clean, user-friendly, stylish interface

Mobisle Notes as an Evernote alternative does not overwhelm the user with options like due-dates and prioritization like other apps do. It doesn't clutter the screen with buttons that are never used. The basic interface is just a plain and simple notepad. Android lacks a default notepad app. Of all the basic notepad apps on Android, Mobisle Notes is the most beautiful, and the perfect fill-in for anyone looking for something similar to the iPhone's default notepad app. See More

Top Con

Separated pricing structure

For those who do not want to pay the $9.99 yearly fee for note-sharing and web sync, there is a separate $1.99 fee to remove ads from the app. If using an iOS app and an Android app, this $1.99 fee to remove ads will need to be purchased on both, separately. See More

See All

score 8 · Answer 19

Apple Notes

Top Pro

Rich-text editing

Allows for simple text formatting and making TODO lists with checkboxes. See More

Top Con

No web access without iCloud

iCloud is a banned website on some employer networks. Without iCloud access, there is no access to Notes. See More

AwareKui's Experience

Hadn't even opened Apple Notes in many years when I investigated it, having grown frustrated by Evernote. To my surprise I found it to be surprisingly feature-rich and just about the only big feature it was lacking was a web clipper. It syncs perfectly across all of our devices, note and folder sharing is a breeze, you can format rich text and embed attachments, it integrates flawlessly with Calendar and Reminders and you can import directly from iPhone. The fact that it's completely free is huge bonus. See More

Top Pro

Sync with other Apple devices via iCloud, other cloud/email services

It syncs with iCloud, and surprisingly, also with Gmail and possibly other services too. See More

Top Con

Cannot export to a format that can be imported again

This makes it impossible to backup your notes as files that could be managed by your backup system, you can only use things like iCloud and Google or export to PDF which would not be able to be re-imported in the case of storage failure. See More

Max Yakin Bozek's Experience

Excellent note-taking app for working on the Mac/iCloud environment. See More

Top Pro

It's fast, and syncing is very dependable

The app launches quickly on both Mac and iOS, it also syncs quickly (in seconds) and very dependably across different Apple devices. See More

Top Pro

Built-in

It's a default system app, making it easy to find and use since it is already installed. See More

Top Pro

No subscription fees

Unlike Evernote, Apple Notes has no subscriptions therefore, you can save money. See More

Top Pro

Attachments

You can add files to notes and then filter notes by attachment types. See More

Top Pro

Supports sharing

Top Pro

It remains simple to use with a gentle learning curve

Despite the significant new updates in iOS 9 and iOS 10, you can start using Notes immediately, then try/master new features with ease — definitely a gentle learning curve. See More

Top Pro

Import photo, document or sketch directly from iPhone

Use this all the time to add receipts and other useful documents to Notes. See More

Top Pro

Mac OS native

Excellent note-taking app for working on the Mac/iCloud environment. See More

See All

score 44 · Answer 20

Google Keep

Top Pro

Fast to use

The focus on a minimal interface makes everything in Google Keep fast to use on both web and mobile, which gives it a leg up as a simple Evernote alternative. This comes in handy for when a note needs to be jotted down quickly as there is little to no load times or faffing about trying to get to a space where the note can finally be recorded. See More

Top Con

No text formatting

There is no basic formatting (like bold, italics, etc.) in Google Keep. This makes it harder to compile items like meeting notes. Keep is intended as a minimal and quick note-taking app, but sadly for those who are looking for something more robust, the features are just not there. See More

To Euston's Experience

It's already preinstalled and links up well with the rest of the GSuite package. Can't go wrong. See More

Specs

Platforms:Android / iOS / Chrome / Web / Desktop

API:No

Top Pro

Unlimited and seamless sync across all Google connected devices, from mobile to desktop

When a mobile device isn't in use, Google Keep can be accessed as a Chrome app or as a website. Basically, regardless of the device being used or of the OS on it, there is always a way to access the app. There is also no limitation on how many devices this can be done with, giving the user complete freedom of access, which is on par and competes as an Evernote alternative. See More

Top Con

Offline notes on desktop require Google Chrome

Accessing offline notes through a desktop app requires installing Google Chrome first before the Google Keep app can be installed. The app is not really a desktop app, but a Chrome app: there is no native desktop app available for any OS. This is not good news for non-Chrome users, especially those who frequently use Firefox or Safari as their default browsers. See More

cregox's Experience

crazy former programmer here: it's truly awesome! it should be 95% awesome. it's probably down to 79% instead of the contender, notion, at 91%, because of what i'd like to call the ignorance of reality. and people. because i'm too growin' to hate google, but what makes notion's company any better? it's probably not privacy concerns, which fills up most of the negative points i could read here on keep, and could certainly apply to notion. perhaps even worse. now, to my dismay, the knowledge of the crowd could teach me something. perhaps notion is a better company for this precisely because it's smaller and, so, much less corrupted by power. still, that doesn't make notion any technically better, in fact. even to this day there's nothing even closely adversary to gmail. and gmail is 98% awesome. the only reason it's not 99% (because nothing is ever 100% in reality) is the lack of true backup. i mean, even moving from google inbox to gmail was a pain precisely because of this issue. the ONE issue the internet was BUILT to resolve, funny enough. still, it can be used as 99% if we just avoid relying on any gmail exclusive shit. use it as email. that's exactly how much technically better keep is, comparing to everything else, except... the extra 3% negative points goes to an arbitrary pointing system i just invented (to signalise it's much better than notion) extra aspect of lacking true backup: there's just no simple way to do it, unlike gmail and emails in general. since it isn't based in any open protocol, i guarantee it will be an extra nightmare to recover any data if it's ever taken down or lost and if it'll even be possible to recover anything at all! yes, it's that terrible backup wise. it's still better than notion. and it's still that much better than anything else i've tried so far. i use it as my only note taking tool... for insignificant things. for significant ones, take a guess? spoilers below. email. and cheers! (which is a life concept of "don't worry. nothing is safe. be free" or something). See More

Top Pro

Clean, minimal interface

Instead of having every possible feature, Google Keep is designed to be very simple and minimalist. It's really easy to quickly create notes and search for old notes, while notes can also be color-coded which only enhances further the app's organization capacity. See More

Top Con

Google can access and mine your data

You have to be okay with Google analyzing and using your data in order to use Keep. See More

Top Pro

Finished tasks are archived

Any finished task is archived in Google Keep and can be searched for at a later date. See More

Top Con

no true backup

true backup can only exist if it's automated and easily recoverable. else, it's just an outdated copy or useless scrambled data. See More

Top Pro

Works as a great bookmarking tool

Keep has a great feature that allows saving visited sites as a special note type with a link and a preview image. See More

Top Con

No API

There is no API to access, create, or manage your notes from your own software, you have to use the Google Apps. It's not possible to use Google Keep from more apps besides those Google provides. See More

Top Pro

Notes can be grouped via labels

In addition to color-coding, notes can be labelled, navigated, and grouped. This accommodates good organization, making it easy for the user to find items at a later date. See More

Top Con

Not distributed

Cannot run on own servers as Keep will only run on Google's own servers. This increases the risks which are normally associated with handing over critical applications to a large (US) corporation. See More

Top Pro

Allows photo and audio attachments

Notes in Google Keep can include multimedia attachments, in addition to text. See More

Top Con

Can be taken down some day

As Google is notorious for taking down services, you may end up with just a backup of your notes in XML format and a need to look for a substitute. See More

Top Pro

Includes character recognition within images

Google Keep lets users take pictures of physical notes and make their contents searchable within the app. This is not only convenient but a huge time saver, particularly for those who do not want to type out the necessary info, but rather take a quick snapshot of it. See More

Top Con

User must have a Google account

The user is required to have a Google account in order to use this app. See More

Top Pro

Both location- and time-based reminders

You can set reminders that bring certain notes to your attention when you arrive at a specified location or when it’s a specified time or date. Unfortunately, you can only do one or the other for each note. See More

Top Con

Does not integrate with Google Calendar or Tasks

Google Keep does not integrate with Google Calendar or other Google Apps (with the exception of "Google Now"). See More

Top Pro

Supports drawing or writing notes by hand

Newer version of Google Keep now supports drawing on either a blank page, existing notes or in an image attached to the note. See More

Top Con

no true backup

Top Pro

Can share and collaboratively edit any item

Keep facilitates sharing any item (including lists) with other contacts. Items can then be edited collaboratively at the same time. This way a team can work together in real time, regardless of their location. See More

Top Con

Not free/libre

This application is proprietary, and thus cannot be modified or freely distributed. See More

Top Pro

Flexible drag and drop sorting

In Google Keep, you can move cards manually, which is great for prioritizing to-dos. Within a card, you can also drag and drop items. See More

Top Con

Organization is limited to multiple tags for notes

This makes the user interface more cluttered, and navigation gets more difficult. See More

Top Pro

Useful home screen widget for Android

The Keep widget lets users quickly see existing notes and add new ones. See More

Top Con

Chrome app is buggy

The Chrome app for Google Keep suffers from memory leaks and battery drain issues. For such a simple text-based app, the amount of RAM used (due to being sandboxed inside of the Chrome browser, which is often a memory hog) is often too high and can easily impact devices with low memory. Using Chrome as the base for the app will also make for battery drain issues that are too high for a note-taking app. See More

Top Pro

Includes character recognition for text in images

Google Keep lets users take pictures of physical notes and makes the contents searchable within the app. This can be a convenient time saver for those that do not want to type out the necessary info, but rather take a quick snapshot of it. See More

Top Con

No notifications when tasks are added to shared lists

Although the ability to collaborate on lists is advanced, Keep will not inform you when another person adds an item to a list you share. See More

Top Pro

Notes can include photo and audio attachments

Notes can include multimedia attachments in addition to text. See More

Top Pro

Useful Android home screen widget

The Keep widget lets users quickly see existing notes and add new ones. See More

Top Pro

Allows color-coding

Top Pro

Can share and collaboratively edit any item including lists

Keep allows sharing any item with other contacts and editing them together at the same time. This way a team can work together in real time, no matter their location. See More

Top Pro

Super fast to use

The focus on a minimal interface makes everything fast to use on both web and mobile. This comes in handy for when a note needs to be jotted down quickly, as there is little to no load times or faffing about trying to get to a space where the note can finally be recorded. See More

Top Pro

Cross platform

This app can be used seamlessly across all platforms including Android, iOS, and desktop computer platforms. See More

Top Pro

Great integration with Google Drive

Everything you add to Google Keep is also added to Google Drive and synced across the web and all your devices. See More

Top Pro

Automatic saving

Automatically saves new changes so that nothing is lost. See More

Top Pro

Easy to use

1-step to take a note on Android: tap 'take a note'. Web version: cursor is on the note itself. See More

Top Pro

Fast Chrome extension

The Chrome extension makes it super easy to save things directly to Keep. See More

Top Pro

Really well implemented speech-to-text

Google has a lot of experience with speech-to-text functionality and they did a fantastic job with Keep. This means you can easily record spoken notes which can then be changed to a text-based note. See More

See All

57 Options Considered

My Recommendation for Joplin

My Recommendation for Joplin

E2E Encryption

No widget support on mobile

Open source

Writing and Editing in Indic utf8 script is problematic

Cross-platform

Offline access

Web Clipper

Synchronization with various cloud services

Supports markdown

Encryption

Supports file attachments

Supports tags for notes

Nextcloud support

Optional CLI interface

Timed alarm reminder for to-do lists

Supports multiple languages

Active user forum with support from app creators

All notes are in one central SQLite database

Dropbox support

My Recommendation for Turtl

My Recommendation for Turtl

Multiple Platforms (Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, Firefox, Chrome)

No iOS app

Open source

No image embedding

Good security

Internet dependent

My Recommendation for Notion

My Recommendation for Notion

Full-featured on desktop, mobile and web

Not very fast using native apps

Unlike anything else

Not always very intuitive

Pages within pages within pages, to infinity

No true backup

Flexible contents storage and organization

Designed with teams in mind, and less formatting than Evernote

Highly visual, with icons next to every new page and so on

Not yet a new protocol, as it could be! (or could it?)

Blocks offer incredible flexibility

Does a great job with both notes and to-dos

Cross platform

Awesome for wikis

Amazing view flexibility

Quick and effective search

Attach files in tables

Great spreadsheet functionality

Renders Markdown Syntax

Less headaches when editing pages

My Recommendation for Simplenote

My Recommendation for Simplenote

Wide range of great clients with great sync

Not completely open source

Very simple and clean interface

No support for file attachments

Works offline

Save-to-disk feature is poor

"Time machine" style revision control on the notes

No Markdown support in OS X and mobile apps (except web, Windows, and Linux app)

Desktop app is open source

No 32-bit version

Collaborative features

Completely free

Can export your data

Linux client available

Geared towards fast usage

Markdown support via web interface

Excellent iOS app

My Recommendation for Boostnote

My Recommendation for Boostnote

Markdown support

Some of the features are not consistent

Cross platform support

Must use third-party service for sync-ing (Dropbox, etc.)

Free

Global search, tag feature

Supports code snippets and syntax highlighting