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ProductivityFreeCross PlatformTagDocumentationTodoJournalDiaryHandwritten notes

What is the best cross-platform note-taking app?

101
Options 
Considered
2.3K
User 
Recs.
Sep 18, 2023
Last 
Updated
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The Best 1 of 85 OptionsWhy?

Best cross-platform note-taking appPricePlatformsExport
93
Org-mode
---
89
Joplin
FOSSWindows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOSYes
88
Standard Notes
FreeWindows, Linux, Mac, iOS, Android, Web-
87
Simplenote
FreeWindows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS-
86
Turtl
-Windows, Linux, Mac, Android-
See Full List
93
Excellent

Org-mode

My Recommendation for Org-mode

My Recommendation for Org-mode

All
17
Experiences
2
Pros
13
Cons
2
thermoplastics
Stuart Kearney
Top Pro
•••

Very flexible

It is characterized by a flexible and versatile system with adaptability to different workflows, simple and complex. See More
Pokolovsky Monk (破)
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
OptimisticTakemikazuchi
OptimisticTakemikazuchi's Experience
Org-mode is more than just a tool. It’s a way of life, a philosophy. It helps you organize your thoughts and tasks in plain text. You can write notes with collapsible headings and lists, code, author documents and more. You can export your work to different formats or publish it online with a single command. You can track your time, agenda and goals. Org-mode is amazing and life changing It’s not just a mode, it’s a miracle. See More
Simona
Alex
xji
Top Pro
•••

The ultimate note-taking app for programmers/STEM people

Nothing beats it when it comes to taking notes as a programmer. It supports native code highlighting/evaluation, inline LaTeX symbols, Vim keybinding, intuitive hierarchy and folding, instant LaTeX export… and so, so, so many more. Evernote and Onenote etc. can do absolutely nothing when it comes to these aspects. There is even an article describing an experience switching over from Evernote/OneNote at here. See More
HelpfulAdikia
Top Con
•••

Locked in to Emacs

See More
SuccinctHothr
SuccinctHothr's Experience
Org-mode is a life changing product. Based on the Emacs text editor it´s most important advantage is its flexibility. See More
tekgruv
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
Stuart Kearney
Top Pro
•••

Great sync support

Notes and todos can be synced with Trello, Toodledo, Simplenote, Orgmobile or tools like Git on Github, Dropbox, Google Drive, Bitbucket and Webdav with iOS and Android also can be exported to PDF, mind map, LaTeX, HTML, Docbook or txt. See More
tekgruv
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
Pokolovsky Monk (破)
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
Pokolovsky Monk (破)
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
Alex
Matthias Margush
Top Pro
•••

Notes in Org-mode can be shared as PDF, OpenDocument, RTF

See More
Alex
Matthias Margush
Top Pro
•••

Org-mode documents can be published online as HTML, wiki, markdown, asciidoc documents

See More
Alex
Matthias Margush
Top Pro
•••

Notes in Org-mode can be exported to slide presentations in formats including Powerpoint, Revealjs, Slideous

See More
OptimisticTakemikazuchi
Top Pro
•••

Interlinked notes

Use great linking systems like Org-roam, denote, org-brain, Deft, zettledeft, and many more. See More
OptimisticTakemikazuchi
Top Pro
•••

Multiple Android options

You can use at least Orgzly, Logseq, Orgro, Metanote, or Emacs via Termux. See More
WhiteLilac
schlaumeier
Top Pro
•••

iOS support with BeOrg

The free BeOrg app allows to edit org-mode files on iOS. It supports: Calendar todos notes See More
HideSee All

84 Other Options Considered

89

Joplin

My Recommendation for Joplin

My Recommendation for Joplin

Add Video or Image
All
31
Experiences
4
Pros
17
Cons
9
Specs
x.
Top Pro
•••

Open source

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

Old school interface

See More
Malcolm Merlyn
Malcolm Merlyn's Experience
Personally I find the application too bloated it is not compatible with Google drive so that's the reason I've kept Evernote so far See More
Specs
Platforms:Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS
Export:Yes
License:MIT
Sync:File System, OneDrive, Next Cloud, WebDav, DropBox, JoplinCloud, s3 (Beta)
See All Specs
x.
Top Pro
•••

Cross-platform

Supports Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iOS. See More
Monika
EfficientSumugan
Top Con
•••

Does not have a Web client

You can't access notes on Web-client. See More
PopularSalacia
PopularSalacia's Experience
It works great, easy to use. See More
x.
Top Pro
•••

Supports markdown

See More
OptimisticThemis
Top Con
•••

Gargantuan memory footprint

1GB+ of memory for taking notes. See More
VigorousZaden
VigorousZaden's Experience
Have used OneNote before. It's good but proprietary, hence I came to (FOSS) Joplin. But it is great at features too. Markdown editor is quite useful, I use it alot to add complex maths equation/expressions. Use the 'Nord' theme, look quite good. Love e2ee and the cherry on the top, I can select my own cloud sync provider(which also includes my own server)! Though android app is not as powerful: No export/import from it and the biggest annoyance, cant just directly tick the entries in a to-do list, you HAVE to open the editor, go between the square brackets, hit delete/backspace and then add a 'x' to accomplish a simple task. See More
x.
Top Pro
•••

Offline access

See More
Monika
Malcolm Merlyn
Top Con
•••

Google Drive not included in synch options

It is not possible to sync notes with Google drive. See More
JovialHuixtocihuatl
JovialHuixtocihuatl's Experience
active support and development team See More
Jeremie Lesage
Top Pro
•••

Encryption

See More
OptimisticThemis
Top Con
•••

Bloated

This project is suffering from feature creep and uses a lot of memory for a note-taking app. See More
Jeremie Lesage
Top Pro
•••

Nextcloud support

See More
OptimisticThemis
Top Con
•••

App Image launches very slowly

On Linux, you can only install via App Image, which take 5+ seconds to launch. I can launch LibreOffice in under two seconds. See More
x.
Top Pro
•••

Supports tags for notes

See More
PerceptiveCitBolonTum
Top Con
•••

Sync issue under Linux

The Linux client has a bug that requires the user to click the mouse frequently in order for sync to proceed. This bug has been open for a while. See More
x.
Top Pro
•••

Web Clipper

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

Can't create tags from the mobile app

See More
teadan
hb20007
Top Pro
•••

Dark theme

Latest version provides dark theme. See More
Simona
teadan
ReceptiveUaIldak
Top Con
•••

Writing and editing in Indic utf8 script is problematic

Missrenders fonts while writing, but after finishing writing a word, it renders nicely. Adds extra pseudo spaces, clunky writing. Backspace removes unexpected character from unexpected position because of it. See More
x.
Top Pro
•••

Supports file attachments

See More
SupportiveMokhNaana
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
SharpKherty
Top Pro
•••

Supports nested folders

Folders within folders are critical to organizing notes over time See More
SharpKherty
Top Pro
•••

Can import from Evernote

Migrating from Evernote is easy See More
RealisticCyamites
Top Pro
•••

Dropbox support

Can sync using Dropbox. See More
teadan
ReceptiveUaIldak
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
Jeremie Lesage
Top Pro
•••

Supports multiple languages

English, French, and Spanish. See More
x.
Top Pro
•••

Optional CLI interface

Provides a CLI interface for terminal lovers. See More
HideSee All
88

Standard Notes

My Recommendation for Standard Notes

My Recommendation for Standard Notes

Add Video or Image
All
18
Experiences
1
Pros
10
Cons
6
Specs
Ray
Top Pro
•••

Encrypted

All data on Standard Notes is end-to-end encrypted. See More
Hao Jiang
Top Con
•••

Can't group note in notebook

See More
ImmaculateAidos
ImmaculateAidos's Experience
I use Standard Notes on Windows (app version) and Android. Just the free version. Great for quick note taking on whichever device is convenient. Instantly and automatically synced to the other device. No text formatting in free version but this is not a problem for me. Can easily copy/paste to a word processor if need to develop further. See More
Specs
Platforms:Windows, Linux, Mac, iOS, Android, Web
Technology:TypeScript, Docker
Ray
Top Pro
•••

Open-source

The client and sync server of Standard Notes is open source. You can self-host your data by deploying a copy of the server and pointing the client to it. See More
GenuineBalor
Top Con
•••

Extensions aren’t always fully compatible

Note previews will display markdown or html tags (depending on the editor you wrote with) instead of simple text. Also, the folder extension isn’t supported on iOS and may make your tags messy and difficult to use. See More
A
Monika
Hao Jiang
Top Pro
•••

Full cross platform support

App versions for download to desktop (Linux, Mac, Windows) and mobile (Android, iOS) devices. When using someone else's device, there's also a web login page available via the primary website. See More
Svjatoslavs Krasnikovs
ShojiVR
Top Con
•••

No support for image and tables

See More
Solon
Yagami Lighto
Top Pro
•••

Simple, easy to use, secure, and free

See More
GenuineBalor
Top Con
•••

Features are few without extensions (which are paid)

See More
LivelyGonggong
Top Pro
•••

Cross-platform

Available on Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, and Linux. See More
GenuineBalor
Top Con
•••

Formatting enabled only as extension for money

See More
GenuineBalor
Top Pro
•••

Simple

Faster and lighter than most notes apps. See More
GenuineBalor
Top Con
•••

The developers are commited to add as few new features as necessary

In order to not compromise on security and simplicity. See More
sripwoud
Top Pro
•••

Markdown support

See More
LivelyGonggong
Top Pro
•••

Extensible

Editors, components, actions, and themes. See More
CourteousRuohtta
Top Pro
•••

Extremely fast syncing

See More
GenuineBalor
Top Pro
•••

Themes

See More
HideSee All
87

Simplenote

My Recommendation for Simplenote

My Recommendation for Simplenote

All
33
Experiences
5
Pros
13
Cons
14
Specs
Ryan
betasoft
Krrny
Top Pro
•••

Very simple and clean interface

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
Laura Kyle
Top Con
•••

Limited ways to reorder notes

You are able to sort your notes alphabetically, date modified, or by last created. There is no way to drag and drop the notes to create a custom order. See More
HonestAglaophonos
HonestAglaophonos's Experience
Gave up on Evernote because it only supports 2 (?) devices for free. Also I only need text notes, but across several devices depending on where I am. Have had occasional sync problems with a old tablet which can't be upgraded to a later version of Android. Otherwise excellent. See More
Specs
Platforms:Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS
Collaborative:yes
API:No
Jonathan
Stuart Kearney
George Terezakis
Top Pro
•••

Geared towards fast usage

Unlike alternatives (such as Evernote) 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
Monika
Chris- D
Top Con
•••

No note encryption at rest

Notes are encrypted in transit, but remain unencrypted on Simplenote's servers. See More
ResourcefulAhuraMazda
ResourcefulAhuraMazda's Experience
Poor tools to estructuting the notes See More
Jonathan
George Terezakis
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
Laura Kyle
Top Con
•••

No reminders

You cannot set reminders to revisit a specific note or complete a task. See More
ReveredPhilomelus
ReveredPhilomelus's Experience
CON: Single level only. Can't set up hierarchy of notes. All done by tags See More
Jonathan
samsoncheong
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
Jonathan
John Cromwell
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
EfficientBanba
EfficientBanba's Experience
SPouse and I use SImnpleNote on two Macs and two Android phones. We share notes between us for all manner of things - shopping, ideas, tasks... We moved house back in December (to a new State too!) and SImpleNote has been our go-to app for the past 5 months. It's excellent for collaboration. See More
Jonathan
Top Pro
•••

Can export your data

The program enables exporting of notes as text documents. See More
Laura Kyle
HardwareHero
Bjarke Ebert
Top Con
•••

Search is limited to one tag

There seems to be no way to find notes that have both tag X and tag Y. This isn't a big deal until you have a large library of notes, and want to cross-search for two things at the same time to vastly narrow down your search. See More
ShojiVR
ShojiVR's Experience
Unable to insert image is biggest flaw for this apps See More
Jonathan
Top Pro
•••

Collaborative features

Notes can be shared with others or worked on collaboratively. See More
JM80
GenuineTaronhiawagon
Top Con
•••

No way to import notes from anywhere

See More
Aamir Dakhani
Top Pro
•••

Open Source

All of the Simplenote apps are open source and ready for your contributions! You can find the source on GitHub: iOS: https://github.com/automattic/simplenote-ios Android: https://github.com/automattic/simplenote-android macOS: https://github.com/automattic/simplenote-macos Electron (Windows and Linux): https://github.com/automattic/simplenote-electron See More
Monika
BrilliantSiebog
Top Con
•••

Web access only for updated browsers

They recently removed support for older browsers, and it's not working on the latest version of Waterfox. You need an updated version of a well-known browser. See More
Jonathan
Slimothy
Stuart Kearney
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
thermoplastics
Kjell Inge Sandvik
Top Con
•••

No 32-bit version

See More
Jonathan
samsoncheong
drkrpr
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
HardwareHero
Bjarke Ebert
Top Con
•••

The search function doesn't see tags

If you search for 'foo' you won't find notes with tag foo. In that regard, tags are completely isolated from the search. See More
Jonathan
Slimothy
Stuart Kearney
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
Laura Kyle
HardwareHero
Bjarke Ebert
Top Con
•••

No way to bulk-apply a tag

This is a typical workflow action in other apps: Do a search, multi-select notes among the matches, then apply or de-apply one or more tags to all these notes at once. There's no way to do this in Simplenote. The only bulk operations are Delete and Pin-to-top. See More
Jonathan
tekgruv
Top Pro
•••

Linux client available

See More
Laura Kyle
Top Con
•••

No notification when changes made on a shared note

Currently, there is no way to be alerted when a change is made by another contributor on a shared note. See More
Jonathan
Top Pro
•••

Excellent iOS app

See More
Jonathan
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
Endi Sukaj
Ted Case-Hayes
Top Pro
•••

Excellent desktop client in the form of nvAlt

See More
Laura Kyle
Top Con
•••

No integrated social media sharing

The only way you can share notes with others is with a link you're given when you publish your note. There is no integrated social media sharing if you directly want to post your note to Twitter, Facebook, etc. See More
Laura Kyle
Top Con
•••

Lack of color impacts usability

There are two themes available, the default theme and a dark theme. Both use only the single solid color (either white or black) for the background, so there is a lack of visual cues to separate what you're looking at. See More
HideSee All
86

Turtl

My Recommendation for Turtl

My Recommendation for Turtl

Add Video or Image
All
9
Pros
6
Cons
2
Specs
NrdGrl
Top Pro
•••

Truly cross-platform

Supports Windows, MacOS, and Linux equally. Mobile apps sync seamlessly. See More
ShojiVR
Top Con
•••

Need user account to use

See More
Specs
Platforms:Windows, Linux, Mac, Android
Harvey Rose
Rodo bodolfo
Top Pro
•••

Private

See More
farhang
Top Con
•••

Very difficult self-hosting

There is no real guide from Turtl for setting up the server. You need Quicklisp, commonlisp, rethinkdb,libuv, to name a few. See More
Monika
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
thermoplastics
Harvey Rose
Rodo bodolfo
Top Pro
•••

Open source

All code is freely available on GitHub, licensed under GPLv3. See More
Rodo bodolfo
Top Pro
•••

Can be self-hosted

See More
CourageousAsclepius
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
HideSee All
85

TiddlyWiki

My Recommendation for TiddlyWiki

My Recommendation for TiddlyWiki

All
34
Experiences
5
Pros
25
Cons
3
Specs
Stuart Kearney
Theonlyvlad
Top Pro
•••

Self-hosted and indefinitely accessible

All content is stored within the same html file as the interface. See More
Laura Kyle
Top Con
•••

Relies on browser performance, online or offline

TiddlyWiki is a single HTML file. Thus, if you directly embed e. g large images or videos in it (instead of using the features to display externally stored images and videos) it would make the file big and performance slow. See More
MethodicalHadad
MethodicalHadad's Experience
TiddlyWiki has been my go-to for note taking for years and years. I use it to organize nearly every aspect of my life, and it's been fantastically reliable. See More
Specs
Platforms:Windows, Linux, Mac, iOS, Android
Export:tid
Offline access:Yes
License:BSD
See All Specs
thermoplastics
Stuart Kearney
Theonlyvlad
Top Pro
•••

Relational links

Relational links and lists between notes to keep things organized. See More
Uxer
Top Con
•••

Without JavaScript nothing is visible

See More
ConscientiousWuGang
ConscientiousWuGang's Experience
Slows down after 2000 notes. See More
Jonathan
Bruno Loff
Top Pro
•••

Easily programmable

It is relatively easy to program TiddlyWiki to do what you want. From writing simple macros to display text in a certain way, all the way to writing plugins to render and process entirely new kinds of content. So if you can code in Javascript, you are not bound by the usual limitations note-taking apps force on you. See More
Laura Kyle
Gijsbert van der Heijden
Endi Sukaj
Top Con
•••

Steep learning curve

Not for the uninitiated, you need to learn Wiki markup, learn TiddlyWiki itself, and learn the lingo of those active on its Google+ Forum, the primary place from where support can be obtained. The people are a friendly lot though, most willing to help, but like many other of the technologically inclined assuming too easily that you understand most of their language whilst it actually seems to be riddled with mysterious jargon and abbreviations such as CSS, Config etc. Initially this may give the impression that TiddlyWiki is not at all intended for general use but mainly for usage by people such as the developers of TiddlyWiki themselves (that would be a mistake, especially since with the advent of TiddlyWiki 5 and its further development great progress has been made to make TiddlyWiki very much more user friendly. This is a great application, well worth that learning curve, and offering much more functions than note taking alone.) See More
CaringNamarrkon
CaringNamarrkon's Experience
Customizable, good design and user experience, cross platform, possibility of collaboration. See More
thermoplastics
abhijith kumar
Top Pro
•••

Cross platform

You can access your notes from any device. See More
EmpatheticTilla
EmpatheticTilla's Experience
Easy to use, notes are all in one place and portable See More
Stuart Kearney
Top Pro
•••

Lots of plugins

See More
LoveableRanaNiejta
LoveableRanaNiejta's Experience
Made a large database of newspaper clips See More
thermoplastics
Markus
Top Pro
•••

Open source project with a large community

This means you can quickly get help by posting a question in the forum or can get actively involved in making the application better. See More
Stronuk
Pecassoo
Top Pro
•••

Built in cloud saving for when one does connect to the internet

User can work offline as much as they want and once connected to the internet can then upload these changes with the built in cloud storage function called TiddlySpot. Tiddlyhost is the secure, modern, reliable successor to Tiddlyspot, and its code is open source. Other (non-built-in) solutions for cloud storage involve Google Drive, Dropbox, Github etc. See More
PrivateClytius
Top Pro
•••

Single html file

It's a single file and all your notes will be "accessible even in 25 years" because they can be seen in plain html text. See More
WittyGuanyin
Top Pro
•••

Free and Open Source

No commercial interests, no ads, no registration, no nonsense. You own your notes 100%. See More
PrivateClytius
Top Pro
•••

10+ years mature

Mature software, active community with members from all over the world. See More
PrivateClytius
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. See More
PrivateClytius
Top Pro
•••

Progressive user level, from ease of use to programming your own plugins

Basic users can start with simple note-taking, progressively discover predefined features and existing plugins, then start using more fancy features (like filters, widgets, macros), in order to adapt their wiki to their needs. See More
PrivateClytius
Top Pro
•••

Multiple, user-defined usages

The list of possible usages is practically infinite in TW, and more importantly it lets the user define their own method of dealing with their content. See More
LinOnetwo
Top Pro
•••

Daily Notes with template, and Calendar for agenda

Built-in daily Journal and tw-calendar plugin-based hour-level agenda give you fine-grain control over your diary. See More
Uxer
Top Pro
•••

Easy to use

Low barrier of entry for the non IT knowledgeable. See More
LinOnetwo
Top Pro
•••

Advanced search

Using built-in filter expression to search in a graph of knowledgebase. Search based on field, keyword, or even relationships between notes. See More
LinOnetwo
Top Pro
•••

Supports several languages

Translations are made by the community at GitHub repository. See More
LinOnetwo
Top Pro
•••

Supports importing from other tools

Supports importing from tools such as Notion, Evernote, OneNote, Apple Notes, Bear, Zkn3, Obsidian, and Roam Research. Because TiddlyWiki supports marldown, and can transform markdown to wikitext. Because other tool learn [[ ]] syntax from wikitext, so most feature can retain. See More
LinOnetwo
Top Pro
•••

Copy and paste images easily

When taking notes, you can just grab a print screen from your clipboard and paste into the notes without having to do any file management See More
LinOnetwo
Top Pro
•••

HTML Support

You can use HTML (built-in) or even ReactJS (plugin) in the note. See More
LinOnetwo
Top Pro
•••

Slides for giving presentations from within wiki

Easily turn your notes into beautiful and powerful powerpoint-style presentations by enabling the TW-Tamasha plugin. See More
LinOnetwo
Top Pro
•••

Space repetation and Random note

Using Fishing plugin you get Anki style flash card based on your notes. You can use filter expression to turn Space reputation into Random note or daily reminder of todo list. See More
LinOnetwo
Top Pro
•••

Page previews on hover

When you hover on an internal [[link]], you get to preview the note without opening it on a new pane. Provided by various plugins in many styles. See More
LinOnetwo
Top Pro
•••

WYSIWYG editor that hide [[ ]] for preview mode

Tiddlywiki support link and backlink [[ ]], transclusion {{ }} and macro << >> syntax, WYSIWYG opensource editor plugin will give it Notion style experience over these advanced features. See More
LinOnetwo
Top Pro
•••

Helps visualize personal knowledge in ways nothing else allows

Opensource plugin-based Brain Graph and network analyse graph (ECharts plugin), TLDraw based whiteboard plugin, and flowchart plugin. See More
HideSee All
84

Notion

My Recommendation for Notion

My Recommendation for Notion

All
31
Experiences
3
Pros
19
Cons
8
Specs
ReasonableIcovellauna
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
Komle
Top Con
•••

Steep learning curve

While an incredibly versatile tool, this also makes it hard to learn, and there isn't much guidance when first getting started. See More
Komle
Komle's Experience
Unbelievably customizable and can be set up to suit most needs. A lot of templates are available for beginners, and there is a good sized community to seek help from. It does have quite a learning curve though, and most people will need some time to see its true potential. See More
Specs
Platforms:Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Web
Offline access:No
Collaborative:Yes
Markdown support:Export
See All Specs
ReasonableIcovellauna
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
Monika
ReasonableIcovellauna
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
KnowledgeableLamia
KnowledgeableLamia's Experience
BEST See More
egemen
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
Monika
PoisedPapNiginGara
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
Rohim Chou
Rohim Chou's Experience
Amazing. See More
ReasonableIcovellauna
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
PerseveringMnevis
Top Con
•••

Not always very intuitive

Column filters are not that intuitive to apply. See More
ReasonableIcovellauna
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
ConvivialTheandrios
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
Chris- D
Top Pro
•••

Amazing formatting

Pages are split up into blocks, allowing for better organization. You can create a block for todos, make a block for just notes, and drag them up/down the page as you see fit. There are 25+ blocks. See More
CaffeinatedAnanke
Top Con
•••

No lightweight tables like Markdown

Every table is some sort of database with a default view and every row is a data set with attributes and it's own page. Simple tables as in Markdown are missing. See More
ReasonableIcovellauna
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
Stronuk
Top Con
•••

No offline access

Needs internet to open any page even on desktop clients. See More
ReasonableIcovellauna
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
menace97
Top Con
•••

No OCR text recognition of scanned documents

Lacking optical character recognition (OCR) of scanned documents. See More
Yudai Kuchiishi
Top Pro
•••

Great Web App

Nice web app with great synchronization See More
Andrew Truex
Top Pro
•••

Cross Platform

Works with Android, iOS, Windows, & Mac OSX See More
Yudai Kuchiishi
Top Pro
•••

Now free for personal use

Notion recently released all the features free for personal use. See More
Yoshiyuki
egemen
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
egemen
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
ReasonableIcovellauna
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
ReasonableIcovellauna
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
ReasonableIcovellauna
Top Pro
•••

Quick and effective search

Just type in a word and you'll have results in no time at all. See More
Monika
AgreeableSlaineMacDela
Top Pro
•••

Cross-platform

Works with Android, iOS, Windows, & Mac OSX. See More
Monika
AgreeableSlaineMacDela
Top Pro
•••

Renders Markdown Syntax

Add code blocks, Headers, bullet point, numbered lists, or To-Do boxes by typing using Markdown Syntax (instead of clunkily moving the mouse to formatting boxes). See More
ReasonableIcovellauna
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
HideSee All
82

Zim

My Recommendation for Zim

My Recommendation for Zim

All
13
Pros
8
Cons
4
Specs
Slimothy
HansBKK
Top Pro
•••

Plain text data format rather than proprietary

If/when the app is no longer developed, or if the user decides to no longer use the application or view/edit them on a non-supported platform, it can be done with any plain-text editor. See More
Uxer
Top Con
•••

Looks ancient

Zim has a very plain and outdated interface. See More
Specs
Platforms:Windows, Linux, Mac
License:GPL
Markdown support:Export
Technology:Python
Slimothy
HansBKK
Top Pro
•••

Multi-platform

Windows and Linux. See More
thermoplastics
Emiliano Heyns
Top Con
•••

No pre-packaged Mac support

The user can install this app through homebrew with instructions found here, but currently there is no pre-built package available for an easier install process. See More
Slimothy
HansBKK
Top Pro
•••

Multiple exports

Exports to HTML and Pandoc Markdown. See More
Svjatoslavs Krasnikovs
JoyousDaichinTengri
Top Con
•••

Windows support has stalled

Seems like windows is not supported anymore. The last version is from February and since then, the maintainer of the windows version has stepped down with no followup. See More
Scott McLeod
Top Pro
•••

Data is easy to sync since everything is stored as regular files

See More
Laura Kyle
Endi Sukaj
HansBKK
Top Con
•••

No Android version

But if you sync using Dropbox or other, you can access the text files directly. Search and ability to navigate the directory tree will depend on what apps and tools you use. WikiMind Note is passable. See More
Uxer
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
Uxer
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
Uxer
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
Krom
Top Pro
•••

Great sync with Dropbox

See More
HideSee All
--

Obsidian md

My Recommendation for Obsidian md

My Recommendation for Obsidian md

Add Video or Image
All
22
Pros
17
Cons
4
Specs
x.
Top Pro
•••

Vim mode / vi-like keys

See More
Uxer
Top Con
•••

Proprietary software lock-in

Creates dependence on the application with the promise that the content is yours but that cannot be entirely true without the application being free and open source software. You will end up altering the way you create the content to take advantage of Obsidian features and your processes will evolve for its workflows. This replicates the lock-in pain that people experience moving their highly personal information from one proprietary platform to the next when that initial platform stops serving them well, goes out of business, or becomes a bad actor. See More
Specs
Platforms:Windows, Linux, Mac, iOS, Android
Offline access:Yes
Collaborative:Upcoming
Sync:Paid add-on, manual third-party
See All Specs
WittyEthniu
Top Pro
•••

Backlinking

This allows you to link notes back and forth really easily. See More
Simona
CoolSosamshin
Top Con
•••

Not open source

See More
WittyEthniu
Top Pro
•••

Not locked to a provider

No lock-in to a certain company - just markdown files on disk. See More
Stronuk
Top Con
•••

No table editing yet

(Available as a plugin). See More
IndustriousTakemikazuchi
Top Pro
•••

Multiple Vaults

A Vault in Obsidian is like a database. Internal links and files are not shared across Vaults. Each Vault is opened with a separate instance of Obsidian. Each Vault can have its unique app settings and plug-ins. Useful if you have distinct/unrelated projects or "data spaces" requiring different workflows and data relations. See More
Simona
Uxer
Top Con
•••

Electron app

Obsidian is built on Electron bloatware. See More
WittyEthniu
Top Pro
•••

Locally stored, not dependent on cloud

Everything is stored in your device. You can back them up, encrypt and process however you want to. Works completely offline. Read your notes anytime, anywhere. See More
WittyEthniu
Top Pro
•••

Syntax highlighting for code blocks

See More
Stronuk
Top Pro
•••

Multiple cursors

A feature unseen in other tools. From the help doc, "This can be useful when modifying a lot of lines in the same way, for example putting - at the beginning of multiple lines to turn them into a list, or appending [[ to a series of links you’ve copied from elsewhere." See More
Stronuk
Top Pro
•••

Very easy to use and link notes, preserves the standard form of markdown

Linking notes is a game changing feature. Very easy to use and link notes. Their implementation of markdown doesn't deviate from the standard form of markdown and so the same files can be used by other markdown programs without any consequence. While renaming note link still works. See More
Stronuk
Top Pro
•••

Functionality extensions with a growing number of plugins

Also open for anyone to develop their own extensions/plugins. See More
Stronuk
Top Pro
•••

Lightweight and very customizable

Variety of settings, and community themes & plugins, available from built-in marketplace. Every community plugin is open-source which means you can learn from it and develop your own. See More
Stronuk
Top Pro
•••

In-line tagging

Ability to tag-as-you-write and find each occurrence of a tag in the entire vault makes it very easy to organize and retrieve notes. Supports nested tags. See More
IndustriousTakemikazuchi
Top Pro
•••

SQL-like queries

Advanced queries for the data-obsessed with Dataview Plugin. See More
IndustriousTakemikazuchi
Top Pro
•••

Linking to blocks

You can link to a block - e.g.: paragraph, blockquote, heading. See More
IndustriousTakemikazuchi
Top Pro
•••

Fast growing

It's becoming more powerful everyday, it seems like they add many functions within several days. See More
Stronuk
Top Pro
•••

Cross-platform: works on Linux, MacOS, Windows, Android and iOS

See More
DiplomaticMictlantecuhtli
Top Pro
•••

Helps visualize personal knowledge in ways nothing else allows

See More
Monika
x.
Top Pro
•••

Stores notes in plain text

See More
HideSee All
78

Google Keep

My Recommendation for Google Keep

My Recommendation for Google Keep

All
55
Experiences
8
Pros
18
Cons
28
Specs
Jonathan
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
JM80
betasoft
Laura Kyle
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
Phil Morton
Phil Morton's Experience
I was having sync problems with Apple Notes. I wanted something lightweight that I can use across platforms - Mac, iPhone, iPad. This does the job for me. I once lost a note because of some sync issues, but I have been more diligent about closing notes. I would like a backup and archival capability. I don't know if that's possible. See More
Specs
Platforms:Android / iOS / Chrome / Web / Desktop
API:No
Alex
Boi Tien
Max Jensen
Top Con
•••

Messy if you have lots of notes

It can be difficult to organize notes because you can only create labels and not, for example, separate projects. See More
thermoplastics
betasoft
Jonathan
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
Anders Øyvind Urke-Sætre
Anders Øyvind Urke-Sætre's Experience
Simple to use. Available wherever I go. Free. See More
Alexander Sheremet
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
thermoplastics
betasoft
Jonathan
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, no matter the device being used or the OS on it, there is always a way to access the app. There is also no limitation to how many devices this can be done with, freeing up the user to always have access. See More
CourageousHaurvatat
CourageousHaurvatat's Experience
You need to update the pros and cons! Good calendar keep now sucks •••! Especially the browser based version. Has done since end of 2016! Google is slowly but surely phasing out? Such a shame! I don't know how they managed to c••k it up?!! Used to work brilliantly and loved how you could make your own collage of photos to explain a note or whatever. Now it's just useless and if your phone breaks or you get a new phone the note importing just imports the no titles but not the content! Pretty fricking useless and hugely frustrating if like me you use it for very important work related note taking!!!!! Very very busy disappointing! See More
Laura Kyle
Jonathan
Top Con
•••

Organization is limited to just multiple tags for notes

There are no folders in Keep that you can move notes into. It makes the user interface more cluttered, and navigation gets more difficult. See More
Ryan
betasoft
Stuart Kearney
Top Pro
•••

Works as a great bookmarking tool as links added can optionally include a preview image

Keep has a great feature that allows you to save sites you visit as a special note type with a link and a preview image. See More
SpontaneousBasamum
SpontaneousBasamum's Experience
I am using it more than two years. It's perfect for quick note taking. Thanks to Google. See More
Laura Kyle
Top Con
•••

No ability to undo changes

There is no way to revert changes or restore text you may have accidentally deleted (however, you can restore entire notes for up to 7 days after deletion). See More
Endi Sukaj
Barry Melton
Top Pro
•••

Automatic saving

Automatically saves new changes so that nothing is lost. See More
Boi Tien
Boi Tien's Experience
I'd recommend GKeep because can use anywhere See More
Laura Kyle
Top Con
•••

Synchronization bugs

There are some issues with synchronizing data including laggyness and returning old/deleted items. See More
Jonathan
Slimothy
Tom Diethe
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
Magda
Magda's Experience
Very handy and simple. See More
Jonathan
Andrew Crow
Top Con
•••

No text formatting

No basic formatting like bold, italics. Makes it harder to do things like meeting notes. Keep is intended as a minimal and quick note taking app, but sadly for those that are looking for something more robust, the features are just not there. See More
Ryan
betasoft
Taylor Coogan
Top Pro
•••

Useful Android home screen widget

The Keep widget lets users quickly see existing notes and add new ones. See More
SuccinctBelisama
SuccinctBelisama's Experience
taking all my notes while reading/study/surfing with cross-platform availability See More
Monika
Silvia
Rūdis
Top Con
•••

Scrolling through notes is horrible

There are no options to decrease the surface area of the notes to make it easier to get an overview. Compare this to something like the Apple Notes or Evernote UI, for example. You can't organize nor have a glance of what you have. See More
Ryan
betasoft
Laura Kyle
Top Pro
•••

Notes can be grouped via labels

In addition to the ability to color-code notes, they can be labeled and navigated and grouped that way. This allows for easy organization, to then be found easily at a later date. See More
Startstart
Startstart's Experience
It tracks you See More
Sean Lang
Top Con
•••

Not free/libre

This application is proprietary, and thus cannot be modified or freely distributed. See More
Ryan
betasoft
Jonathan
Top Pro
•••

Notes can be color-coded

See More
Laura Kyle
Top Con
•••

Can be difficult to discover the features

Google Keep has slowly been introducing new features, but doesn't do a good job of helping you discover them. See More
Jonathan
Stuart Kearney
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 that can then be changed to a text based note. See More
Jonathan
Top Con
•••

Google account required

You're required to have a Google account in order to use the app. See More
Ryan
betasoft
Jonathan
Top Pro
•••

Notes can include photo and audio attachments

Notes can include multimedia attachments in addition to text. See More
Laura Kyle
Top Con
•••

Does not offer themes

There is no option for changing the color theme (such as a dark theme) unless you use a 3rd party extension. See More
thermoplastics
betasoft
Slimothy
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
Paolo
Jonathan
Top Con
•••

Does not integrate with Google Calendar or Tasks

It does not integrate with Google Calendar or other Google Apps with the exception of "Google Now." Keep reminders can appear on Google Calendar, but you can not get reminders and use Tasks at the same time. See More
Jonathan
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
David Kochheiser
Top Con
•••

Too simplistic of an approach

See More
Jonathan
Taylor Coogan
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
Laura Kyle
Top Con
•••

No integrated social media sharing

There is no integrated social media sharing if you directly want to post your note to Twitter, Facebook, etc. See More
Charles Heckscher
Top Pro
•••

Drag and drop sorting

You can move cards manually, which is great for prioritizing to-dos. Within a card, you can also drag and drop items. See More
Rūdis
Hussein Horack
Top Con
•••

Not good at all for longer notes

With almost no formatting options whatsoever it's hard to actually use Keep for long-form notes. See More
Jonathan
Top Pro
•••

Archives finished tasks

Any finished task is archived and can be searched at a later date. See More
Alex
Boi Tien
Top Con
•••

Sharing within team doesn't work that well

You can share separate notes but not Projects, Wordspace, or Teams. See More
Paolo
CreativeMithra
Top Pro
•••

Cross platform

This app can be used seamlessly across all platforms including Android, iOS, and desktop computer platforms. See More
Gijsbert van der Heijden
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
Slimothy
h2000
Top Pro
•••

Notes can be grouped via labels

In addition to the ability to color-code notes, they can be labeled and navigated and grouped that way. See More
Jonathan
Top Con
•••

No notifications when tasks are added to shared lists

Although the ability to collaborate on lists is advanced, Keep will not let you know when another person adds an item to a list you share. See More
Crieloue Gilles
Top Con
•••

No API

See More
Yoshiyuki
SpontaneousBasamum
Alex
Top Con
•••

There is a label limit up to 50

See More
WiseDalia
Top Con
•••

No dedicated app for windows, linux, mac (except unofficial)

See More
Jonathan
Top Con
•••

Cannot share groups of notes (e.g., labels)

Google's equivalent of groups are labels, which can't be shared. By comparison, Trello allows you to share boards with others. Trello also supports grouping through teams. Google Keep has no such concept. See More
Monika
Top Con
•••

Slow to save the updates

Saving is delayed by a moment and the saving status UI is unclear. You can lose updates if you close the tab too quickly. See More
Jonathan
Top Con
•••

Delay between to-do entries

The keyboard closes and reloads between to-do list entries, so the first letters or words may be missed if you’re trying to quickly create a list. See More
Yoshiyuki
Marcel Gellesch
Top Con
•••

Notes get lost/deleted and can NOT be recovered

Since nothing is stored locally on the phone, everything can go missing. Google can't recover any of it. See More
John Meredith
Top Con
•••

No BlackBerry 10 app

No BlackBerry support apart from web. See More
thermoplastics
michaelmenace
Top Con
•••

No Windows Mobile app

No Windows Mobile app, and it is unlikely to ever be produced. See More
HideSee All
75

Evernote

My Recommendation for Evernote

My Recommendation for Evernote

All
52
Experiences
7
Pros
21
Cons
23
Specs
Jonathan
Slimothy
Shawn Orban
Top Pro
•••

Consolidates all your information

Evernote is designed to store a lot of different types of information from a lot of different sources in one place. Using the Web Clipper, native integrations, or a service such as IFTTT (If This Then That) you can use Evernote to store all your ideas, notes (both handwritten and typed), tasks, reading lists, receipts, and more. See More
thermoplastics
Julien Delafontaine
Top Con
•••

Free version limited to 2 devices

The free version has become very limited as a cloud based note taking app as there is now only sharing between two devices allowed. See More
RobustDaramulum
RobustDaramulum's Experience
Over the last 10 year I have tried them all and none even approach the overall functionality of Evernote See More
Specs
Platforms:Android / iOS / WP / OSX / Windows / WebOS
Export:ENEX, HTML, MHT
Offline access:yes
Collaborative:yes
See All Specs
Jonathan
Slimothy
Stuart Kearney
Top Pro
•••

Powerful features for organising your notes

Evernote is designed to make it easy to keep your notes well organized, which aids in quickly finding/browsing old information. You can put notes into a single notebook and use search to access old notes, or if you're so inclined, organize notes extensively with hierarchical notebooks and tags. See More
Jonathan
thermoplastics
Endi Sukaj
Top Con
•••

Pay for offline use, search, and other functions

The free version of Evernote is highly limited. You have to pay if you want to access your notes without internet connection, search your notes or documents, or upload large amounts of data. The free version allows you to upload 60 MB of data per month, which is about 20 to 30 iPhone camera pictures. At a certain point, they started charging you for "advanced" capability, which includes searching your own attachments. See More
LifeUnleashed
LifeUnleashed's Experience
There is also a partner app called "Scannable" that (honestly should be baked into the app) scans docs on the fly directly into Evernote. It's very handy and I use it daily for my contracts and receipts. See More
Jonathan
Stuart Kearney
Top Pro
•••

Can include images, and snippets from the web or a whole webpage via web clipper

With one click you can clip part or all of any webpage, including text, images, and links. Especially for those who use Google Chrome, this web clipper is a very rich add-on. The “simplified article” mode strips all graphical overhead from the page before adding the information to Evernote. It's also possible to add highlighting, tags, etc. before storing the note. See More
Paolo
Cardin
Jonathan
Top Con
•••

Different features and functions per device

Desktop app has table creation. Android app lacks font color changes. Some functions can only be accessed on the desktop app. These include changing your default notebook. See More
JovialHunor
JovialHunor's Experience
Very flexible with good functionality like text formatting and web clipping See More
Laura Kyle
Jonathan
Slimothy
Top Pro
•••

Has OCR functionality to convert images to searchable text

A really cool and handy Evernote feature is the ability to automatically scan images for text. See More
Slimothy
Mike
Top Con
•••

Security issues

Evernote had their entire database hacked and compromised including customer user passwords. They responded by locking valid users out of accounts and forcing password changes but are still vague about their own security policies. They do not have a good track record for data security. They also do not offer local personal encryption of entire Notebooks as Microsoft OneNote does. See More
ShojiVR
ShojiVR's Experience
even though there is limitation for free users, this apps still the best among its competitors especially its ability to sort pages, insert media, and detailed statistic such as page size or total word count, images in the pages See More
Jonathan
Slimothy
Stuart Kearney
Top Pro
•••

"Reminders" are a great way to combine your to-dos and notes

One of the note types is a "reminder," which can act as a to-do list. You can add all the usual formatting to reminders, including audio. Evernote will provide alerts when they are due and house them in a special location within the app. See More
Jonathan
interskh
Top Con
•••

No official Linux app

Evernote does not offer an official Linux app, although there are some third party alternatives available. See More
Олег Медведев
Олег Медведев's Experience
Best for any kind of notes See More
Jonathan
Top Pro
•••

Easy to use

Evernote is easy to dive into because it doesn’t overwhelm you with advanced functionality from the start. As you get more accustomed to the app, you might want to delve deeper to see what benefits the more advanced features will offer. See More
Laura Kyle
Top Con
•••

Constantly directs you to upgrading your account

The frequent reminders to upgrade your account can quickly become disruptive. You get notifications when using the app, and many of the features that show as available in the app are actually for paid accounts only (which, when you try to use them, will remind you to upgrade). See More
JovialDeaTacita
JovialDeaTacita's Experience
Ease of use and fast app. See More
Malcolm Merlyn
Jonathan
Slimothy
Top Pro
•••

Native and offline-capable apps on pretty much every platform

Evernote has apps for Windows 7 and 8, Windows 10, Windows 11, Mac, Android, iOS (both iPhone and iPad), Blackberry, and Windows Phone. It also has a fully functional web app and chrome plug-in. No matter what device or platform you're on, you will pretty much always be able to access Evernote. See More
Jonathan
Top Con
•••

Very heavyweight for a to-do list

Evernote is a powerhouse program with many features. It uses a correspondingly large amount of memory to run. See More
Regger
Regger's Experience
cool See More
Jonathan
Top Pro
•••

Multipurpose

In addition to general note taking and to-do list management, Evernote lets you search through scanned documents, handwritten text, and images; collaborate with others through shared notebooks; record audio notes; and more. See More
Jonathan
Top Con
•••

Missing some basic functions

See More
Jonathan
Stuart Kearney
Top Pro
•••

Trustworthy to store data in the long term

With many utility tools being constantly shut down by their creators, it's really important to consider the long-term risks of picking a home for all your notes. Evernote is a $1 billion company with a track record of exceptional security and goals of becoming a "100 year old" company. See More
Endi Sukaj
Gijsbert van der Heijden
Top Con
•••

Not distributed

One cannot run Evernote on own servers. This brings with it the risks normally associated with handing over critical applications to a large corporation. See More
Jonathan
Slimothy
Stuart Kearney
Top Pro
•••

Powerful note formatting

Evernote has an extensive range of formatting options and note types. You can create checklists, reminder alerts, audio notes, or add images and attachments. It also has an awesome speech-to-text feature if you prefer to dictate aloud. See More
Vitaly Belman
Top Con
•••

Poor text formatting abilities

Text formatting in Evernote is buggy and unreliable. Bullets (outlining) are getting stuck or disappearing, tables are very static and prone to breaking and everything beyond the most basic formatting might cause an issue. See More
Jonathan
Top Pro
•••

Great selection for integrating with other apps

The Evernote app center page is nicely organized and has good quality integration of apps that can improve your productivity. See More
Malcolm Merlyn
Top Con
•••

Syncing is slow

See More
Laura Kyle
Jonathan
Slimothy
Top Pro
•••

Focused, uncluttered user interface

Evernote has a very clean and intuitive interface that's simple to understand at a glance. See More
WorthyAtira
Top Con
•••

Basic and lacking handwriting function

Handwriting has basic functions, is attached as a picture See More
Jonathan
Max Jensen
Top Pro
•••

Evernote is synchronized

See More
Jonathan
drkrpr
Stuart Kearney
Top Con
•••

Bloated and complex

Evernote is too big, has too many features. Note taking apps need absolutely clean interface to allow unobtrusive note taking and not a struggle to search for which buttons to click. It focuses on the search feature so much that it doesn't encourage or make it immediately easy to organize your notes and thoughts. It's essentially a sophisticated notes dump with good search. See More
Laura Kyle
Jonathan
Max Jensen
Top Pro
•••

Premium allows search in attached files and documents

With a premium account you are able to search through PDFs and Office Docs. See More
Jonathan
Slimothy
Tim Etler
Top Con
•••

Buggy

A program with more features is always prone to more bugs. Evernote is definitely not the most stable note-taking program available. See More
Sannidhya Sandheer
Top Pro
•••

Innovative hacks

To save emails, just forward them to your Evernote email address generated on account creation. It is of course one of many such hacks. See More
Monika
Chris- D
Top Con
•••

New web editor does not support Firefox

As of now, Firefox users must download a separate extension to change their user agent to trick the Evernote site into giving them the beta, or install Chrome. See More
thermoplastics
John Meredith
Top Pro
•••

Flexible image manipulation

Permits photos that are taken, to be processed when in automatic mode and saved as a photo, black and white document, colour document, post it note or business card. The automated mode is also good at cropping the document effectively. See More
Jonathan
Top Con
•••

No recurring and snooze reminders

Perhaps because it is not truly a to-do list app, there is currently no support for recurring events or snooze reminders. The company claims to be working on this functionality. See More
Alex
Charles Heckscher
Top Pro
•••

Best web clipper

Can clip to the web from desktop or mobile, using simplified format or original formatting. Very quick and flexible, and enables you to highlight, take notes, tag, etc. See More
Jonathan
Top Con
•••

Lacks search and replace capability

See More
Laura Kyle
Top Pro
•••

Can choose from a few themes

You can pick from a green theme, light, or dark theme. All are very clear and visually appealing. See More
Laura Kyle
Laurent
Top Con
•••

Rather poor user interface

Slow, not user friendly experience, complex, and somehow limited. See More
Laurent
Top Pro
•••

Effective with pictures or snapshot of boards

Take a picture of your white board/paper board and you have it instantly in evernote everywhere, ready for additional notes and classification Scannable friend app is rather efficient to keep hand written note as well. See More
Jonathan
Laura Kyle
Shuusha Murad
Top Con
•••

Lacks right-to-left writing support

When you write in a right-to-left language (Arabic, for example), everything looks fine in the editor but the direction changes to the left again after saving the note. See More
Jonathan
Slimothy
Stuart Kearney
Top Pro
•••

Skitch integration

If you're on iOS and have Skitch installed, you can quickly annotate your notes using Skitch. See More
Slimothy
Top Con
•••

Steep learning curve

Since Evernote has so many features built in, it's hard to know where to find everything until reasonable amount of time has been spent with it. See More
Paolo
Cardin
Top Pro
•••

Has conflict management and undo

Allows undo/redo when editing (i.e. all changes are finalized upon saving). If conflicts between synchronized versions arise, both copies are saved in Evernote. See More
Laura Kyle
Top Con
•••

Easy to accidentally hit the wrong button on the mobile apps

The mobile apps have fairly small touch targets, making it easy to miss the button or accidentally press the wrong one. See More
Belle
cyrnel
Top Con
•••

No ability to re-order notes other than sorting

Evernote has no way to re-order notes, nor even to change their display order. Sorting is the only option, and the "official" workaround (for years now) is to prefix note titles with line numbers manually so notes will sort and display as desired. See More
Slimothy
Endi Sukaj
Oliver Kopp
Top Con
•••

Attachments are stored inside Evernote and not kept separate from it

Attachments to notes are stored inside Evernote only. This may be a hindrance for people who also want to store them externally in order to open them with other software. See More
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73

Tomboy

My Recommendation for Tomboy

My Recommendation for Tomboy

All
6
Experiences
1
Pros
3
Cons
1
Specs
Slimothy
spindr
Top Pro
•••

Free and open source

All the components are free, opensource, and allows self-hosting the sync server. See More
thermoplastics
lynetta
Top Con
•••

Can't easily install on Windows 7

See More
Mitchell Lippel
Mitchell Lippel's Experience
works for me great See More
Specs
Platforms:Windows; OSX; Linux
Markdown support:No
Tables:No
Laura Kyle
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. See More
RickZeeland
Top Pro
•••

Lightweight

See More
HideSee All
--

typora

My Recommendation for typora

My Recommendation for typora

Add Video or Image
All
14
Pros
12
Cons
1
Specs
TalentedGlooscap
Top Pro
•••

Live preview

Typora immediately renders what's typed on the screen in Markdown format. This helps users to have a better understanding of how their document is being formatted. See More
Matthew
CaringJievaras
Top Con
•••

Recorded notes cannot be viewed on mobile devices

Sometimes unstable, it can get stuck. No history management either. See More
Specs
Platforms:Mac OSX; Windows; Linux
Export:HTML; HTML (pure); PDF; Word; OpenOffice; RTF; Epub; LaTeX; Media Wiki; ReStructuredText; Textile; OPML
License:Proprietary
Sync:iCloud
See All Specs
TalentedGlooscap
Top Pro
•••

Custom theme support

Typora has clean yet beautiful built-in themes and allows for users to create new themes using CSS. See More
TalentedGlooscap
Top Pro
•••

Support for tables

It supports tables for Markdown Extra. And also provides a GUI to make it easy to insert and edit them. See More
TalentedGlooscap
Top Pro
•••

Shows table of contents for the document

It supports an outline for the document, by showing a table of contents on the left side of the screen. See More
TalentedGlooscap
Top Pro
•••

Free during beta

See More
TalentedGlooscap
Top Pro
•••

Inline images

It won't display image like ![alt](http://image-url), But shows the image content inside the editor. See More
Henrik
Top Pro
•••

Support for LaTeX expressions

It supports LaTeX expressions, with an easy-to-use MaxJax panel. See More
Henrik
Top Pro
•••

Syntax highlight for fenced codes

It supports GFM's code fences, with syntax highlight support for C/C++, java, etc. See More
Henrik
Top Pro
•••

Make charts and diagrams with Mermaid, FlowChart and Sequence

Use fenced code-blocks to render diagrams using syntax from Mermaid and FlowChart.js. See More
Henrik
Top Pro
•••

Cross-platform

Currently works on Windows, Mac and Linux. See More
Matthew
CaringJievaras
Top Pro
•••

Best notes markdown software

See More
Henrik
Top Pro
•••

Hybrid interface

The editor and preview dual-pane setup typical of desktop Markdown editors are gone; instead, a singular interface makes for a WYSIWYG experience. This streamlines the workflow and encourages direct manipulation. See More
HideSee All
72

WorkFlowy

My Recommendation for WorkFlowy

My Recommendation for WorkFlowy

All
23
Experiences
1
Pros
13
Cons
8
Specs
Laura Kyle
Jonathan
Slimothy
Top Pro
•••

Minimalistic interface

The interface has no clutter. It allows focusing on thoughts to note down. This keeps things simple and easy to understand, which can help keep everything organized in an intuitive manner. See More
Jonathan
Slimothy
Top Con
•••

Pasted URLs are kept as-is

When you have to link to, for example, a website, you can't attach the URL of the site to a word. You have to post the full URL instead. You can't have, for example, 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
HappyFlins
HappyFlins's Experience
I use Workflowy nearly every day. See More
Specs
Platforms:Web, Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Offline access:Yes
Collaborative:Yes
Markdown support:No
See All Specs
Jonathan
Slimothy
Clint
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 be folded. WorkFlowy also has tags and instant full-text search. See More
Bjarke Ebert
Jonathan
Top Con
•••

Very limited formatting capabilities

In the web app you can mark bold and italics, and that's about it See More
Laura Kyle
Jonathan
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 the task list and the container for the entire working document. See More
PrudentPtocheia
Top Con
•••

Hardly ever updated

See More
HardwareHero
Bjarke Ebert
Top Pro
•••

Very innovative search function

When searching for a phrase, the tree is narrowed to the nodes that match, while actually keeping the tree structure! The search result tree can be folded and unfolded like norma. See More
Scott Tromley
Top Con
•••

No date tags or reminder integration

See More
Jonathan
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
Jonathan
Slimothy
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
Jonathan
Top Pro
•••

Supports tags

Enables users to search by tags. See More
Jonathan
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 users who frequently uses Firefox or Safari as their default browsers, in which Chrome app also suffers memory leak and battery issues. See More
Jonathan
Slimothy
Clint
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
Jonathan
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
Jonathan
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
Bjarke Ebert
Top Con
•••

Limited search

When searching for multiple terms it only finds lines that has all terms. If there is a list that holds all the search terms (although not all in same line), that list is not found, unlike in traditional note programs that finds notes that contain all terms. See More
Jonathan
Slimothy
Top Pro
•••

Super fast sync between devices

While adding a list of to-do on web, it syncs with iPhone and iPad apps very quickly. This way you can jump between devices with no delay of up to date content. See More
Jonathan
Top Pro
•••

Tasks can be added and manipulated quickly

WorkFlowy allows entering many tasks very quickly – 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 organize and sort multiple groups at once. See More
Erik Zachte
Top Pro
•••

Import and export via OPML

OPML (Outline Processor Markup Language) is a commonly used standard 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
Jonathan
Top Pro
•••

Daily digest email

WorkFlowy can send you an email with that day's activity. It's a great way to track progress. See More
Jonathan
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. See More
HideSee All
--

Boostnote

My Recommendation for Boostnote

My Recommendation for Boostnote

Add Video or Image
All
16
Experiences
4
Pros
8
Cons
3
Specs
DedicatedArash
Top Pro
•••

Great for developers

Boostnote is great for developers looking to take programming notes with code snippets and such. See More
Hao Jiang
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 fulfil notes storage. There are additional steps involved to set this up. See More
Hao Jiang
Hao Jiang's Experience
I started to use it yesterday, it was kinda troublesome to migrate from evernote but the experience on Boostnote is good. It's cross-platform and support markdown which is the most important thing for me. See More
Specs
Platforms:Windows/MacOS/Linux/Android/IOS
Export:Yes - Text (.txt), MarkDown (.md)
Offline access:Yes
License:GPL v3
See All Specs
Hao Jiang
Top Pro
•••

Open source

https://github.com/BoostIO/Boostnote See More
JM80
Hao Jiang
Top Con
•••

Only one layer of folder

Compared to Evernote, we only have one layer of folder available. See More
ophouce
ophouce's Experience
It is very easy to use because functions are gathered together. See More
Hao Jiang
Top Pro
•••

Works offline

Boostnote doesn't require an internet connection to work. You can write notes offline and sync later. See More
JM80
Hao Jiang
Top Con
•••

Android app not stable

There many reports on crashing when syncing to dropbox. See More
DedicatedArash
DedicatedArash's Experience
Best app for developers See More
Hao Jiang
Top Pro
•••

Free

See More
SpiritedNgintaka
SpiritedNgintaka's Experience
I appreciate Latex support See More
Hao Jiang
Top Pro
•••

Global search, tag feature

See More
Hao Jiang
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
JM80
PoliteRadegast
Hao Jiang
Top Pro
•••

Cross platform support

Supports Windows, macOS and Linux, plus iOS and Android. See More
Hao Jiang
Top Pro
•••

Markdown support

See More
HideSee All
68

Microsoft OneNote

My Recommendation for Microsoft OneNote

My Recommendation for Microsoft OneNote