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

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ProductivityFreeCross PlatformTagDocumentationTodoJournalDiaryHandwritten notes

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

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Feb 6, 2024

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85 Options Considered

Best cross-platform note-taking app	Price	Platforms	Export
70 Org-mode	-	-	-
69 Joplin	FOSS	Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS	Yes
66 Zim	FREE	Windows, Linux, Mac	-
65 Simplenote	Free	Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS	-
64 Standard Notes	Free	Windows, Linux, Mac, iOS, Android, Web	-

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score 62 · Answer 1

Org-mode

Top Pro

Very flexible

It is characterized by a flexible and versatile system with adaptability to different workflows, simple and complex. 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

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

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

Top Con

Locked in to Emacs

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

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

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

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

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

Top Pro

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

Top Pro

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

Top Pro

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

Top Pro

Interlinked notes

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

Top Pro

Multiple Android options

You can use at least Orgzly, Logseq, Orgro, Metanote, or Emacs via Termux. See More

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

See All

score 114 · Answer 2

Joplin

Top Pro

Open source

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

Top Con

Old school interface

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

Top Pro

Cross-platform

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

Top Con

Can't create tags from the mobile app

PopularSalacia's Experience

It works great, easy to use. See More

Top Pro

Supports markdown

Top Con

Does not have a Web client

You can't access notes on Web-client. See More

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

Top Pro

Offline access

Top Con

Gargantuan memory footprint

1GB+ of memory for taking notes. See More

JovialHuixtocihuatl's Experience

active support and development team See More

Top Pro

Encryption

Top Con

Google Drive not included in synch options

It is not possible to sync notes with Google drive. See More

Top Pro

Nextcloud support

Top Con

Bloated

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

Top Pro

Supports nested folders

Folders within folders are critical to organizing notes over time See More

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

Top Pro

Can import from Evernote

Migrating from Evernote is easy See More

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

Top Pro

Supports tags for notes

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

Top Pro

Web Clipper

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

Top Pro

Dark theme

Latest version provides dark theme. See More

Top Pro

Supports file attachments

Top Pro

Sync server easy to self host

E.g. 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

Dropbox support

Can sync using Dropbox. 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

Supports multiple languages

English, French, and Spanish. See More

Top Pro

Optional CLI interface

Provides a CLI interface for terminal lovers. See More

See All

score 48 · Answer 3

Zim

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

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

Top Pro

Multi-platform

Windows and Linux. See More

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

Top Pro

Multiple exports

Exports to HTML and Pandoc Markdown. See More

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

Top Pro

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

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

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

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

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

Top Pro

Great sync with Dropbox

See All

score 207 · Answer 4

Simplenote

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

Top Con

No note encryption at rest

Notes are encrypted in transit, but remain unencrypted on Simplenote's servers. See More

ReveredPhilomelus's Experience

CON: Single level only. Can't set up hierarchy of notes. All done by tags See More

Specs

Platforms:Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS

Collaborative:yes

API:No

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

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'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

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

No reminders

You cannot set reminders to revisit a specific note or complete a task. See More

ResourcefulAhuraMazda's Experience

Poor tools to estructuting the notes 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 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

ShojiVR's Experience

Unable to insert image is biggest flaw for this apps See More

Top Pro

Can export your data

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

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

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

Top Pro

Collaborative features

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

Top Con

No way to import notes from anywhere

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

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

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 32-bit version

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

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

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 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

Top Pro

Linux client available

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

Top Pro

Excellent iOS app

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

Excellent desktop client in the form of nvAlt

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

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

See All

score 42 · Answer 5

Standard Notes

Top Pro

Encrypted

All data on Standard Notes is end-to-end encrypted. See More

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

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

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

Top Con

No support for image and tables

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

Top Con

Features are few without extensions (which are paid)

Top Pro

Simple, easy to use, secure, and free

Top Con

Formatting enabled only as extension for money

Top Pro

Cross-platform

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

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

Top Pro

Simple

Faster and lighter than most notes apps. See More

Top Con

Can't group note in notebook

Top Pro

Markdown support

Top Pro

Extensible

Editors, components, actions, and themes. See More

Top Pro

Extremely fast syncing

Top Pro

Themes

See All

score 35 · Answer 6

Turtl

Top Pro

Truly cross-platform

Supports Windows, MacOS, and Linux equally. Mobile apps sync seamlessly. See More

Top Con

Need user account to use

Specs

Platforms:Windows, Linux, Mac, Android

Top Pro

Private

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

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 Pro

Open source

All code is freely available on GitHub, licensed under GPLv3. See More

Top Pro

Can be self-hosted

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

See All

score 51 · Answer 7

Notion

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 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'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

Markdown support:Export

Collaborative:Yes

See All Specs

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

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's Experience

BEST 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

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's Experience

Amazing. 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

Top Con

Not always very intuitive

Column filters are not that intuitive to apply. 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

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

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

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

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

No offline access

Needs internet to open any page even on desktop clients. 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 Con

No OCR text recognition of scanned documents

Lacking optical character recognition (OCR) of scanned documents. See More

Top Pro

Great Web App

Nice web app with great synchronization See More

Top Pro

Cross Platform

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

Top Pro

Now free for personal use

Notion recently released all the features free for personal use. 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

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

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 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

Quick and effective search

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

Top Pro

Cross-platform

Works with Android, iOS, Windows, & Mac OSX. 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 clunkily 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 84 · Answer 8

TiddlyWiki

Top Pro

Self-hosted and indefinitely accessible

All content is stored within the same html file as the interface. See More

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'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

Top Pro

Relational links

Relational links and lists between notes to keep things organized. See More

Top Con

Without JavaScript nothing is visible

ConscientiousWuGang's Experience

Slows down after 2000 notes. See More

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

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's Experience

Customizable, good design and user experience, cross platform, possibility of collaboration. See More

Top Pro

Cross platform

You can access your notes from any device. See More

EmpatheticTilla's Experience

Easy to use, notes are all in one place and portable See More

Top Pro

Lots of plugins

LoveableRanaNiejta's Experience

Made a large database of newspaper clips See More

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

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

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

Top Pro

Free and Open Source

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

Top Pro

10+ years mature

Mature software, active community with members from all over the world. See More

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

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

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

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

Top Pro

Easy to use

Low barrier of entry for the non IT knowledgeable. See More

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

Top Pro

Supports several languages

Translations are made by the community at GitHub repository. See More

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

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

Top Pro

HTML Support

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

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

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

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

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

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

See All

score 285 · Answer 9

Google Keep

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 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

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

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 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

Anders Øyvind Urke-Sætre's Experience

Simple to use. Available wherever I go. Free. See More

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

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

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

Top Pro

Automatic saving

Automatically saves new changes so that nothing is lost. 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

SpontaneousBasamum's Experience

I am using it more than two years. It's perfect for quick note taking. Thanks to Google. 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 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

Boi Tien's Experience

I'd recommend GKeep because can use anywhere See More

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

Top Con

Synchronization bugs

There are some issues with synchronizing data including laggyness and returning old/deleted items. See More

Magda's Experience

Very handy and simple. See More

Top Pro

Notes can be color-coded

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

SuccinctBelisama's Experience

taking all my notes while reading/study/surfing with cross-platform availability 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 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

Startstart's Experience

It tracks you See More

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

Top Con

Not free/libre

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

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 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

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

Top Con

Google account required

You're required to have a Google account in order to use the app. See More

Top Pro

Notes can include photo and audio attachments

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

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

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

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

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

Too simplistic of an approach

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 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

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

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

Top Pro

Archives finished tasks

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

Top Con

Sharing within team doesn't work that well

You can share separate notes but not Projects, Wordspace, or Teams. See More

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

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 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

Top Con

No API

Top Con

There is a label limit up to 50

Top Con

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

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

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

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

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

Top Con

No BlackBerry 10 app

No BlackBerry support apart from web. See More

Top Con

No Windows Mobile app

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

See All

score 75 · Answer 10

Boostnote

Top Pro

Great for developers

Boostnote is great for developers looking to take programming notes with code snippets and such. 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 fulfil notes storage. There are additional steps involved to set this up. See More

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

Offline access:Yes

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

License:GPL v3

See All Specs

Top Pro

Open source

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

Top Con

Only one layer of folder

Compared to Evernote, we only have one layer of folder available. See More

ophouce's Experience

It is very easy to use because functions are gathered together. 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 Con

Android app not stable

There many reports on crashing when syncing to dropbox. See More

DedicatedArash's Experience

Best app for developers See More

Top Pro

Free

SpiritedNgintaka's Experience

I appreciate Latex support See More

Top Pro

Global search, tag feature

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

Top Pro

Cross platform support

Supports Windows, macOS and Linux, plus iOS and Android. See More

Top Pro

Markdown support

See All

score 20 · Answer 11

Obsidian md

Top Pro

Vim mode / vi-like keys

Top Con

No table editing yet

(Available as a plugin). See More

Specs

Platforms:Windows, Linux, Mac, iOS, Android

Offline access:Yes

Collaborative:Upcoming

API:Beta

See All Specs

Top Pro

Backlinking

This allows you to link notes back and forth really easily. See More

Top Con

Electron app

Obsidian is built on Electron bloatware. See More

Top Pro

Not locked to a provider

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

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

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

Top Pro

Syntax highlighting for code blocks

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

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

Top Pro

Functionality extensions with a growing number of plugins

Also open for anyone to develop their own extensions/plugins. See More

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

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

Top Pro

SQL-like queries

Advanced queries for the data-obsessed with Dataview Plugin. See More

Top Pro

Linking to blocks

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

Top Pro

Fast growing

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

Top Pro

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

Top Pro

Helps visualize personal knowledge in ways nothing else allows

Top Pro

Stores notes in plain text

See All

score 15 · Answer 12

SynapBook

Top Pro

Memo can be structured in tree form

Using the tree structure, you can structure the content. See More

Top Con

Does not support iOS

This app only supports Android and desktop OS, but not iOS. See More

Jason71's Experience

It seems to have many simple and useful functions. The post-it notes feature is especially useful to me See More

Top Pro

Nice sticky memo UI

It can support pop-up notes which can be used like simple Windows Sticky memo app. See More

JollyMut's Experience

Good. See More

Top Pro

Both search-based Memo and organizing tree Note

Search-based notes and tree-oriented tree notes are supported separately, so can be used conveniently depending on the purpose. See More

Top Pro

Offline mode support

Basically, it is based on server synchronization, but it can be used offline. See More

Top Pro

Folding

Groups can be folded. See More

Top Pro

Various text styles and decorations

General styles (bold, font size), highlighter and separator line, and more. See More

Top Pro

Frequent updates

Bug fixes and additional new features rolled out frequently. See More

Top Pro

Free

See All

score 204 · Answer 13

Evernote

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

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'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

Offline access:yes

Export:ENEX, HTML, MHT

Markdown support:limited

See All Specs

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

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'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

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

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's Experience

Very flexible with good functionality like text formatting and web clipping See More

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

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'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

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

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

Олег Медведев's Experience

Best for any kind of notes See More

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

Top Con

No official Linux app

Evernote does not offer an official Linux app, although there are some third party alternatives available. See More

JovialDeaTacita's Experience

Ease of use and fast app. See More

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

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

Regger's Experience

cool See More

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

Top Con

Syncing is slow

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

Top Con

Prices have doubled since Bending Spoon purchase

I used to pay 7 €/month, now it's 13. See More

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

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

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

Top Con

Missing some basic functions

Top Pro

Focused, uncluttered user interface

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

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

Top Pro

Evernote is synchronized

Top Con

Bending Spoon have relocated to Europe and fired 129 people

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

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

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

Top Con

Basic and lacking handwriting function

Handwriting has basic functions, is attached as a picture See More

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Top Con

Lacks search and replace capability

Top Pro

Skitch integration

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

Top Con

Rather poor user interface

Slow, not user friendly experience, complex, and somehow limited. See More

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

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

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

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

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

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

See All

score 29 · Answer 14

Tomboy

Top Pro

Free and open source

All the components are free, opensource, and allows self-hosting the sync server. See More

Top Con

Can't easily install on Windows 7

Mitchell Lippel's Experience

works for me great 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. See More

Top Pro

Lightweight

See All

score 16 · Answer 15

typora

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

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

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

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

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

Top Pro

Free during beta

Top Pro

Inline images

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

Top Pro

Support for LaTeX expressions

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

Top Pro

Syntax highlight for fenced codes

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

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

Top Pro

Cross-platform

Currently works on Windows, Mac and Linux. See More

Top Pro

Best notes markdown software

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

See All

score 50 · Answer 16

WorkFlowy

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

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's Experience

I use Workflowy nearly every day. See More

Specs

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

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

Top Con

Very limited formatting capabilities

In the web app you can mark bold and italics, and that's about it See More

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

Top Con

Hardly ever updated

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

Top Con

No date tags or reminder integration

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

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

Supports tags

Enables users to search by tags. 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 users who frequently uses Firefox or Safari as their default browsers, in which Chrome app also suffers memory leak and battery issues. 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

See All

score 25 · Answer 17

MindMup

Top Pro

Frictionless interface

MindMup allows focusing on thoughts and productively capture them without getting in the way. See More

Top Con

Note 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

Specs

Platforms:Web

Top Pro

Browser-based

Don't need to install anything, just open the website and you are set. See More

Top Con

Unconventional note taking style

It's a mind mapping application, not a traditional text based note storage platform. See More

Top Pro

Just works

Top Pro

Compatible with Google Drive and Github

Top Pro

Easy sharing & presenting

After taking notes, it only takes seconds to share and/or prepare them for presentations. See More

Top Pro

Free and open source

MindMup is free with source code available on GitHub. See More

See All

score 10 · Answer 18

Apple Notes

Top Pro

Supports sharing

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

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

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

Rich-text editing

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

Top Pro

Attachments

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

See All

score 43 · Answer 19

Quip

Top Pro

Amazing mobile interface

Unlike other mobile apps, Quip has really innovated with the text editor on mobile. They have a great interface for formatting text that stays out of your road to maximise 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

DynamicOkuninushi's Experience

I've been using for years and have yet to find an equally useful alternatuve. Sadly it isn't compatible with my new dubious oppo phone so I'm looking g for anything even close, sadly org mode is the nearest working alternative and that's far from being as useful See More

Top Pro

Lots of features

Quip has loads of features both on the sharing front and the editing front. See More

Top Con

Missing text editing features

Does not offer text coloring, or highlighting features. See More

Top Pro

Great editor

The editing experience in Quip is quite nuanced and pleasant. There is markdown support that formats as it is typed as well as support for checklists and the ability to make hierarchical lists. There are also controls for formatting in the UI, so it is all easily accessible. See More

Top Con

No Linux support

There's no Linux app available. See More

Top Pro

Very functional inline spreadsheets

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

Offline editing

Quip allows for offline editing of documents which then sync upon connection to Wi-Fi. This way users can continue working while not connected to the Internet, but they can still back up their work when they do finally get one. 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 Pro

Comments section

Quip offers comments for a particular line, for better Team ideas sharing. 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

See All

score 145 · Answer 20

Microsoft OneNote

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

Not available for Linux

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

Chris Cochrun's Experience

Love using OneNote more than any note app I've tried. Because if it's freeform whiteboard style canvas, you can basically use it for and endless amount of things. One single page can be the most powerful tool you have and with the ability to tag anything with any kind of tag you basically can search across your hierarchy into other sections or pages to find relevant notes. See More

Specs

Platforms:Windows / OSX / iOS / Android / Web

Offline access:Yes

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

Collaborative:Yes

See All Specs

Top Pro

Comprehensive organization methods

Can have multiple 'sections/tabs' at the top like in a web browser with many notes within each 'section/tab'. Also, there can be sections within section groups infinitely. The complete hierarchy looks like this: Notebooks > Section Groups ... Section Groups > Sections > Pages > Sub-pages > Sub-pages. 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

Peter J. Mello's Experience

It was a fraught onboarding experience to become a OneNote user, but since then everything has been surprisingly productive. The interface suffers from Microsoft's current inability to thoughtfully nest commands and simplify layouts, but every feature I've needed has been there waiting for me and has performed better than expected, from collaboration to note revision to searching for the info I need. 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

Not open-source

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

menace97's Experience

Very useful and simple to use. It is one of the applications I use throughout the day for a variety of functions. See More

Top Pro

Powerful table editor

Adding and resizing rows and columns is easy and flexible. This makes for an easy way to adjust a note as it grows in content size. 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

BrilliantEros's Experience

I’m using this for work. The integration with Outlook is fantastic - I can set up a page for meeting minutes (or note-taking from any other kind of appointment) pull in the appointment details (including a checklist of attendees and a link back to the appointment in Outlook) and then write the notes underneath. I have my project notebooks stored on my OneDrive, so I can share them with other Office365 users and so I can work in the same notebook on my iPad, drawing sketches or annotating photos. Any actions coming out of a meeting can be tagged as ToDos, or I can create a linked task in Outlook. Microsoft Groups and Teams sites come with a team notebook pre-configured. When I have multiple pages with notes tagged as ToDo, or with other, custom tags (eg to track changes, or items needing further research), with a click I can create a summary page of all the tags, to act as my ToDo list. Each line on the summary ToDo list can link back to the original, tagged note. Overall it’s a great way to keep organised and it’s a great time-saver over more traditional ways of taking and keeping minutes. 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

Menu/ribbon can feel crammed

OneNote offers a lot of formatting options, which results in a lot of options being crammed into the ribbon. It can feel somewhat cluttered and takes a bit of time to get used to. See More

TruthfulJurate's Experience

Free, automatic backups with versioning, cloud and local (up to 2019) storage. Voice syncing with text. Works like a sticky note when spilt screen. Macros - write your own or use pre-made. IFTTT, Macroland. 3rd Add-ons available 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

Sync isn't stable

Many users have reported synchronization issues. 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

All indented lines under the first can be expanded and hidden

Which makes it easy to quickly look at the high level of notes, and then drill deep into each point. 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

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

Syncing issues

It tells you there are conflicts between a note on the PC and on the Android because of the timing of the synchronization but doesn't try to resolve itself. See More

Top Pro

Stylus and digitizer pen support

OneNote can be used on all touch capable devices via stylus or digitizer pen making for an intuitive and easy way to take notes by hand, which can often be faster or just preferred over typing. It has the best pen input out of any note taking app. See More

Top Con

Platform dependent

The newer versions for Windows and Mac are converging, using the Windows style layout (with a more more consistent and usable UI). The original 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

Very similar design for those used to Microsoft programs

If you have experience with other Microsoft programs such as Microsoft Office, you'll feel right at home with the design of OneNote thanks to the similarity of the menus. See More

Top Con

Doesn't automatically sort (by name, size, date)

You can't choose to sort automatically. Just do it manually. 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 Con

No backup on Windows 10 free version

If you accidentally delete a section on the windows 10 free version of Onenote, there is no backup to fall back on. See More

Top Pro

Converts handwriting to text on Windows version

You can take handwritten notes on your mobile device with a stylus or digital pen and then convert the handwriting to text later on your Windows PC. 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

Article Web Clipper available on desktop and mobile

Has a web clipper extension on Chrome and Edge that can be used for clipping whole articles and images. Web clipping of articles is also available on Chrome mobile through the "Share" option. 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

Cross-platform

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

Top Con

Annotations can’t be anchored to a photo

If you annotate a photo or some text, then insert some text above it, the annotations don’t necessarily move with the photo and get misplaced. See More

Top Pro

Table is sortable

Top Con

iPad version is behind the Windows version in features

Biggest issue for me is that you’re stuck with the default, example tags - you can’t import custom tags from your Windows copy, or create and delete tags. See More

Top Pro

Integrates with other Microsoft services

Integrates well with Outlook, Office, and OneDrive. See More

Top Con

Some features require external apps

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

Top Pro

Sharing and collaboration

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 is made on your shared note. See More

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

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 Pro

Mathematical calculations

You can perform mathematical calculations in OneNote like a calculator. e.g. 1+2=3, 85/4=21.25, 8!=40,320, 7^2=49 See More

Top Pro

Ink to Math

Handwritten mathematical equations can be converted to typed mathematical equations. Moreover, you can ask OneNote to solve the equation too. See More

Top Pro

Optical character recognition

You can copy / search text in images added to OneNote. See More

Top Pro

Page versioning

You can view the history of any page and revert to a previous version. 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

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 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 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

85 Options Considered

My Recommendation for Org-mode

My Recommendation for Org-mode

Very flexible

Difficult to learn

The ultimate note-taking app for programmers/STEM people

Locked in to Emacs

Built-in agenda

Great sync support

Versioning can be tracked and synced using Git or other VCS

Basic spreadsheet functionality

Out-of-the-box Latex support

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

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

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

Interlinked notes

Multiple Android options

iOS support with BeOrg

My Recommendation for Joplin

My Recommendation for Joplin

Open source

Old school interface

Cross-platform

Can't create tags from the mobile app

Supports markdown

Does not have a Web client

Offline access

Gargantuan memory footprint

Encryption

Google Drive not included in synch options

Nextcloud support

Bloated

Supports nested folders

App Image launches very slowly

Can import from Evernote

Writing and editing in Indic utf8 script is problematic

Supports tags for notes

Sync issue under Linux

Web Clipper

Dark theme

Supports file attachments

Sync server easy to self host

Active user forum with support from app creators

Dropbox support

All notes are in one central SQLite database

Supports multiple languages

Optional CLI interface

My Recommendation for Zim

My Recommendation for Zim

Plain text data format rather than proprietary

Looks ancient

Multi-platform

No pre-packaged Mac support

Multiple exports

Windows support has stalled

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

No Android version

Support for multiple platforms

Good export options

Allows for organized, wiki-style navigation

Great sync with Dropbox

My Recommendation for Simplenote

My Recommendation for Simplenote

Very simple and clean interface

No note encryption at rest

Geared towards fast usage

Limited ways to reorder notes

Works offline

No reminders

Desktop app is open source

No support for file attachments

Can export your data

Search is limited to one tag

Collaborative features

No way to import notes from anywhere

Open Source

Web access only for updated browsers

"Time machine" style revision control on the notes

No 32-bit version

Wide range of great clients with great sync