What is the best cross-platform note taking app?

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70

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9 hrs

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Here’s the Deal

The Best 2 of 67 OptionsWhy?

Best cross-platform note taking app	Price	Platforms	Collaborative
93 Google Keep	FREE	Android / iOS / Chrome / Web / Desktop	Yes
91 Simplenote	Free	Android / iOS / OSX / Windows / Linux	yes
86 Evernote	$0-$89.99/Y	Android / iOS / WP / OSX / Windows / WebOS	yes
85 Org-mode	-	–	–
83 Quip	$30/M	–	–

See Full List

Simplenote

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

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

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

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

Collaborative:Yes

Top Pro

Comprehensive organization methods

Can have multiple 'tabs' at the top like in a web browser with many notes within each 'tab'. 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

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

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

Not open-source

Top Pro

Self-hosted and indefinitely accessible

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

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

Only the essentials

Only basic features are added to Elephant so users aren't overloaded with the interface. See More

Top Con

No mobile app

No mobile apps (can use common sync tools to edit plain files, though). See More

Specs

Top Pro

Open source

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

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

Specs

Platforms:Windows, Linux, Android

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

Specs

Platforms:Mac OSX; Windows; Linux

Preview:WYSIWYG

License:Proprietary

Export:HTML; HTML (pure); PDF; Word; OpenOffice; RTF; Epub; LaTeX; Media Wiki; ReStructuredText; Textile; OPML

Top Con

Data privacy not guaranteed

Data privacy is widely known as one of Google's weaknesses. Data shared through Google is most likely matched up with the user's profile inside other Alphabet inc. subsidiaries, and, due to the business model, used commercially. See More

Top Pro

Usable on all major platforms

Web (Windows, Mac, Linux) Android iOs Editing documents, spreadsheets is well supported on all major platforms where Google Drive is available. See More

Specs

Platforms:Windows; OSX; Linux; Android; iOS

Top Pro

Great for developers

Boostnote is great for developers looking to take programming notes with code snippets and such. See More

Top Con

Android app not stable

There many reports on crashing when syncing to dropbox. 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/Andoid/iOS

Top Con

Major limitations for free users

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

Top Pro

Clean, user-friendly, stylish interface

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

Specs

Platforms:iOS; Android

Top Pro

Checklists

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

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score 220 · Accepted Answer

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

Anders Øyvind Urke-Sætre's Experience

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

Specs

What is the best cross-platform note taking app?

The Best 2 of 67 OptionsWhy?

Google Keep

My Recommendation for Google Keep

My Recommendation for Google Keep

Easy to use

Google can access and mine your data

Super fast to use

No text formatting

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

Messy if you have lots of notes

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

Not free/libre

Automatic saving

No ability to undo changes

Useful Android home screen widget

Can be taken down some day

Can share and collaboratively edit any item including lists

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

Notes can be grouped via labels

Google account required

Notes can be color-coded

Organization is limited to just multiple tags for notes

Supports drawing or writing notes by hand

Synchronization bugs

Notes can include photo and audio attachments

No way to search within a note

Includes character recognition for text in images

No notifications when tasks are added to shared lists

Really well implemented speech-to-text

Not distributed

Both location- and time-based reminders

No integrated social media sharing

Drag and drop sorting

Does not integrate with Google Calendar or Tasks

Archives finished tasks

Can be difficult to discover the features

Cross platform

Does not offer themes

Notes can be grouped via labels

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

Slow to save the updates

Too simplistic of an approach

Delay between to-do entries

No API

There is a label limit up to 100.

Notes get lost/deleted and can NOT be recovered

Scrolling through notes is horrible

Not good at all for longer notes

No BlackBerry 10 app

No Windows Mobile app

Simplenote

My Recommendation for Simplenote

My Recommendation for Simplenote

Geared towards fast usage

Search is limited to one tag

"Time machine" style revision control on the notes

Limited ways to reorder notes

Very simple and clean interface

No widgets on Android

Works offline

No support for file attachments

Markdown support via web interface

No reminders

Wide range of great clients with great sync

No 32-bit version

Can export your data

No way to import notes from anywhere

Linux client available

The search function doesn't see tags

Desktop app is open source

No way to bulk-apply a tag

Excellent iOS app

No notification when changes made on a shared note

Collaborative features

Save-to-disk feature is poor

Excellent desktop client in the form of nvAlt

No integrated social media sharing

Lack of color impacts usability

65 Other Options Considered