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Everyone needs to write things down from time to time. Note-taking apps let you do just that and seamlessly sync your memos to all your other devices. But their real advantage is how they help you organize and find information. The best apps give you several structuring options, such as folders or notebooks, as well as competent tagging and search features. In short, a good note-taking app is like having a personal internet where you can easily look up anything about your work or personal life (even things you wouldn't expect ). We've been testing note-taking apps for more than a decade, and our top picks include the open-source Joplin and the extremely capable Microsoft OneNote. But these aren't the only apps worth checking out, so read on for more of our top picks.
How Much Should You Pay for a Note-Taking App?
Pricing for note-taking apps is all over the place. The best note-taking app overall, OneNote, is free. Customers who pay for Microsoft 365 get extra storage through OneDrive and some Copilot features. The cheapest paid app we reviewed, UpNote, costs $1.99 per month or $39.99 for a lifetime subscription, though it lacks advanced features. The most expensive app we reviewed is Evernote, which starts at $14.99 per person per month. We don't recommend paying that much.
What Is the Best Free and Open-Source Note-Taking App?
The open-source Joplin doesn't cost anything to download or restrict access to any core features. The only catch is that it stores notes locally rather than in the cloud. Of course, privacy enthusiasts see that as an upside, and you might, too. You can pay Joplin to sync your notes if you want, but support for syncing via Dropbox, OneDrive, and NextCloud means you don't have to. Joplin offers apps for all major platforms, excellent tools for importing notes from other applications (including Evernote), and a great web clipper.
Which Note-Taking Apps Are Best for Teams?
Teams need to be able to share and comment on notes. Microsoft OneNote is best for this use case. It has excellent collaboration features that tie nicely into Microsoft Teams . You can share entire notebooks and track who says what.
Other applications with built-in collaboration features include Evernote and Notion, though both are quite expensive compared with OneNote.
What Features Should You Look for in a Note-Taking App?
The first things you should look for are organization tools. Do you prefer using folders, tags, or both? Next, you should examine how formatting works. Some applications use rich text, while others require that you learn to use Markdown , a formatting language that uses special characters to apply boldface, hyperlinks, and italics.
Then, you should think about advanced features. If you have an iPad or another tablet that works with a stylus, you might want to look for something that supports drawing and writing by hand. If you work with a lot of paper documents, you should seek out an application that supports the bulk scanning of pages. You'll also want optical character recognition ( OCR ), which makes scanned documents and other images searchable. Some people like taking voice notes , too.
Finally, it's worth considering AI features. Some applications, such as Evernote, Notion, and OneNote, offer tools that can automatically summarize meeting notes or pull in action items.
For more advice, read our stories about note-taking tips that can change your life and the tools you need for taking digital notes .
