What Are the 10 Best Note-Taking Apps on the Market?
The list of the best note-taking apps below consists of both free and paid plans. While some apps have a steeper learning curve and more complex features, others only target taking notes in plain, minimalist interfaces.
Let’s dive right in.
1. Evernote – Best Note-Taking App for Businesses
Our Take
Thanks to its comprehensive set of advanced features, Evernote is at the top of every ‘best note-taking apps’ list. And for a very good reason. Cross-platform syncing, browser version, flexibility, and robust note-searching tools make Evernote a must-consider for every use.
| Best For | Collaboration and business |
| Price | Click to reveal |
| Biggest Plus Point | Effortless note-taking, syncing, and all-around project management functionality |
| Biggest Downside | Expensive paid plan |
Evernote is one of the best note-taking apps that has it all. It’s available as a mobile app, browser extension, and desktop app. You’ll hardly be able to find an alternative app or web clipper that offers as many features and functionalities as Evernote. You can download an app for iOS and Android devices in their respective stores.
Given its relatively high price, this app can be a major turnoff for users on a tight budget. However, if it suits your budget then you’re in for a sophisticated, organized, and fully synchronized note-taking experience.
The search tool is very fast and responsive and the app can handle large notebooks with ease. There has also been a recent redesign in the editor that now makes it easier to format notes, change the font color and size, and more.
Great note-taking apps like Evernote don’t leave their users without assistance. You can explore tips and tricks on the official Evernote company blog to make the most out of the software.
With Evernote, you can save, record, search, and organize your notes, thoughts, images, voice recordings, and files. The system stores your notes in the cloud, so they are easily accessible across devices.
Unlike the Apple Notes app for Apple devices, which is closer to digital sticky notes or reminder apps, Evernote is like a large filing box where you can do advanced searches for information.
Key Features
- Web clipper
- Templates
- Calendars
- Scanned documents reader
- Numerous integrations (Slack, Google Drive, Microsoft Teams, etc.)
- Search handwriting
- Advanced search in Office docs, presentations, images, or scanned documents
Pricing
At the time of writing, Evernote offers three plans:
- Free – $0.0 per month
- Personal – $8.99 per month when billed monthly, $6.67 per month when billed yearly
- Professional – $10.99 per month when billed monthly, $9.17 per month when billed yearly
Pros
- Feature-dense software
- Easy digital note-taking
- Advanced search in all document types
- Syncs across all your devices
Cons
- Expensive premium plan
- Numerous free account limitations
2. Zoho Notebook – Great Note-Taking App for Web and Desktop
Our Take
Zoho Notebook is arguably the best note-taking app for cross-platform note-taking. It includes checklists, files, drawings, media, sketches, and numerous other integrations.
| Best For | Organizing notes from notebooks |
| Price | Click to reveal |
| Biggest Plus Point | Offline data access and chat and phone support |
| Biggest Downside | No guest-sharing or team collaboration features |
Zoho Notebook is an all-in-one note-taking app that can tackle all notes-related needs of professionals, students, and hobbyists alike. The app is completely free to download and use, with a more advanced version being available at an affordable price.
The Notebook app has seen steady improvements over the years and is now capable of syncing content across devices and major platforms online. The software is available as a web clipper extension for your browser, mobile app (for iOS and Android), and desktop app.
Zoho Notebook is one of the top note-taking apps that can also record audio notes, add password protection on specific notes, and has plenty of sharing and collaboration options.
The free Zoho version is more than enough for making and organizing basic notes in the mobile or web app. There’s no storage limit, no in-app purchases, and all you have to do is focus on the essence of this note-taking software.
The major downside, however, is the lack of instant collaboration features.
Key Features
- Merge and link notes
- Turns emails into notes
- @mention to share notes
- 100 GB storage in the Pro plan
- 1 GB file upload size
- Users can set reminders
- Web clipper
- Google Suite, Zoho Ecosystem, Slack, and Teams integration
Pricing
Zoho Notebook has a free package called Notebook Essential and a Notebook Pro plan that costs $19.99 when billed yearly. For monthly payments, you’ll pay $1.99.
Pros
- The user has access to data offline
- Affordable pricing
- Easy to use
- Can scan documents, business cards, and tabular data
Cons
- Lacks note templates
- It doesn’t support guest note sharing
- It doesn’t have the Annotate PDF feature
3. Notion – Best Overall Note-Taking and Task Management App
Our Take
Notion is an excellent notes app that has a great free plan. The user interface is super intuitive. There are plenty of note customization features and endless possibilities for working with different file formats.
| Best For | Managing tasks and team notes |
| Price | Click to reveal |
| Biggest Plus Point | Robust templates for creating default page styles and notes |
| Biggest Downside | Can be overwhelming for first-time users |
Notion isn’t your simple note-taking app. It’s a comprehensive software that works in blocks. It has hundreds of pre-made templates, table database blocks, a robust text notes editor, and excellent project management possibilities.
Notion can cater to all types of users. You can write notes, create schedules, import web pages, and have a well-organized digital notebook with very little effort. The focus on the creative side and unique design make Notion one of the top apps for taking notes.
Many people mistake Notion for a project management tool. But in essence, this software is better described as an advanced note-taking tool with powerful project management features on the side.
Notion has all the features you can expect from highly-ranked productivity apps. You can store notes on the cloud, integrate with other apps, use it on Android and Apple devices, and play with templates for creating any note.
Other note-taking apps offer robust features in terms of efficient note organization, but they can hardly compete with Notion. The built-in text editor is built for focus due to its distraction-free interface. You can use shortcuts to easily add to-do lists, images, web pages, videos, bookmarks, pages, headings, etc.
You can organize notes in databases, folders, and files inside of pages, tag the notes with keywords, add teammates, create due dates, and more.
Key Features
- Intuitive and easy-to-use text editor
- Table database blocks
- Bookmark saving and display
- Board database block
- To-do lists
- Public pages
- Endless customization
Pricing
Notion offers a free version with unlimited blocks as well as a limited block trial for teams. There are three paid plans, including:
- Plus (formerly known as Team), $8 per month per user when billed annually, $10 when billed monthly
- Business plan for companies and teams, $15 per user per month when billed annually, $18 when billed monthly
- Enterprise plan for advanced support and controls for organizations at a custom price
Pros
- Page creation
- Integrated templates
- Fun dashboard
- Great for team sharing
Cons
- Very few functionalities in the offline mode
- The Kanban board could be better
4. Hive – Best Note-Taking App for Meetings
Our Take
Hive offers an excellent note-taking app to its users. It’s easy to integrate meetings with to-do lists and overcome traditional meeting note-taking. Integrations with Google and Outlook calendars make it easy to exchange notes with everyone, even if they don’t attend the meeting.
| Best For | Meeting notes |
| Price | Click to reveal |
| Biggest Plus Point | Easy sharing of notes during meetings with all team members |
| Biggest Downside | Mainly suitable for in-meeting note-taking situations |
Hive Notes is a robust note-taking app with powerful integration features that works great with Zoom, Outlook, Google Calendar, and other apps and meeting platforms. Users can access their Hive Notes during Zoom meetings for effortless note-taking and sharing.
Real-time collaboration tools allow all meeting participants to see the notes but also to assign action items within the meeting. As a result, virtual meetings offer a brand-new experience that’s much more interactive.
Hive constantly updates its features and makes it easy to organize one’s workload, insert new assignments, and move notes around. It’s one of the reasons why project managers across industries love the platform.
Key Features
- Link notes to calendar meetings
- Share notes with meeting attendees
- Agenda creation
- Task automation
- Meeting alerts that link to the meeting note
Pricing
The Hive Notes app is available as part of the more extensive Hive project management software. The company offers three plans:
- Solo or free forever plan for $0.0.
- Teams plan for $12 per month per user with a 14-day free trial
- Enterprise plan with custom pricing
Pros
- Ideal for Hive users
- It makes in-meeting note-taking a breeze
- Easy to use
Cons
- The note-taking tool is only available as part of the Hive project management package
- Not suitable for general use, given that the focus is on meeting note-taking
5. Typora – Best Note-Taking App for Individuals
Our Take
If you’re after a minimalist, focus-boosting note-taking app to jot down ideas, project plans, or class notes, Typora may be the best note-taking app for you. This modern app makes it easy to create formatted documents and has a built-in export feature.
| Best For | Minimalist, distraction-free note-taking |
| Price | Click to reveal |
| Biggest Plus Point | Markdown syntax and formatting tools, including tables, images, and customizable fonts |
| Biggest Downside | Limited when it comes to instant collaboration and note sharing |
Typora is your go-to note-taking app if you’re after distraction-free software. Most note-taking apps on the market are equipped with dozens of features, customization options, and functionality to make sharing and editing easier. However, very few of them put the action of note-taking in the center. That’s where Typora excels.
With Typora, you have a distraction-free environment for creating content. It has a simple interface and a cross-platform editor you can use on Mac, Windows, and Linux computers. This open-source program is ideal for those who need a clean space to start writing a blog or book.
In Typora, you can format your notes to include headers, images, lists, code fences, tables, diagrams, and much more. You can also track the word count, use the outline panel to see the structure of your document, and organize files using the file tree panel and side panel.
Key Features
- Outline panel
- Auto pair
- Code fences
- Live preview
- Focus mode
- TypeWriter mode
- File manager
- Custom themes
- Syntax highlighting
Pricing
Typora comes at $14.99 for a lifetime purchase with a 15-day trial.
Pros
- Distraction-free writing mode
- Markdown syntax
- Can export to HTML, PDF, and more
- Free to use
Cons
- Not suitable for collaboration
- Limited cross-platform support
6. Bit.ai
Bit.ai is one of the leading workplace and document collaboration platforms for teams and individuals alike. It’s the perfect place to organize your knowledge in a single platform, regardless of where you’re located.
The system lets you create dynamic notes, wikis, documents, projects, knowledge bases, technical documents, client portals, training guides, and much more.
Choose from different template galleries, invite team members, use a smart text editor, and pick a project-specific theme color and design to bring note-taking to another level.
Users can integrate numerous media embeds into their notes, including:
- YouTube videos
- Vimeo
- TED
- CloudApp
- Pinterest Boards and Pins
- Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets
- OneDrive files
- Tableau
- Trello
- Canva
- Figma
- Much more
Key Features
- Multiple workspaces
- Folders and subfolders
- Content library and control
- Cloud upload
- Document editor
- Auto formatting
- Document themes
- More than 100 file formats supported
- Code blocks
- Real-time collaboration
Pricing
Bit.ai has a free plan with limited features. There’s also the Pro plan for $8 per month per user when billed annually and $12 per month when billed monthly. The Business Plan for teams is $15 per month when billed annually and $20 per month for monthly payments.
Pros
- Ability to embed media
- Plenty of tutorials online
- Easy to use
Cons
- No app version is available
- Limited formatting
7. Nifty PM
Nifty is a project management software that makes working on large-scale projects with large teams a breeze. The system has a collaborative workspace for organizing tasks, tracking time, managing documents, and more.
The Nifty project management tool isn’t your regular note-taking app. It’s an all-in-one solution for collaboration with a chat feature, task management, and deadline-highlighting functionality. Users can leave comments to collaborate with team members directly on tasks. There’s also a robust integration with Zoom and Google Drive.
Users can use the chat or built-in docs tool for note-taking whenever they need to brainstorm new ideas. Instant collaboration on documents, discussions feature, and interactive Gantt charts make note-taking easy in this software.
The software is available for desktop use as well as for iOS and Android apps. Users can set milestones for tracking projects, color-code them depending on the progress and due date, and organize projects into folders depending on locations, departments, and managers.
You can set different user roles and permissions for different team members, including members, owners, admins, and guests.
Nifty supports integration with other project management tools like Asana, Basecamp, Trello, and others.
Key Features
- Discussions
- Docs and files
- Time tracking
- Reporting
- Project portfolios
- Gantt chart milestones
Pricing
Nifty has numerous plans depending on your needs:
- Forever free version
- $5 per month per member Starter plan
- $10 per month per member Pro plan
- $16 per month per member Business plan
- Enterprise plan at custom pricing
Pros
- Regular updates
- Affordable all-around project management tool
- Intuitive interface
- Great mobile app
Cons
- Lacks custom automation
- No dashboards
- No PDF annotation
8. ClickUp
ClickUp is a project management tool ideal for users who wish to streamline their daily activities. The platform includes plenty of collaboration tools, an online whiteboard, a resource management feature, data dashboards, custom charts, and more.
The platform is available for free, but there’s also a premium version with advanced features. The free plan doesn’t include a user limit, supports time-tracking features, and has robust file editing functionalities.
The user also has access to Gantt charts, Kanban boards, and Spreadsheet view to advance their project management skills (Curious about project management software? Check out our review of Jira).
Best of all is that whenever you need help, ClickUp has 24/7 customer support both for the premium and free versions.
Overall, the app is straightforward to set up, and it includes a customizable task link. Users can access all the needed tools from the vertical bookmark bar. You can also create custom project templates, assign sub-tasks, automate projects, and much more.
As an admin, you can organize teams and departments into different Spaces, group projects into folders, and divide tasks into lists. Every ClickUp plan has a dedicated Notepad where you can make notes on projects. Create grocery lists, save images and links, and convert notes to tasks.
Key Features
- Project management functionality (Kanban board, Gantt charts)
- Workflow creation features
- Data visualization
- Time tracker
- Milestones
- Custom fields
- Effective dashboard
Pricing
ClickUp has five plans in total:
- Free forever plan
- Unlimited plan for small teams at $5 per month per member when billed yearly, $9 when billed monthly
- Business plan for mid-sized teams at $12 per month per member when billed yearly, $19 for monthly payments
- Business Plus plan for multiple teams at $19 per month per member when billed yearly, $29 when billed monthly
- Enterprise plan for organizations at custom pricing available upon request
Pros
- Excellent free note-taking app
- Plenty of customization features
- Automation builder
- 24/7 live support
Cons
- Some users may find the customization part overwhelming
- Not the best software for project feedback
- Pulling data from custom fields is still unavailable
9. Coda
Consider Coda your go-to all-on-one productivity app that brings all your spreadsheets, documents, and databases into a single interface. Coda’s primary purpose is to help team collaboration and workflow streamlining.
Thousands of teams around the world rely on this tool.
Coda has a drag-and-drop interface for creating documents and notes. It’s easy to organize information inside documents and embed videos, images, charts, and other types of files into your doc.
The spreadsheet feature makes for easy data entry and visualization across projects. Users can type in formulas and add custom functions to automate data for data analysis. There are also databases, including integrations with PostgreSQL and MongoDB, for easy data manipulation across resources.
The built-in chat feature makes for easy communication across teams. The comment system is easy to use, and everyone can leave text notes and annotations on shared documents.
The intuitive interface of Coda makes it easy for everyone to grasp and get started. The wide range of features allows for document creation, note-taking, and data analysis.
However, given that Coda is a premium tool, some users may find it too expensive. There’s also limited customer support, so it can be challenging to get assistance if you run into issues.
Key Features
- Data automation
- Robust document editing with a project tracker
- Third-party apps integration (Slack, Jira, Dropbox, Asana, GitHub, Gmail, Teams, Airtable, and more)
- Drag and drop interface with numerous templates
- Customized dashboards
- Reminders
- Progress tracking
- Note-taking tools
Pricing
Coda has four plans in their offer:
- Free plan
- Pro plan at $10 per month per Doc Maker when billed yearly, $12 for monthly payments
- Team plan at $30 per Doc Maker when billed yearly, $36 for monthly payments
- Enterprise plan at custom pricing
Coda has flexible pricing options for each plan depending on the number of people in your team and the number of Doc Makers you need. For example, a team of 30 people with five Doc Makers in the Team plan would cost $150 per month. For 10 Doc Makers, you’d pay $300 for the same number of people.
Note: A Doc Maker in Coda is a person responsible for creating docs for other team members to use.
Pros
- Numerous integrations
- Drag and drop interface
- Smooth templates
- Data highlighting features
- Intuitive platform
- Agile and collaborative
- File sharing
- Excellent organizational features
Cons
- Steep initial learning curve
- Expensive plans
- Limited customer support
- The dashboard could be more comprehensive
10. nTask Manager
nTask Manager is a popular online task management tool for teams and individuals working on various tasks and projects. With nTask, you can manage different projects simultaneously on a single, intuitive platform.
With nTask, you can create product launch checklists and tasks, schedule and prioritize them, use Kanban boards for workflow visualization, track issues and bugs, and much more.
If you work with teams, you can also use the meeting software to create a meeting agenda and streamline your team communication.
Project planning also becomes much easier thanks to a smart timeline that maps out project deadlines. There are also discussion points where you can make notes of key parts of the meeting and share your notes with other participants.
Key Features
- Task deadline setting
- Task assignment to team members
- Creating notes for each task
- Third-party tool integration
- Real-time collaboration for tasks and projects
- Project labels
Pricing
nTask has different pricing options depending on the team size. You can choose from 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, and 50 users. Three plans are available:
- Premium plan at $3 per month when billed yearly
- Business plan at $8 per month when billed yearly
- Enterprise plan at custom pricing
The Premium and Business plan both have a free 7-day trial, so you can test the app before committing.
Pros
- Very simple and intuitive interface
- Easy integration with Slack, Asana, Gmail, and other third-party apps
- Free version available with many powerful features
- Ability to label projects and tasks
Cons
- No mobile app available
- No calendar view
- Poor customization options
How to Choose the Right Note-Taking App for Your Needs
There are dozens of digital notes app solutions for individuals, professionals, and students. Whether you need a simple, free note-taking app or a robust project management software with note-taking features, you can find a little bit of everything in the list above.
While built-in programs like Apple Notes offer enough features for basic note-taking, the note-taking apps provided in this article will help you achieve much more. Create notes in note apps like Evernote, Notion, or use complex project management tools like Coda to streamline your work process.
Here are some tips to help you find the right app:
- Consider your needs. Do you need simple software where you can jot down quick notes? Or do you need a more robust program where you can embed images, record your voice, and similar?
- Go for cross-platform compatibility software. Chances are, you’ll want to use the note-taking app on more than one device. An excellent note-taking app will sync notes across platforms and devices, including web, desktop, and mobile apps.
- Think about the extra features. You’ll find many apps with extra features like task management tools, reminders, etc. If you’re hunting for an app that’s more than just a simple tool for taking notes, you can find the software with those features.
- Read online reviews. When you find an app that has the features and functionalities you need, dedicate some time to reading online reviews. See how satisfied users are with the specific tools you need and whether the app is easy to use. Also, reading reviews will help you identify potential problems or issues.
- Test it out. Most premium note-taking apps come with free trials. Test multiple options to get a feel for how the software works and whether it meets your needs before committing.
