When you’re on the go, it can be hard to keep track of all your thoughts and ideas. Sometimes it feels like you’re juggling a million things at once, and your brain is just full up! In this day and age, there are billions of apps available to help you manage everything from finances to recipes. So why should your notes be any different?
Below we’ve compiled a list of the best apps for writing notes so you can keep track of all those great ideas that pop into your head while you’re grocery shopping, taking a shower, or walking the dog.
Table of Contents
Best Apps For Writing Notes
Best free note-taking app
Microsoft OneNote (iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Web)
Microsoft OneNote is a free and full-featured note-taking app. It’s Microsoft’s answer to Evernote (the next app on this list), though without the need for a monthly subscription.
OneNote is incredibly freeform when it comes to taking notes. Each Notebook is modeled off a ringbinder, so it’s divided into sections with subsections called pages. And each page is basically a canvas where you can add any kind of note you like, anywhere you want. This means you can drag and drop in an image, click anywhere to add some text notes beside it, and if your computer supports a stylus, scribble a mustache on everyone in the photo. (Otherwise you can draw one on with your trackpad, but it’ll be less stylish.) It feels like a solution purpose-built for students and anyone else who has to take long, discursive notes about something, rather than people looking for a digital notebook to collect short snippets and random ideas.
I’d struggle to call any of Microsoft’s apps intuitive, but OneNote is familiar. The ribbon at the top of the app has five tabs: Home, which has all the basic formatting tools; Insert, which lets you attach files, images, audio recordings, and everything else; Draw, which gives you all the free drawing and highlighting tools; View, which lets you navigate the document and change how things look; and, finally, Tell Me, which is the help function. If you’ve used any version of Word, Excel, or PowerPoint in the last decade, you’ll be right at home.
In terms of pricing, although OneNote is free, it uses your OneDrive storage. You get 5GB included, which is more than enough for most people. But if you use OneDrive to store your photos, or save a lot of image and audio notes, you might hit against that limit. If you do, you can increase it to 100GB for $1.99/month.
With OneNote’s Zapier integration, you can automate OneNote to eliminate the hassle of moving information between apps. For example, Zapier can automatically create new notes in OneNote whenever you have a new task, note, or calendar event in another app.
OneNote Price: Free for up to 5GB of notes; $1.99/month for 100GB.
Evernote and OneNote are the frontrunners in the note-taking category. Take a look at how they stack up in our Evernote vs. OneNote showdown.
Best note-taking app for the ultimate digital notebook
Evernote (Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, Web)
It’s impossible to talk about note-taking apps without mentioning Evernote, so it should be no surprise to see it on this list. It’s one of the most powerful options around and can handle notes in almost any format you want. You can add text notes, audio clips, images, PDF documents, scanned handwritten pages, Slack conversations, emails, websites, and anything else you can think of. If you’re the kind of person who’s as likely to scribble the outline to a best-seller on the back of a napkin as you are to save your shopping list as a voice memo, Evernote is great: it gives you one safe place to throw everything.
But Evernote isn’t just a dumping ground. It’s designed so you can easily sort and organize your notes. Create a new note by clicking New > Note, type whatever you want or add any of the supported note types, then, at the bottom of the screen, you can add tags. If you already have some tags set up, they’ll be auto-suggested; otherwise, you can type whatever you want and hit Enter. In the sidebar, click Tags to see a searchable list of every tag you’ve used. It’s a really fast way to sort notes as you create them, without having to worry about putting every note perfectly in its place.
Of course, later on, you can dive back in and arrange all your notes into meticulously sorted notebooks. In that case, click Notebooks in the sidebar and then New Notebook. Give it a name and you’ll be able to drag and drop notes from anywhere else in Evernote into it. Alternatively, you can right-click on a note, click Move, and then select your chosen notebook.
Evernote takes things a step further with its search functionality. If you upload an image of a sheet of paper, a business card, a menu, a sign, or anything else with text, Evernote automatically processes the image to make it more readable—and then processes the text to make it searchable. So, if you add a photo of your favorite pancake recipe, you’ll be able to search for it as if it’s a text note you typed yourself. Evernote even works with handwritten notes, though with the huge caveat that your writing must be neat enough that a computer can read it. (Mine, sadly, is not.)
It’s similar with PDFs and other documents you upload—if you have a Premium Evernote subscription, the text is searchable throughout the app.
Crucially, that $7.99/month Premium Evernote subscription needs to be mentioned. Evernote’s free plan doesn’t make this list. It’s limited to two devices, and you can’t save notes for offline access on mobile. Microsoft OneNote is a significantly better free option, if you never intend to upgrade to a paid plan. However, if you’re looking for the ultimate everything notebook and don’t mind the monthly fee, then Evernote is the app for you.
Evernote integrates with Zapier, letting you automate your note-taking. For example, you can automatically create tasks from Evernote reminders, or create new notes for calendar events.
Evernote Price: Very limited free plan; $7.99/month for Evernote Premium with unlimited devices and offline mobile access.
If you decide on Evernote, check out 30 tips for Evernote to make the most of your notes. And take a look at 5 hidden Evernote features.
Best note-taking app for Apple users
Apple Notes (iOS, macOS, Web)
If you’re firmly entrenched in Apple’s ecosystem, you don’t have to look too far for a great, free note-taking app. Apple Notes (variously called Notes or iCloud Notes, depending on how you’re accessing it) is built into macOS and iOS, and can also be used through your browser. Just head to icloud.com/notes, and you get an online version of the app with all your synced notes—even if you’re on a PC or Chromebook. It’s a nice bonus that keeps your notes from being totally locked into your Apple devices, provided you have enough iCloud space to store everything.
Apple Notes is a little more barebones than our previous two picks, but that’s not really a dealbreaker. It’s convenient, easy to use, and even integrates with Siri. And it keeps getting better. Apple recently added tags—type #whatever to add one to any note—and you can share notes with other Apple users, and now even @mention them. Search is also pretty powerful. You can look for images, text you’ve written, a particular attachment, drawings, text scanned in a document, or something inside the image you’re trying to find (for example, “a bike”).
Once you create a new note, you can add text, attach images, scan documents, draw or handwrite, add checklists, format things into tables, and more. You can add multiple different things to a single note—but unlike with OneNote, they’re compartmentalized. You can’t, for example, use the pen tool to scratch out a text note.
Of course, as a first-party Apple app, Notes plays nice with the whole Apple ecosystem. One clever feature is that you can use your iPhone or iPad to add content directly to Notes on your Mac. Open a new note, click the Attach dropdown, and then choose from Take Photo, Scan Document, and Add Sketch. If you click Scan Document, for example, the camera will open on your iOS device and you’ll be able to automatically scan, process, and add letters, recipes, bank statements, and any other documents as PDFs.
While not as basic as it once was, Apple Notes is still very functional and checks all our requirements for a great note-taking app. Power-user features can be useful, but most users aren’t power users—and Apple knows it.
Apple Notes Price: Free for 5GB of storage across all iCloud services; starts at $0.99/month for 50GB.
There’s a very healthy notes app ecosystem for Apple devices; however, since they’re all paid products and Apple Notes is so good, none of them made this list. For more options, check out our picks for the best Mac note-taking apps.
Best note-taking app for Google power users
Google Keep (Android, iOS, Web, Chrome)
Most people don’t take notes just for the sake of it. Instead, they’re done to serve a purpose: to remind you to email a friend, to help you outline your new book, or one of a million other things. Often, these other things require you to use some other app or service. You can’t send an email from your notes app, and while you might be able to outline a book, it’s probably not the best place to write it. This is what makes Google Keep such a great option for Google power users.
Google Keep is a little odd. As a notes app, it’s fine. There are reasonable web, iOS, and Android versions, and a handy Chrome extension for saving quick notes and links. But it’s how it integrates with Google’s other services that makes it so useful.
If you use Google Keep, when you open Gmail in your browser, there’s a little lightbulb icon in the right sidebar. Click it, and you have quick access to all your Google Keep notes. You can see any notes related to the thing you’re working on, your most recent notes, search for something from a while ago, or create a new one. But here’s the thing: that same sidebar is there in all of your Google Docs, in your Google Calendar, and even in your Google Drive. About the only Google app it isn’t in is YouTube.
And Keep integrates with the rest of Google in other ways. Click on a note and then Copy to Google Docs to convert it into a new document (you can also drag and drop a note from the sidebar if you have Google Docs open); set a reminder by clicking the little bell icon, and the note appears in your Google Calendar; and if you create an audio note on your smartphone, Google automatically transcribes it.
Really, if you live your work life in Google’s ecosystem, you should be using Keep—even if you also use another note-taking solution for your personal life.
Google Keep Price: Free for 15GB of storage across all of Google apps; starts at $1.99/month for 100GB.
Best note-taking app for collaboration
Notion (Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, Web)
Note-taking can be something you do for yourself, or something you do with and for others. All the apps we’ve looked at so far are mostly for taking notes for yourself. Sure, you can share and collaborate on notes and even notebooks, but their main features lie elsewhere. With Notion, collaboration on all aspects is built in from the start.
Notion is the only app on this list that skirts the provision of it being a note-taking app. It is, but because of its collaborative features, it can be so much more. It’s basically three tools in one: a powerful notes app (which is why it’s on this list), a task and project manager, and a reference wiki. How you combine those three things is up to you.
Each new document or note is called a page, and everything in Notion is referred to as a block. Blocks include basic elements like text, checklists, and headings, as well as media types like images, web bookmarks, video, audio, code snippets, and files. You can use as many blocks you want, in whatever combination, on every page. They’re super quick to insert: just type / and scroll through the list. There are lots of templates built in too, so don’t feel you have to customize absolutely everything when you’re starting out. Just click on Templates in the sidebar and look through the options to find one you like.
The sidebar is also how you browse all your pages. It’s split into two sections: Workspace, which is all the pages you share with the rest of your team, and Private, where you can have your own notes. While collaboration is a big part of Notion, it’s not forced on you. Everyone has their own section where they can work on things—and then move them out to the public areas for feedback and revision. It’s a great way for an entire team to work together without getting in each other’s way.
One thing to note: Notion bills itself as an Evernote competitor for personal users. It can be—but it’s too much for most people, and its offline functionality isn’t the best. If you love the idea of Notion, go right ahead and try the free Personal Plan, but to us, it’s really best as a team notes app.
Notion Price: Free for personal users; free trial for team users with a 1,000 block limit; from $10/month/user for teams with unlimited blocks.
Best note-taking app for power note-takers
Obsidian (Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, Linux)
Obsidian is one of a new category of note-taking apps that push the boundaries of what a note-taking app can—and should—do. Along with Notion and Roam Research (which didn’t make this list because of its lack of offline support), it strives to be an all-encompassing digital database for your life—and kind of pulls it off.
Obsidian has a much steeper learning curve than the other apps on this list, so only check it out if you’re prepared to put in the work to get it set up to your needs. At its core, it’s just a notes app that uses text files formatted in Markdown, but things can get more complicated quickly.
You can sort your notes into folders and subfolders using the sidebar, but more interestingly, you can link between them using internal hyperlinks. Typing [[ brings up a dialog box that lets you select any other note to link to. This means you can easily reference notes you’ve previously created; for example, you can create a list of all the books you’ve read in the last year and link to the notes where you review them.
On top of that, you can basically customize anything you want. You have total control over the interface and can have as many notes as you want open in the same window. There are even community plugins, which add features—like a kanban board—that take it far beyond simple text files. My colleague Justin Pot told me, “Obsidian has literally changed my life,” and I don’t think recommendations come much stronger than that.
Obsidian Price: Free for most features; optionally, from $25 for exclusive features. Premium add-ons offer services like Sync from $8/month.
best note taking app with stylus android
Adobe apps
Autodesk apps
Bamboo Paper
DocuSign
Gboard
INKredible
LectureNotes
MyScript Calculator 2
RoughAnimator
Samsung’s S-Pen apps
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Adobe apps
Price: Free / Up to $52.99 per month
Adobe apps make for excellent stylus apps. Some of the apps include Adobe Photoshop Sketch, Illustrator Draw, and other creative apps. There is also a document scanner, Adobe Fill & Sign, and other business-oriented apps. These are all excellent apps for stylus and S Pen users. They get frequent updates, work fairly well, and most of each app is free. They also integrate well with their desktop counterparts. Thus, if you use Adobe Lightroom on mobile, you can easily make it work with the desktop version as well. However, that does require an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription.
Autodesk apps
Price: Free with in-app purchases
AutoCAD screenshot 2022
AutoDesk is a popular developer of various creative and professional apps. They work well with a stylus as well. The Sketchbook and AutoCAD series of apps are both very useful and powerful applications for designers and artists. The Sketchbook series of apps have also done well on mobile. All these apps include advanced tools, professional-level appeal, and even some fun quirky features. For instance, AutoCAD 360 lets you orient yourself around your drawing using your GPS. The Autodesk collection has well over a dozen apps for you to check out. We have all of Autodesk’s apps linked below at the button. Sketchbook is kind of its own thing now so you can find it by searching in the Play Store.
Babmboo Paper
Price: Free / Up to $5.65
Bamboo Paper screenshot 2022
Bamboo Paper is a drawing and note-taking app from Wacom, a leader in the stylus market. The app turns your phone or tablet into a notebook. You can create various pages, organize them into folders, and write or draw whatever you want. You can also create custom color palettes for your drawings, add photos to your notes, and there is support for Inkspace Plus features if you use them.
The app is far from perfect. There seems to be the occasional bug, especially when loading saved images. Wacom hasn’t updated the app since 2021 at the time of this writing. Here’s hoping they keep up with it because it’s actually quite nice when it works.
DocuSign
Price: Free / $2-$40 per month
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DocuSign screenshot 2022
DocuSign is a popular app for PDF forms. It lets you sign forms and send them where they need to go. The app complies with the eSign Act so documents are legally binding. You can also send unsigned docs to other people to have them sign the paperwork. You can use PDF, Word, Excel, and even some types of images as your medium. There are well over half a dozen subscription options. They range from $2 per month to $40 per month. It’s easy to find details about them on DocuSign’s official website.
Gboard
Price: Free
Gboard screenshot 2020
Gboard is one of several good keyboard apps. This one also includes a handwriting input option. You can use your stylus and write your messages. The app then converts it to text and inputs it wherever needed. It works in notes, text messages, search, and wherever else you can type. It’s a bit of an old-school, niche function, but some people enjoy the act of writing out missives. It’s a simple, elegant solution that fans of the stylus might appreciate.
See more:
15 best free Android apps available right now
15 best PDF reader apps for Android
INKredible
Price: Free / Up to $2.99
inkredible best stylus apps and S Pen apps for Android
INKredible is a drawing and writing app. It tries to focus on a no distraction experience. Most of its features are under-the-hood items that include palm and wrist rejection, a smooth experience, and they attempt to make the experience as realistic as possible. They do an okay job of it. Aside from the under-the-hood stuff, there isn’t much to the app and we’re pretty sure that’s the point. If you need a basic writing or drawing app without a ton of bric-a-brac, this is a good way to go. There is a free app with in-app purchases or a full pro version if you prefer. You can take your pick, they’re all great stylus apps.
LectureNotes
Price: Free / Up to $4.99
LectureNotes was once, is currently, and likely always will be the hallmark of a great stylus app. It offers a bunch of features including image importing, stylus support, notebook export (for sharing) to your device, Evernote, and OneNote, advanced organization features, and more. If you install LectureVideos and LectureRecordings, you can also insert video and audio recordings into your notebooks right alongside your notes. It’s extremely powerful and popular. There are also additional plugins that cost extra money. They add more functionality.
MyScript Calculator 2
Price: $2.99
MyScript Calculator 2 is probably the best calculator for stylus and S-Pen fans. You literally write out the equation you want to solve. The app uses OCR to translate it into the equation and then solves it for you. This is mostly good for middle school, high school, and university-level math. However, once you get above trigonometry, the app starts to struggle a lot. Frankly, it’s just fun to watch this app work. You can even copy and paste the solutions (and problems) from this app to other apps without any problems. It’s a shoo-in for an app like this and $2.99 is perfectly reasonable. There are no additional ads or in-app purchases.
RoughAnimator
Price: $4.99
RoughAnimator is an animation app that lets you animate actual moving pictures. The way it works is you draw something, then add a frame and change things up a bit. Once you’re done, you have a little animated movie. This is one of only a few apps capable of doing this. It has specific features for stylus users and direct S Pen support. You can export animation to QuickTime video, GIF, or an image sequence as well. It’s a surprisingly good app despite its lack of popularity. It’s one of those stylus apps that are worth a shot.
Samsung S-Pen apps
Price: Free
When it comes to S Pen support, there isn’t a company out there that does it better than its creator, Samsung. Every note device comes packed with a variety of apps that make full use of S Pen’s features and integration. There are apps for note-taking, GIF making, and other productivity and creativity-based apps that let you play with the S Pen as it was intended. We recommend that before replacing any of them, we recommend you take a good look at them. Most of their features are either difficult to find in the open market or downright impossible. They are just excellent stylus apps.
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