The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Best Note-Taking App

The days of carrying around a pen and paper to take notes are long gone. With the rise of technology, note-taking has become more accessible and convenient than ever before. Whether you're a student, professional, or someone who simply enjoys jotting down ideas, a note-taking app is an essential tool for staying organized and productive.

In this article, we will compare the top 10 note-taking apps for 2023. We'll take a closer look at their features, pros and cons, and user experience, to help you make an informed decision when choosing the best note-taking app for your needs.

Without saying much, let’s head straight to the list of the top 10 free note app.

  • Notion - The Ultimate Productivity Tool
  • Obsidian - The Local First and Plain Text Note-Taker with Graph Abilities
  • Evernote - Organize Your Notes with Evernot
  • Trello - A User-Friendly Project Management Tool
  • OneNote - The Future of Note-Taking
  • Monday.com - A Comprehensive Project Management Solution
  • GoodNotes 5 - A Comprehensive Note-taking App
  • Craft - An Advanced Note-Taking App with Great Design
  • Airtable - A Powerful and Customizable Relational Database

  • RemNote - A Comprehensive Note-Taking System for Students

    Notion - The Ultimate Productivity Tool

    Notion is an all-in-one productivity tool that offers a wide range of features to help you stay organized and productive. It provides a flexible canvas where you can create pages, databases, and templates for anything you need to do. Notion also offers a free version that is just as great as the paid version, making it accessible to anyone who wants to try it out.

    Highlights

  • Endless possibilities: Notion can do absolutely anything to help you organize your work and personal life.
  • Multiple views: Notion offers different views for your database, including board, calendar, gallery, list, and timeline.
  • Collaborative: You can share your pages and databases with others and work together in real-time.
  • Embeddable: Notion allows you to embed files, videos, and other content from different platforms like YouTube, Loom, and Google Drive.

Pros

  • User-friendly interface: Notion is easy to navigate and use, even for beginners.
  • Customizable: You can create your own templates and databases to suit your needs.
  • Great for freelancers and businesses: Notion can be used to manage projects, clients, and finances.

  • Free version available: The free version of Notion is great for personal use and small businesses.

    Cons

  • Can be overwhelming: With so many features and possibilities, it can take some time to get used to Notion.
  • Steep learning curve: Notion has a lot of functionalities that might require some time to learn.
  • Limited formatting options: Notion is not the best tool for creating visually appealing documents or presentations.

Obsidian - The Local First and Plain Text Note-Taker with Graph Abilities

Obsidian is gaining a lot of attention in the productivity space as a local first and plain text note-taker with link as the first-class citizen. It allows you to download the application and use your local folder to utilize plain text markdown files, making it perfect for offline use and being able to utilize it on the go. With Obsidian, you can create a second brain that connects all your thoughts and ideas in a graph-like structure.

Highlights

  • Free for personal use: You can download Obsidian for free without an account or sign up. It also allows you access to the plugins and API.
  • Graph abilities: You can visualize all of your notes and all of the connections between them with the graph view.
  • Backlinks and unlinked mentions: You can easily create backlinks and see unlinked mentions to find useful notes.
  • Local storage: All of your notes are saved locally, giving you complete control over your data.
  • Markdown support: Obsidian uses markdown to format your notes, making it easy to create and edit them.

  • Extensible: Obsidian is super extendable and has a growing number of plugins to customize the app to your liking.

    Pros

  • Offline use: Obsidian is perfect for offline use, making it ideal for people who don't have a stable internet connection.
  • Local storage: All of your notes are saved locally, giving you complete control over your data.
  • Graph abilities: The graph view is a powerful feature that allows you to visualize the connections between your notes.
  • Markdown support: Obsidian uses markdown to format your notes, making it easy to create and edit them.

  • Extensible: Obsidian is super extendable and has a growing number of plugins to customize the app to your liking.

    Cons

  • No mobile app: Obsidian is currently only available on Mac, Windows, Linux app image, and Linux snap.
  • No online sync: Obsidian is currently only available offline through your local storage on your devices. However, they are planning to add an add-on service called sync, which includes end-to-end encryption, built-in version history, and priority email support for $4 user per month to collect it all online.
  • Steep learning curve: Obsidian has a bit of a learning curve, and it may take some time to get used to all of its features. # Evernote - Best Task and Note Management System

Evernote is the go-to platform for anyone who needs a comprehensive and effective task and note management system. It offers a wide range of features that streamline your workflow and make it easy to organize your notes, tasks, and ideas.

Highlights

  • Cross-platform compatibility: Evernote is available on all major operating systems, including Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS, making it easy to access your notes and tasks from any device.
  • Task management: The task system is simple and easy to use, allowing you to add and check off tasks across all your devices.
  • Flexible note-taking: Evernote offers various options for taking notes, including text, audio, video, sketches, and attachments.
  • Customizable homepage: You can customize your Evernote homepage with widgets, notes, and tasks that are most important to you.
  • Robust search functionality: Evernote's search feature is powerful and accurate, allowing you to find notes and tasks quickly and easily.

Pros

  • Intuitive and user-friendly interface
  • Versatile note-taking options
  • Cross-device synchronization
  • Efficient task management
  • Customizable homepage
  • Robust search functionality
  • Wide range of integrations with other apps and services

Cons

  • Higher pricing tiers may be expensive for some users
  • Limited collaboration features in the basic plan
  • Limited customer support in the basic plan

Trello - A User-Friendly Project Management Tool

If you're looking for an efficient way to manage your tasks and projects, Trello might be the perfect solution for you. With its simple and affordable platform, Trello offers a variety of cool features to help you collaborate with your team and accomplish projects without missing deadlines. In this product review, we'll take a closer look at Trello's performance in 2022.

Highlights

  • User-friendly interface: Trello's simple and self-explanatory interface has remained a strength of the platform since its inception. Its Kanban-style board makes it easy to create a list of tasks and move them around as you complete them.
  • Collaboration features: Trello's collaboration features allow you to invite team members to collaborate on a project, assign tasks, write instructions, add comments, labels, checklists, due dates, attachments, and more.
  • Power-ups: Trello's power-ups let you integrate different apps and features into your board, allowing you to streamline your workflow and automate tasks.
  • Automation tool: Trello's automation tool, Butler, lets you set rules for email reports and create custom buttons to handle all your manual work.

  • Mobile app: Trello's powerful mobile app allows you to manage your tasks and projects on the go, ensuring that you and your team stay connected and informed.

    Pros

  • Simple and user-friendly interface
  • Plenty of collaboration features
  • Affordable pricing plans
  • Flexible board views
  • Powerful automation tool

  • Generous free plan

    Con

  • Not suitable for managing large and complex projects

    OneNote - The Future of Note-Taking

    OneNote is a note-taking app developed by Microsoft that allows users to capture and organize their thoughts, ideas, and to-do lists. With the recent changes in its development, it can be confusing to know which version to use. However, with the latest iteration of OneNote, users can get the best of both worlds.

    Highlights

  • Visual refresh: The latest OneNote version has a modern interface with rounded edges and transparency that fits well with Windows 11's overall theme.
  • Improved features: OneNote has combined the best features of both existing apps, making it a powerful tool for note-taking, to-do lists, and more.

  • Compatibility: OneNote is available on multiple platforms, including Windows, iPad, and web version, making it easy to access your notes from anywhere.

    Pros

  • Comprehensive note-taking features
  • Efficient syncing between devices
  • Integration with Microsoft Outlook and To-Do app

  • Improved inking experience

    Con

  • Limited OCR functionality

Monday.com - A Comprehensive Project Management Solution

If you're looking for a comprehensive project management solution, Monday.com may be the answer. In this review, we'll explore the platform's capabilities, pricing, and alternatives.

Highlights

  • Collaborative: Monday.com's centralized communication system eliminates the need for unruly email threads and unnecessary meetings.
  • Customizable: With over 120 project templates and pre-made views, you can visualize projects in ways that suit your style of work.
  • Integrations: It integrates with over 40 platforms, so you're pretty much covered there.
  • Mobile apps: Native mobile apps for iOS and Android devices allow you to stay connected on the go.

Pros

  • Beautiful user interface: Monday.com is one of the easiest to use project management tools out there.
  • Built-in time tracking: One of the few platforms that comes with this built in.
  • Good reporting: Dashboards and multiple views like kanban card view, form view, files view, and table view.
  • Customization and automation: From custom workflows and templates to triggers and conditions that'll help reduce time on repetitive tasks.
  • Third-party integrations: Oodles of third-party integrations available.
  • Customer support: 24/7 support, a free community, and a podcast called "Startup for Startups" shows their commitment to customers' success.
  • Scalable: Provides project management, marketing, CRM, and other capabilities in a single place.

Con

  • No built-in chat: You have to integrate with third-party chats like Slack or Teams.
  • Limited resource management and scheduling options: Lacks some options found in competitors.
  • Limited options for exporting data: No HTML export option.
  • Not available as a self-hosted solution: No offline capabilities.
  • Limited Gmail integration: Can't add a comment or task to a project directly from Gmail.
  • Expensive for small businesses: Pricing can be expensive for small businesses, especially those who won't use all their seats.
  • Limited free plan: Only allows two seats per account, and there are limited features compared to competitors.

GoodNotes 5 - A Comprehensive Note-taking App

GoodNotes 5 is a note-taking app that offers a wide range of features to help students and professionals organize their notes effectively. In this review, we'll explore the app's highlights, pros, and cons based on personal experience.

Highlights

  • Organizational system: GoodNotes 5 allows users to create folders, notebooks, and subfolders for easy note organization. It's similar to a desktop where users can create unlimited layers of organization.
  • Tabs: The app's tab system at the top of the page makes it easy to jump between notes, homework, or other documents.
  • Favorites tab: Users can now add pages to their favorites tab for quick access to important information.
  • Note searcher: GoodNotes 5 has a powerful search engine that can scan all documents for specific words or phrases, even handwriting.

  • Writing experience: The app has a smooth writing experience that makes it easy to create diagrams, graphs, and shapes. It also offers an auto-fill feature when outlining a shape.

    Pros

  • Simplified user interface: GoodNotes 5 has a clean and straightforward design that makes it easy to navigate.
  • Comprehensive note-taking features: The app offers a variety of tools for taking notes, including a highlighter, pen, eraser, and even a shape recognition tool.
  • Neat handwriting: The app's writing experience makes users' handwriting look neater and more organized.
  • Syncs across devices: GoodNotes 5 syncs notes across all devices, making it easy to access notes from anywhere.

  • Customizable: Users can customize their note-taking experience by choosing from a variety of paper types, covers, and pen colors.

    Cons

  • PowerPoint compatibility: The app struggles with importing PowerPoint presentations, leading to formatting issues and text overlap.
  • Limited pre-saved colors: Users can only pre-save three colors, making it inconvenient to switch between pens frequently.

  • Limited customer support: The app's customer support is limited, and users may not receive a response to their queries promptly.

    Craft - An Advanced Note-Taking App with Great Design

    Craft is a productivity app that offers advanced features and functionalities for note-taking and organizing various aspects of your life. With its clean and minimal design, the app is easy to use and navigate, making it a great alternative to other note-taking apps like Notion.

    Highlights

  • Simple and clean design: The app's user interface is minimal and easy to navigate, making it a breeze to start using.
  • Variety of templates: Craft offers pre-made templates for a variety of workflows, making it easy to get started with organizing your life.
  • Customization options: The app allows for a high level of customization, allowing you to format your pages and content in a variety of ways.
  • Keyboard shortcuts: Craft has a wide range of keyboard shortcuts that can help you be more productive and efficient while using the app.

  • Local data storage: If you have an Apple device, you can choose to store your data locally for added privacy and security.

    Pros

  • Great design and user interface
  • Lots of templates available to get started quickly
  • Highly customizable for personal preferences
  • Keyboard shortcuts make using the app more efficient

  • Ability to store data locally for added privacy

    Con

  • Some features are limited to paid plans, which may not be ideal for everyone.

Airtable - A Powerful and Customizable Relational Database

Airtable is a robust relational database that simplifies the process of building customized databases with ease. It offers a wide range of features, including flexible interfaces, automations, and integrations, that can be used by individuals, teams, and organizations.

Highlights

  • Free plan: Airtable's free plan offers unlimited bases, collaboration, and access to some of the best features of the tool.
  • User-friendly: Airtable simplifies the concept of relational databases, making it easy to add new tables, tweak fields, and build new automations.
  • Interface flexibility: Airtable offers a variety of custom dashboards and interfaces, including calendars, galleries, Kanban boards, timelines, and Gantt charts.

  • Integrations and extensibility: Airtable includes native integrations to tools like G Suite and Slack, and its API has some of the best documentation seen among comparable tools.

    Pros

  • Freemium model: The free plan delivers a lot of value and can be used even if you never upgrade to other tiers.
  • Pro plan: The Pro plan offers the best value for the price at $20 per user per month.
  • Interface flexibility: Airtable's custom dashboards and interfaces offer endless configuration possibilities.

  • Integrations and extensibility: Airtable's native integrations and API make it easy to integrate with other systems and extend underlying functionality.

    Con

  • Limited collaboration: Airtable's workspace model can be frustrating for organizations that have to pay per user per upgraded workspace, driving up costs or forcing them to use a combination of paid and free workspaces to achieve their collaboration needs.

RemNote - A Comprehensive Note-Taking System for Students

RemNote is a comprehensive note-taking system that offers bi-directional linking and smart flashcards to help students organize their notes and enhance their learning experience. With RemNote, students can easily connect different files, images, and PDFs in one place, making studying more efficient and effective.

Highlights

  • Smart flashcards: RemNote's smart flashcards use spaced repetition to help students memorize information and improve their recall.
  • Bi-directional linking: RemNote's bi-directional linking allows students to link notes together, making it easier to navigate and connect different pieces of information.
  • PDF support: RemNote allows students to upload PDFs and link them to their notes, making it easier to reference important information.

  • Available on multiple devices: RemNote is available on Windows, Linux, Mac, and mobile devices, and it also has a web version.

    Pros

  • Easy to use: RemNote has a user-friendly interface and a helpful tour to guide new users.
  • Free version available: RemNote's free version offers many useful features, including bi-directional linking and smart flashcards.
  • Comprehensive note-taking system: RemNote allows students to organize their notes and connect different pieces of information, making studying more efficient and effective.

  • Great for students: RemNote's smart flashcards and bi-directional linking make it a great tool for students who want to improve their learning experience.

    Con

  • No iOS app: RemNote currently does not have an iOS app, which may be a drawback for some users who prefer to use their mobile devices for note-taking.