{"source":"CiteHawk AI Index","record":"note taking apps — 2026-08","url":"https://www.citehawk.com/leaderboards/editions/2026-08/note-taking-apps","immutable":true,"snapshotId":"b6f18377-2ab8-4fae-bcfd-7bd7385737ef","capturedAt":"2026-08-01 04:10:42.89+00","region":"global","prompt":"What are the best note taking apps? Recommend the top brands or products that people actually use.","providers":["openai","claude","gemini","perplexity","deepseek","grok","bing_copilot","google_aio"],"models":{"grok":"grok-4.5","claude":"claude-sonnet-5","gemini":"gemini-3.5-flash","openai":"gpt-5.5-2026-04-23","deepseek":"deepseek-v4-flash","google_aio":"google_aio","perplexity":"sonar","bing_copilot":"bing_copilot"},"runsPerProvider":1,"totalCalls":16,"ranking":[{"rank":1,"brand":"Microsoft OneNote","domain":"microsoft.com","score":57.5,"mentions":7,"recommendedBy":["openai","claude","gemini","perplexity","deepseek","grok","bing_copilot"],"averagePositionByProvider":{"grok":2,"claude":1,"gemini":4,"openai":1,"deepseek":2,"perplexity":1,"bing_copilot":1}},{"rank":2,"brand":"Apple Notes","domain":"apple.com","score":57.5,"mentions":7,"recommendedBy":["openai","claude","gemini","perplexity","deepseek","grok","bing_copilot"],"averagePositionByProvider":{"grok":3,"claude":5,"gemini":3,"openai":2,"deepseek":3,"perplexity":2,"bing_copilot":2}},{"rank":3,"brand":"Google Keep","domain":"google.com","score":57.5,"mentions":7,"recommendedBy":["openai","claude","gemini","perplexity","deepseek","grok","bing_copilot"],"averagePositionByProvider":{"grok":5,"claude":10,"gemini":3,"openai":3,"deepseek":4,"perplexity":3,"bing_copilot":3}},{"rank":4,"brand":"Notion","domain":"notion.so","score":57.5,"mentions":7,"recommendedBy":["openai","claude","gemini","perplexity","deepseek","grok","bing_copilot"],"averagePositionByProvider":{"grok":1,"claude":3,"gemini":1,"openai":4,"deepseek":1,"perplexity":4,"bing_copilot":4}},{"rank":5,"brand":"Obsidian","domain":"obsidian.md","score":57.5,"mentions":7,"recommendedBy":["openai","claude","gemini","perplexity","deepseek","grok","bing_copilot"],"averagePositionByProvider":{"grok":4,"claude":2,"gemini":2,"openai":5,"deepseek":5,"perplexity":5,"bing_copilot":5}},{"rank":6,"brand":"Evernote","domain":"evernote.com","score":52.5,"mentions":6,"recommendedBy":["openai","claude","perplexity","deepseek","grok","bing_copilot"],"averagePositionByProvider":{"grok":6,"claude":4,"openai":7,"deepseek":7,"perplexity":6,"bing_copilot":6}},{"rank":7,"brand":"Goodnotes","domain":"goodnotes.com","score":43.8,"mentions":5,"recommendedBy":["openai","gemini","deepseek","grok","bing_copilot"],"averagePositionByProvider":{"grok":8,"gemini":6,"openai":6,"deepseek":12,"bing_copilot":12}},{"rank":8,"brand":"Notability","domain":"notability.com","score":43.8,"mentions":5,"recommendedBy":["openai","gemini","deepseek","grok","bing_copilot"],"averagePositionByProvider":{"grok":9,"gemini":6,"openai":8,"deepseek":11,"bing_copilot":13}},{"rank":9,"brand":"Bear","domain":"bear.app","score":35,"mentions":4,"recommendedBy":["claude","gemini","deepseek","grok"],"averagePositionByProvider":{"grok":10,"claude":8,"gemini":5,"deepseek":8}},{"rank":10,"brand":"Joplin","domain":"joplinapp.org","score":26.3,"mentions":3,"recommendedBy":["claude","deepseek","grok"],"averagePositionByProvider":{"grok":7,"claude":7,"deepseek":6}},{"rank":11,"brand":"Logseq","domain":"logseq.com","score":17.5,"mentions":2,"recommendedBy":["deepseek","grok"],"averagePositionByProvider":{"grok":11,"deepseek":9}}],"answers":[{"provider":"bing_copilot","run":1,"model":"bing_copilot","capturedAt":"2026-08-01T04:10:42.897Z","text":"Some of the top note-taking apps that people actually use include Microsoft OneNote, Apple Notes, Google Keep, Notion, Obsidian, Evernote, and emerging tools like Coda and Xtiles, each catering to specific user needs and devices.\n\n1. Microsoft OneNote\n\nBest For: Students and professionals needing a full-featured, cross-platform app OneNote provides a structured notebook layout with sections, pages, and tags. You can type, handwrite, attach files, doodle, and integrate seamlessly with Microsoft 365 apps like Outlook and Teams. It offers robust collaboration features and a generous free plan with offline access TechShout+1 .\n\n2. Apple Notes\n\nBest For: Apple device users This native app supports the Apple Pencil, scanning, handwriting, simple checklists, and powerful search—perfect for iPad and Mac users. It’s free, preinstalled, and synchronizes flawlessly with iCloud for cross-device access TechShout+1 .\n\n3. Google Keep\n\nBest For: Quick capture, reminders, and location-based notes Google keeps notes as colorful sticky tiles, supporting voice memos, checklists, and labels. It’s simple, fast, cloud-synced, and integrates with Google Drive for easy collaboration TechShout+1 .\n\n4. Notion\n\nBest For: Teams and power users requiring all-in-one organization Notion combines notes, databases, and tasks in one interface. Its AI features, templates, and real-time collaboration make it ideal for managing projects, shared wikis, or complex workflows TechShout+1 .\n\n5. Obsidian\n\nBest For: Knowledge management and privacy-focused note-taking Obsidian stores notes locally in Markdown format, supports graph views to visualize connections, and allows extensive plugin customization. It’s well-suited for writers, researchers, and those building a personal knowledge base TechShout+1 .\n\n6. Evernote\n\nBest For: Research-heavy workflows and long-term organization Evernote offers a rich editing environment, web clipping, PDF and image attachments, and tag-based organization. Its free plan has limitations, but premium plans unlock cloud sync across multiple devices TechShout .\n\n7. GoodNotes & Notability\n\nBest For: iPad handwriting and lecture-style notes These apps excel for students or professionals taking handwritten notes. They feature searchable handwriting, PDF annotation, and audio-linked note-taking for meetings or classes TechShout .\n\n8. Emerging Options: Coda and Xtiles\n\nBest For: Advanced project management and visual thinkers Coda is an all-in-one app with blocks for structured content, real-time collaboration, and AI-assisted summarization. Xtiles offers an intuitive tile-based workspace ideal for personal or team note organization with offline capabilities .\n\nChoosing the Right App\n\nMinimalist users: Simplenote for plain-text, distraction-free writing\nCreative organization: Zoho Notebook for card-based, multimedia-friendly notes\nEnterprise/team use: Guru and Notion for collaboration and knowledge management\nCross-platform flexibility: Microsoft OneNote and Evernote\n\nEach app has unique advantages, so your choice should reflect your platform, preferred workflow, and whether you need collaboration, multimedia support, or knowledge management features TechShout+2 .\n\nThese apps are currently the most widely used and trusted for productivity and personal organization in 2026.","extractedBrands":[{"name":"Microsoft OneNote","domain":"microsoft.com","position":1},{"name":"Apple Notes","domain":"apple.com","position":2},{"name":"Google Keep","domain":"google.com","position":3},{"name":"Notion","domain":"notion.so","position":4},{"name":"Obsidian","domain":"obsidian.md","position":5},{"name":"Evernote","domain":"evernote.com","position":6},{"name":"Coda","domain":"coda.io","position":7},{"name":"Xtiles","domain":"xtiles.app","position":8},{"name":"Simplenote","domain":"simplenote.com","position":9},{"name":"Zoho Notebook","domain":"zoho.com/notebook","position":10},{"name":"Guru","domain":"getguru.com","position":11},{"name":"GoodNotes","domain":"goodnotes.com","position":12},{"name":"Notability","domain":"gingerlabs.com","position":13}]},{"provider":"claude","run":1,"model":"claude-sonnet-5","capturedAt":"2026-08-01T04:10:42.897Z","text":"## Best Note-Taking Apps: What People Actually Use\n\nBased on current reviews and usage data, here are the top note-taking apps, organized by what they're best for:\n\n### 🏆 Best Overall / Best Free Option\n**Microsoft OneNote** — Microsoft OneNote is the best free note-taking app and in serious contention to be the best note-taking app overall, and unless you know you want a specific set of features that it doesn't offer, it's the first app that most people should try. It's incredibly freeform when it comes to taking notes, with each notebook modeled off a ringbinder, 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.\n\n### 🧠 Best for \"Second Brain\" / Linked Thinking\n**Obsidian** — It's the most flexible note-taking app tested, offering hundreds of extensive customization options, themes, and user-built plug-ins, allowing you to make it look and act exactly the way you want. It stores files locally, with an optional subscription to enable syncing, and is entirely free for personal use—you only pay if you want cloud storage or to publish notes online. One source notes: the graph view and bi-directional linking are built for connecting hundreds of notes, and everything lives locally as plain text files you own.\n\n### 🏢 Best for Teams / Structured Knowledge Bases\n**Notion** — Widely regarded as the standard for team collaboration. Notion gives you a database approach to notes, and per one review, for structured team knowledge bases, Notion is the benchmark.\n\n### 📎 Best for Web Clipping / Multi-Device Capture\n**Evernote** — The original heavyweight in the space. For multi-device capture, Evernote's web clipper remains best-in-category.\n\n### 🍎 Best Simple/Native Option (Apple users)\n**Apple Notes** — Praised for speed and simplicity: Apple Notes and OneNote give you fast search. It's also free with no learning curve, similar to Simplenote and Google Keep.\n\n### 💰 Best Budget Pick\n**UpNote** — Built by a two-person team, UpNote feels every bit as polished as the best note-taking apps from huge corporations—all without the need for an ongoing subscription. It's a top app to consider if you prioritize value above all else, charging just $1.99/month for premium, with a lifetime license available for $39.99.\n\n### 🔒 Best for Privacy\n**Joplin** — Many note-taking apps focus on cloud storage, but the privacy-respecting Joplin gives you complete ownership of your notes by storing them locally on your device by default.\n\n### 🎨 Best for Design-Conscious Users\n**Bear** — A beautiful note-taking app for iPads, iPhones, and Macs that, although it seems simple, has some advanced features, such as OCR (for images and PDF files) and a web clipper.\n\n### 🖼️ Best for Visual/Team Brainstorming\n**Miro** — A visual note-taking and collaboration platform designed for teams who want to capture, organize, and share ideas using an interactive digital whiteboard, making it a strong fit for cross-functional teams in product, design, and engineering.\n\n### 📱 Best Free Options for Android\nPopular choices include OneNote, Standard Notes, Simplenote, and Nimbus Notes, or you can save money using Google Keep, the free note-taking app offered with every Google account.\n\n---\n\n### The Bottom Line\nThere's no single \"best\" app — it depends on your workflow. As one reviewer put it: ","extractedBrands":[{"name":"Microsoft OneNote","domain":"microsoft.com","position":1},{"name":"Obsidian","domain":"obsidian.md","position":2},{"name":"Notion","domain":"notion.so","position":3},{"name":"Evernote","domain":"evernote.com","position":4},{"name":"Apple Notes","domain":"apple.com","position":5},{"name":"UpNote","domain":"upnote.com","position":6},{"name":"Joplin","domain":"joplinapp.org","position":7},{"name":"Bear","domain":"bear.app","position":8},{"name":"Miro","domain":"miro.com","position":9},{"name":"Google Keep","domain":"google.com","position":10}]},{"provider":"deepseek","run":1,"model":"deepseek-v4-flash","capturedAt":"2026-08-01T04:10:42.897Z","text":"There’s no single “best” note-taking app — it depends on how you like to capture and organize information. But these are the most widely used and highly rated options right now:\n\n## 🏆 Best Overall / All-in-One: **Notion**\n- **Why people love it:** It’s a mix of notes, databases, wikis, and project management. You can build everything from a simple to-do list to a full CRM.\n- **Best for:** Students, teams, productivity geeks, people who want one workspace for everything.\n- **Downside:** Can feel overwhelming and has a learning curve.\n\n## 📓 Best for Classic Notes: **Microsoft OneNote**\n- **Why people love it:** Free, works on every platform (Windows, Mac, iPad, Android, web), and looks like a digital binder with tabs and pages. Supports handwriting, audio, and screen clipping.\n- **Best for:** Students, researchers, anyone who wants a free, flexible “digital notebook.”\n- **Downside:** Can get messy; syncing can occasionally be slow.\n\n## 🍏 Best for iPhone/Mac/Apple Users: **Apple Notes**\n- **Why people love it:** It’s pre-installed, fast, syncs perfectly across Apple devices, and has grown powerful features (tags, smart folders, PDFs, handwritten notes, shared notes, web clipping).\n- **Best for:** Apple users who want zero-friction quick capture.\n- **Downside:** Weak on Windows and Android. No true desktop app for Windows.\n\n## ⚡ Best for Quick Capture & Simplicity: **Google Keep**\n- **Why people love it:** Super simple sticky-note style. Great for shopping lists, quick reminders, voice memos, and color-coded notes. Integrates with Google Workspace.\n- **Best for:** Light note-taking, lists, and on-the-go capture.\n- **Downside:** Not great for long-form notes or complex organization.\n\n## 🧠 Best for Personal Knowledge / Linking: **Obsidian**\n- **Why people love it:** Your notes are stored as local Markdown files. It uses a “graph” to link ideas, which is amazing for building a second brain. There are hundreds of plugins.\n- **Best for:** Tech-savvy users, writers, researchers, people who love customization and data ownership.\n- **Downside:** Steep learning curve; no free official sync (though it’s cheap or DIY).\n\n## 📄 Best for Privacy & Offline: **Joplin**\n- **Why people love it:** Open-source, encrypted, works offline, and is similar to Evernote. You can sync via Dropbox, OneDrive, or your own server.\n- **Best for:** Privacy-conscious users who want Evernote-style notebooks without the subscription.\n- **Downside:** Interface feels a bit dated.\n\n## 📌 Still Popular (but paid): **Evernote**\n- **Why people still use it:** It’s been around forever, has powerful OCR search, web clipping, and a polished cross-platform experience. Recently they revamped the app.\n- **Best for:** People who need advanced search and don’t mind paying.\n- **Downside:** The free tier is limited, and the subscription is expensive.\n\n## 🚀 Also Worth Mentioning\n- **Bear** – beautiful Markdown notes for Apple users.\n- **Logseq** – open-source, everything is an outline; great for journaling and knowledge.\n- **Roam Research** – the original “networked thought” tool, but expensive.\n- **Notability / GoodNotes** – excellent for handwritten notes and PDF annotation on iPad.\n\n---\n\n### Quick recommendation:\n- **Just want something that works everywhere?** → **OneNote**\n- **iPhone/Mac only?** → **Apple Notes**\n- **Want to build a powerful life system?** → **Notion**\n- **Want a local, private, long-term knowledge base?** → **Obsidian**\n- **Just need quick lists and reminders?** → **Google Keep**","extractedBrands":[{"name":"Notion","domain":"notion.so","position":1},{"name":"Microsoft OneNote","domain":"microsoft.com","position":2},{"name":"Apple Notes","domain":"apple.com","position":3},{"name":"Google Keep","domain":"google.com","position":4},{"name":"Obsidian","domain":"obsidian.md","position":5},{"name":"Joplin","domain":"joplinapp.org","position":6},{"name":"Evernote","domain":"evernote.com","position":7},{"name":"Bear","domain":"bear.app","position":8},{"name":"Logseq","domain":"logseq.com","position":9},{"name":"Roam Research","domain":"roamresearch.com","position":10},{"name":"Notability","domain":"my.notability.com","position":11},{"name":"GoodNotes","domain":"goodnotes.com","position":12}]},{"provider":"gemini","run":1,"model":"gemini-3.5-flash","capturedAt":"2026-08-01T04:10:42.897Z","text":"Because everyone thinks, works, and organizes differently, there is no single \"best\" note-taking app. Instead, the market is divided into distinct categories based on user behavior. \n\nThe most popular, reliable, and widely-used note-taking apps are categorized below by their strengths to help you find the one that fits your workflow.\n\n---\n\n### 1. The \"All-in-One\" Workspace: **Notion**\n* **Best for:** Project management, databases, wiki creation, and collaborative teams.\n* **How it works:** Notion uses a \"block\" system. Every paragraph, image, checkbox, or table is a block that you can drag and drop. Its killer feature is its **relational databases**, which allow you to view the same notes as a calendar, a Kanban board, a list, or a gallery.\n* **Pros:** \n  * Incredibly flexible; you can build custom dashboards, wikis, and planners.\n  * Highly collaborative—great for sharing pages or working with a team.\n  * Generous free tier.\n* **Cons:** \n  * Steep learning curve; it is easy to spend more time \"building\" your setup than actually taking notes.\n  * Can feel slow to load, especially on mobile.\n  * Requires an internet connection to work seamlessly.\n\n### 2. The \"Second Brain\" & Power User Choice: **Obsidian**\n* **Best for:** Researchers, writers, developers, and people who want to link ideas together.\n* **How it works:** Obsidian is a **local-first, Markdown-based** app. Instead of saving notes to a cloud server, it saves them as plain text files on your device. It relies heavily on **backlinking** (connecting notes using `[[internal links]]`), creating a literal visual \"Graph View\" of how your thoughts connect.\n* **Pros:** \n  * Highly \"future-proof\" because your notes are just plain text files on your hard drive.\n  * Mind-bogglingly fast and works completely offline.\n  * Massive library of community plugins to customize everything from task managers to calendars.\n* **Cons:** \n  * Requires a bit of technical comfort to get the most out of it.\n  * Cloud syncing across multiple devices requires a paid subscription (Obsidian Sync) or a manual workaround (like iCloud or Git).\n\n### 3. The Best Built-In Ecosystem Apps: **Apple Notes** & **Google Keep**\n* **Best for:** Fast, frictionless, day-to-day brain dumps and quick checklists.\n* **How they work:** These are the default \"scratchpads\" on your phone.\n  * **Apple Notes (Apple Ecosystem):** Free, pre-installed, and incredibly powerful. It handles handwriting/Apple Pencil drawings, document scanning, tagging, and PDF annotation.\n  * **Google Keep (Android/Cross-Platform):** Plays like a board of digital sticky notes. It is incredibly fast, color-coded, and searchable.\n* **Pros:** \n  * Instant startup time—perfect for writing down a thought while walking.\n  * Free, simple, and perfectly integrated into your phone's operating system.\n  * Apple Notes features powerful smart folders, search (OCR), and audio transcription.\n* **Cons:** \n  * Apple Notes is locked strictly to Apple devices.\n  * Google Keep is too simple for long-form writing or deep organization.\n\n### 4. The Digital Binder: **Microsoft OneNote**\n* **Best for:** Corporate professionals, students, and Microsoft 365 users.\n* **How it works:** OneNote is designed like a multi-subject physical notebook. It has notebooks, which contain sections, which contain pages. Unlike most apps, it features a **freeform canvas**—you can click anywhere on a blank page and start typing, drawing, or dropping images.\n* **Pros:** \n  * Completely free on all major operating systems (Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Web).\n  * Industry-standard ink engine for handwriting/stylus use on tablets.\n  * Integrates flawlessly with Outlook, Word, and Teams.\n* **Cons:** \n  * The interface can feel dated and bloated.\n  * Sync issues via OneDrive can occasionally be frustrating.\n\n### 5. The Design-Forward Markdown Editor: **Bear**\n* **Best for:** Mac/iOS users who value beautiful typography and a distraction-free writing experience.\n* **How it works:** Bear is a gorgeous, minimalist app that uses Markdown. Rather than folders, it organizes your notes purely through nested hashtags (e.g., `#work/meetings`).\n* **Pros:** \n  * Stunningly designed with multiple premium themes.\n  * Fast, clean, and distraction-free.\n  * Great export options (PDF, HTML, Docx, etc.).\n* **Cons:** \n  * Only available on Apple devices (no Windows, Android, or Web).\n  * Multi-device syncing requires a paid subscription.\n\n### 6. The Handwriting Gold Standards: **Goodnotes** & **Notability**\n* **Best for:** Students and professionals who prefer writing with a stylus (like the Apple Pencil) on an iPad or tablet.\n* **How they work:** These are vector-based notebook apps designed specifically for handwriting. They are highly popular for digital planning, importing and annotating PDFs (like lecture slides or contracts), and sketching.\n* **Pros:** \n  * Incredible ink engines that make writing on glass feel natural.\n  * Search tools that can actually read and index your handwriting.\n* **Cons:** \n  * Mostly optimized for tablets; very clunky to use on a traditional laptop or desktop computer.\n\n---\n\n### Which one should you choose?\n\n* **If you want a free, simple \"digital notebook\":** Go with **Microsoft OneNote** (or **Apple Notes** if you only use Apple products).\n* **If you want to organize your life, track projects, and build databases:** Go with **Notion**.\n* **If you are a writer/researcher who wants to build a \"Second Brain\" of ideas:** Go with **Obsidian**.\n* **If you just want to jot down grocery lists and quick reminders:** Go with **Google Keep** or **Apple Notes**.\n* **If you are a student with an iPad who wants to write by hand:** Go with **Goodnotes** or **Notability**.","extractedBrands":[{"name":"Notion","domain":"notion.so","position":1},{"name":"Obsidian","domain":"obsidian.md","position":2},{"name":"Apple Notes","domain":"apple.com","position":3},{"name":"Google Keep","domain":"google.com","position":3},{"name":"Microsoft OneNote","domain":"onenote.com","position":4},{"name":"Bear","domain":"bear.app","position":5},{"name":"Goodnotes","domain":"goodnotes.com","position":6},{"name":"Notability","domain":"notability.com","position":6}]},{"provider":"google_aio","run":1,"model":"google_aio","capturedAt":"2026-08-01T04:10:42.897Z","text":"","extractedBrands":[]},{"provider":"grok","run":1,"model":"grok-4.5","capturedAt":"2026-08-01T04:10:42.897Z","text":"**Notion, Microsoft OneNote, Apple Notes, Obsidian, Google Keep, and Evernote (plus specialized options like GoodNotes/Notability for handwriting) stand out as the top note-taking apps that people actually use.** These consistently top expert reviews and roundups from sources like Zapier and others in 2025–2026, based on real-world testing for capture speed, organization, search/retrieval, cross-device sync/offline access, value, and reliability.[[1]](https://zapier.com/blog/best-note-taking-apps/)[[1]](https://zapier.com/blog/best-note-taking-apps/)\n\nThere is no single “best” app—it depends on your ecosystem (Apple/Microsoft/Google), needs (quick capture vs. structured knowledge base vs. collaboration), preference for local files vs. cloud, and whether you want freeform, Markdown/linking, databases, or handwriting. Many people use a simple quick-capture app alongside a deeper one. Free tiers are generous for most users.[[2]](https://tech-insider.org/ca/best-note-taking-apps/)\n\n### Top Recommendations by Category\nHere are the most popular and highly regarded options people actually rely on:\n\n| App              | Best For                          | Key Strengths                              | Platforms                  | Pricing Highlights                  | Why People Use It |\n|------------------|-----------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|----------------------------|-------------------------------------|-------------------|\n| **Notion**      | Collaboration, projects, structured workspaces & databases | Extremely flexible (notes + tasks + wikis + databases); strong AI features; real-time collab | Web, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android | Generous free personal plan; paid from ~$10–12/user/mo | 100M+ users; all-in-one for teams/students/individuals who like building systems. Cloud-first.[[3]](https://www.notion.com/blog/100-million-of-you)[[1]](https://zapier.com/blog/best-note-taking-apps/) |\n| **Microsoft OneNote** | Freeform notes, handwriting, mixed media; free overall option | Canvas-style (click anywhere); notebooks/sections/pages; stylus/drawing/audio; Microsoft 365/Copilot integration | Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Web | Free (uses OneDrive storage, 5GB base) | Excellent free cross-platform tool, especially in education/enterprise Microsoft environments. Very flexible.[[1]](https://zapier.com/blog/best-note-taking-apps/)[[1]](https://zapier.com/blog/best-note-taking-apps/) |\n| **Apple Notes** | Apple ecosystem users; simple, fast capture | Seamless sync via iCloud; tags, folders, scanning, handwriting, audio transcripts, basic AI (Apple Intelligence); reliable & native-feeling | iOS, iPadOS, macOS, Web | Free (iCloud storage limits apply) | Pre-installed and “just works” for hundreds of millions of Apple users; many power users stick with it after trying fancier apps.[[1]](https://zapier.com/blog/best-note-taking-apps/)[[4]](https://medium.com/illuminations-mirror/i-tried-every-note-taking-app-heres-what-i-actually-use-bddd56e973fb) |\n| **Obsidian**    | Personal knowledge management (PKM), power users, data ownership | Local Markdown files; bidirectional linking + graph view; highly extensible via plugins; fast & offline-first | Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android | Free core app; optional paid Sync (~$4–5/mo) or Publish | Millions of users (estimates vary, strong community growth); ideal for “second brain” setups where you own your plain-text files forever.[[1]](https://zapier.com/blog/best-note-taking-apps/)[[5]](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stephango_no-one-knows-how-many-users-obsidian-has-activity-7351766158372429825-WH9p) |\n| **Google Keep** | Google users; quick/simple notes & lists | Color-coded notes, reminders, voice transcription, tight integration with Gmail/Docs/Drive/Calendar | Web, Android, iOS, Chrome | Free (Google account storage) | Effortless for Google Workspace people; great for lightweight capture and checklists.[[1]](https://zapier.com/blog/best-note-taking-apps/) |\n| **Evernote**    | Long-term searchable archives; web clipping | Strong search (including handwriting/OCR in some cases), organization, cross-platform; has improved recently | Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Web | Limited free (e.g., 50 notes/1 device); paid plans | Once the dominant app (hundreds of millions of historical users); still used by long-time fans for its clipping and search strengths, though free tier is restricted and many have migrated.[[1]](https://zapier.com/blog/best-note-taking-apps/) |\n\n### Other Strong Contenders People Commonly Use\n- **Joplin**: Excellent free/open-source Evernote alternative. Markdown support, local-first with optional sync (Dropbox/OneDrive/etc. or paid Joplin Cloud), end-to-end encryption options. Millions of downloads; great for privacy-focused users.[[1]](https://zapier.com/blog/best-note-taking-apps/)[[6]](https://joplinapp.org/help/about/stats/)\n- **GoodNotes and Notability**: Top choices for iPad (and some other tablet) handwriting, PDF annotation, and stylus notes. Frequently recommended as best-in-class for students and creative/handwritten workflows.[[7]](https://www.zdnet.com/article/best-note-taking-app-for-ipad/)\n- **Bear**: Beautiful, fast Markdown-focused app primarily for Apple users.\n- Emerging or niche: Capacities (object-based notes), Logseq (outliner/local like Obsidian), Craft, or AI-heavy tools for specific workflows.[[8]](https://www.atlasworkspace.ai/blog/best-note-taking-apps)\n\n### Quick Advice on Choosing\n- **Start simple and free**: Try Apple Notes (if on Apple), Google Keep, or OneNote first—many people find these sufficient and stick with them long-term.[[4]](https://medium.com/illuminations-mirror/i-tried-every-note-taking-app-heres-what-i-actually-use-bddd56e973fb)\n- **Need structure + collab?** → Notion.\n- **Want full control + linking for a personal knowledge base?** → Obsidian (or Joplin/Logseq).\n- **Heavy handwriting/iPad?** → GoodNotes or Notability (or OneNote/Apple Notes).\n- **Privacy/local files priority?** → Obsidian or Joplin.\n- **Cross-platform freeform?** → OneNote.\n- Consider export options and long-term access—local Markdown (Obsidian etc.) ages better than proprietary formats if a service changes or shuts down.\n- Test a few: Most have solid free tiers. Factors like offline reliability, search quality with large libraries, and capture friction matter more than feature checklists for daily use.[[2]](https://tech-insider.org/ca/best-note-taking-apps/)\n\nPopularity is driven by ecosystem lock-in (Apple/Google/Microsoft built-ins), network effects (Notion’s growth to 100M+ users), and community (Obsidian’s plugins and PKM enthusiasts). Trends emphasize AI assistance, better offline/local options, and avoiding overly complex tools that become chores.[[3]](https://www.notion.com/blog/100-million-of-you)[[2]](https://tech-insider.org/ca/best-note-taking-apps/)\n\nFor the latest pricing/features or deep comparisons (e.g., Notion vs. Obsidian), check the apps’ sites or recent reviews, as they evolve quickly with AI updates. The best app is ultimately the one you’ll consistently use.","extractedBrands":[{"name":"Notion","domain":"notion.com","position":1},{"name":"Microsoft OneNote","domain":"microsoft.com","position":2},{"name":"Apple Notes","domain":"apple.com","position":3},{"name":"Obsidian","domain":"obsidian.md","position":4},{"name":"Google Keep","domain":"google.com","position":5},{"name":"Evernote","domain":"evernote.com","position":6},{"name":"Joplin","domain":"joplinapp.org","position":7},{"name":"GoodNotes","domain":"goodnotes.com","position":8},{"name":"Notability","domain":"notability.com","position":9},{"name":"Bear","domain":"bear.app","position":10},{"name":"Logseq","domain":"logseq.com","position":11},{"name":"Craft","domain":"craft.do","position":12}]},{"provider":"openai","run":1,"model":"gpt-5.5-2026-04-23","capturedAt":"2026-08-01T04:10:42.897Z","text":"As of **August 2026**, here are the note-taking apps I’d actually recommend—the ones with real usage, strong brands, and staying power.\n\n## My top picks\n\n| Best for | App | Why pick it |\n|---|---|---|\n| **Most people / students / Office users** | **Microsoft OneNote** | Best all-around “digital notebook”: freeform pages, sections, handwriting, web clipping, audio/voice, Microsoft 365 integration, collaboration. It has **1B+ Google Play downloads** and 1.49M reviews, so it’s very widely used. ([play.google.com](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microsoft.office.onenote)) |\n| **iPhone/Mac users who want simple + free** | **Apple Notes** | Fast, built-in, great with iCloud, scanning, checklists, tags/Smart Folders, Apple Pencil, and Apple-device collaboration. Best default choice if you live fully in Apple’s ecosystem. ([apps.apple.com](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/notes/id1110145109?utm_source=openai)) |\n| **Quick notes, lists, reminders** | **Google Keep** | Best “sticky note” app: fast capture, color labels, reminders, shared lists, voice/photo notes. It has **1B+ Google Play downloads** and 2.5M reviews. ([play.google.com](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.keep)) |\n| **Personal wiki / team workspace / project notes** | **Notion** | Best if your “notes” are also docs, databases, tasks, calendars, wikis, and team collaboration. Notion says it has **100M+ users worldwide**; its Android app also has 10M+ downloads. ([notion.com](https://www.notion.com/en-US?utm_source=openai)) |\n| **Power users / “second brain” / local Markdown** | **Obsidian** | Best for long-term knowledge management, backlinks, graph view, plugins, and owning your files. Obsidian is free for personal and work use, stores data locally as plain-text Markdown, and says people in 10,000+ organizations use it. ([obsidian.md](https://obsidian.md/blog/free-for-work/?utm_source=openai)) |\n| **iPad handwriting / PDF annotation** | **Goodnotes** | Best for handwritten school/work notes, Apple Pencil-style workflows, PDF markup, templates, and digital planners. Goodnotes emphasizes handwriting, PDF annotation, AI search/summaries, collaboration, and audio recordings. ([goodnotes.com](https://www.goodnotes.com/)) |\n| **Classic notes archive / web clipping / document cabinet** | **Evernote** | Still a recognizable “capture everything” brand with excellent clipping/search/document workflows, but its free plan is now very limited: 50 notes, 1 notebook, 1 device, and 1GB storage. Android has 100M+ downloads. ([play.google.com](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.evernote)) |\n| **iPad lectures + audio + handwriting** | **Notability** | Popular with students and iPad users, especially for lecture notes, PDF annotation, audio recording/transcripts, and handwriting. It is an App Store Editors’ Choice with a 4.8 rating from 452K ratings. ([apps.apple.com](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/notability-ai-notes-planner/id360593530)) |\n\n## If you want the simplest recommendation\n\n- **Use OneNote** if you want the safest cross-platform “serious notes” app.\n- **Use Apple Notes** if you’re all-in on iPhone/Mac/iPad and want zero friction.\n- **Use Google Keep** for quick capture, grocery lists, reminders, and shared lightweight notes.\n- **Use Notion** if you want a customizable workspace, not just notes.\n- **Use Obsidian** if you care about owning your notes, Markdown, backlinks, and long-term knowledge management.\n- **Use Goodnotes** if you take handwritten iPad notes or mark up PDFs.\n\n## My personal top 5\n\n1. **Microsoft OneNote** — best default for most people  \n2. **Apple Notes** — best if you’re in Apple’s ecosystem  \n3. **Notion** — best modern workspace/wiki  \n4. **Google Keep** — best quick-capture notes  \n5. **Obsidian** — best for serious personal knowledge management  \n\nIf you’re a student with an iPad, I’d add **Goodnotes** near the top.","extractedBrands":[{"name":"Microsoft OneNote","domain":"microsoft.com","position":1},{"name":"Apple Notes","domain":"apple.com","position":2},{"name":"Google Keep","domain":"google.com","position":3},{"name":"Notion","domain":"notion.com","position":4},{"name":"Obsidian","domain":"obsidian.md","position":5},{"name":"Goodnotes","domain":"goodnotes.com","position":6},{"name":"Evernote","domain":"evernote.com","position":7},{"name":"Notability","domain":"apple.com","position":8}]},{"provider":"perplexity","run":1,"model":"sonar","capturedAt":"2026-08-01T04:10:42.897Z","text":"The **best note-taking apps** depend on your device and workflow, but the most widely recommended and actually used options are **Microsoft OneNote, Apple Notes, Google Keep, Notion, Obsidian, and Evernote**.[2][3][5][8][10]\n\n- **Microsoft OneNote** — best free all-rounder and strong for freeform note capture.[2][3][7]\n- **Apple Notes** — best if you use iPhone, iPad, or Mac, because it is built in and syncs natively across Apple devices.[2][5][7]\n- **Google Keep** — best for fast, simple notes and tight Google ecosystem integration.[2][5][7]\n- **Notion** — best for organized work, collaboration, wikis, and “second brain” setups.[2][5][8]\n- **Obsidian** — best for power users who want local files, privacy, and linked notes.[2][5][7]\n- **Evernote** — still a major player for multi-device capture and organization, though opinions vary more than with OneNote or Obsidian.[8][10]\n\nIf you want the **top brands/products people actually use**, a practical shortlist is:\n\n| App | Best for | Why people use it |\n|---|---|---|\n| **OneNote** | Free, flexible note-taking | Familiar, broad feature set, works well across devices.[2][3][7] |\n| **Apple Notes** | Apple users | Comes with the device and feels native on iPhone/Mac.[2][5][7] |\n| **Google Keep** | Quick capture | Fast, lightweight, and tied into Google services.[2][5][7] |\n| **Notion** | Teams and project notes | Combines notes, docs, databases, and collaboration.[2][5][8] |\n| **Obsidian** | Personal knowledge management | Local-first notes, Markdown, strong plugin ecosystem.[2][5][7] |\n| **Evernote** | Classic note organization | Longstanding app with strong clipping and organization.[8][10] |\n\nIf you want the **single best choice overall**, many 2026 roundups favor **Microsoft OneNote** for the broadest free all-around use, while **Notion** and **Obsidian** are the most common “power user” picks.[2][3][5] If you tell me your device and whether you want *simple notes, handwriting, school notes, or work/project management*, I can narrow it to the best 2–3 options.","extractedBrands":[{"name":"Microsoft OneNote","domain":"microsoft.com","position":1},{"name":"Apple Notes","domain":"apple.com","position":2},{"name":"Google Keep","domain":"google.com","position":3},{"name":"Notion","domain":"notion.so","position":4},{"name":"Obsidian","domain":"obsidian.md","position":5},{"name":"Evernote","domain":"evernote.com","position":6}]}]}