Forget the small stuff.
Note-taking apps are a great way to stay organized and productive. Open one up to keep track of your thoughts, ideas, and tasks and collaborate with others.
Many different note-taking software are available, so deciding which is right for you takes time. This article discusses the best note-taking apps on the market. We’re going to look at their features, pricing, and ease of use and also provide tips on picking the best one. So whether you’re a student, a professional, or a creative, we have the perfect note-taking app.
You want to maximize the tool's functionalities, and choosing a solution for your specific use case is essential. Whether you rely on note-taking software for educational purposes, brainstorming creative projects, or managing endless to-do lists doesn't matter.
Our round-up below contains real user reviews. To be included on this list, a solution must have the following:
*This data was pulled from the G2 Summer Grid Report on June 13, 2023, based on our scoring methodology. Some reviews may have been edited for clarity.
Google Workspace is a suite of cloud-based productivity tools that teams turn to for collaboration and remote work. The tools such as Docs, Sheets, and Slides allow teams to work together on documents, spreadsheets, and presentations in real-time.
“Easy to track bills, credit card charges, and reconcile credit cards. Having the ability to set up different reports to easily see what needs to be paid when is amazingly helpful as a member of our accounts payable (AP) department. We can pay bills directly from the report or schedule checks to be printed.”
- Google Workspace Review, Joseph J.L.M
“Google Workspace can present a bit of a learning curve for new users due to its expansive features and tools.”
- Google Workspace Review, Adeeb K.
Notion is a powerful all-in-one productivity and task management app that lets users organize task lists, notes, databases, and wikis in one place. A great collaborative platform, Notion’s flexibility and customization make it ideal for professionals, students, and anyone who wants to stay focused.
“Notion is great for productivity and collaboration. It has a user-friendly interface with a drag-and-drop feature that makes creating and organizing content easy. It also includes an AI writing assistant that helps improve your writing quality. Notion has a Chrome extension allows you to save web pages directly to your workspace.”
- Notion Review, Himangi S.
“There is a significant learning curve when using it to its full potential. The application could use a more intuitive onboarding process to help understand how to better use its features, particularly the databases, which can be cumbersome to navigate and challenging to utilize effectively. Additionally, there is confusion between tables and a database.”
- Notion Review, Musa A.
ClickUp is a project management tool designed for teams. It tracks tasks, issues, and goals from a single platform and has robust workflow management features, including customizable views, time tracking, and project structuring.
“ClickUp offers a wide range of features that align perfectly with my preferences, such as sprint-based task organization, dynamic data fields, associating tasks with multiple lists, collaborative editing, and multiple-view capabilities. These features have significantly improved my productivity and workflow.
As a proud ambassador, I highly recommend ClickUp to others, as it has become an essential tool in my daily routine.”
- ClickUp Review, Gui M.
“Our team has found that document management is where ClickUp falls short. It can be challenging to organize and navigate files within the platform, which makes managing and accessing documents difficult. Improving the document management system in ClickUp would enhance its functionality as a one-stop-shop productivity tool.”
- ClickUp Review, Raine S.
Microsoft OneNote is a free-form digital notebook that lets you capture, structure, and share your thoughts, ideas, and to-do’s across devices. Some of its key features include the ability to create and share notebooks with others and note customization through tags.
“The integration process for Microsoft OneNote was simple. Thanks to its integrated structure with MS Office 365, it's easy to distribute. It's great because it makes it easy to transfer and move data to external environments and has an integrated structure with Outlook.
It eliminates the need for notebooks, papers, pens, and other physical items and offers a single management panel instead of multiple programs. You can even take notes on your calendar, and OneNote will check it for you.”
- Microsoft OneNote Review, Turan A.
What users dislike:
“The note-taking app has a limited number of categories and subcategories, which can be insufficient for some users. It would be helpful if there were more subsections available. Additionally, changing the input keyboard can only change the input language. This could be inconvenient if you use multiple languages and want to avoid having everything underlined.”
- Microsoft OneNote Review, Jessica A.
Zoho Mail, an all-in-one email solution designed for modern businesses, provides a comprehensive suite of features, including a calendar, note-taking, task management, contacts, and bookmarks. It’s well-equipped to handle businesses' unique challenges, such as user account management, complex workflows, and scalability.
“Zoho Mail has a user-friendly and intuitive interface, making managing email messages and contacts effortless. The well-organized structure enables users to navigate their mailbox efficiently and access important features with just a few clicks.
Moreover, Zoho Mail seamlessly integrates with other Zoho applications like Zoho CRM and Zoho Projects, enhancing productivity by providing a streamlined workflow across various business applications.”
- Zoho Mail Review, Shivam A.
“Zoho Mail's emphasis on security can sometimes lead to inconvenience. For example, when accessing a previously authorized device, you may need to repeat the authorization process, even within 24 hours. Verification codes sent to your mobile number may arrive late and expire before use, causing frustration when urgently validating files.”
- Zoho Mail Review, Leandro M.
Evernote is a digital note-taking app used to organize and store notes in various formats, including text, audio, and images. The app also features expansive collaboration tools, making it a great choice for teams.
“After using Evernote for a long time, I appreciate its functionality and enjoyment. The user experience is well-designed and intuitive. I also value the ability to search my notes quickly and accurately using tags. Furthermore, the app offers various formatting options that allow me to customize my notes more extensively than with basic text and headings.”
- Evernote Review, Sara C.
“I find importing or exporting content from Evernote challenging due to the limited options available. I also find the authentication process cumbersome, which could be problematic if I forget my password. While I appreciate the security features, such as the app shutting down automatically after use, this also means that if I need to access previously saved data again, I must reinstall all the software and re-enter that data.””
- Evernote Review, Alex S.
Coda is a document-creation tool that combines words, data, and teams. It is a blank canvas that you can use to create anything you imagine, from a simple to-do list to a complex project management tool. Coda has building blocks to create your docs, such as pages, tables, and buttons.
“Coda is incredibly easy to use, allowing you to start working quickly. You can easily create or remove pages, change text formatting, add tables, and import common document types. Each page can have its own icon and cover image, making it easy to identify at a glance. Collaboration in Coda is seamless, enabling multiple people to interact and make changes together.”
- Coda Review, Brianna T.
"The integration of typical Microsoft Office documents for collaborative editing in Coda could be improved. While you can upload documents to the site, there is currently no built-in functionality for multiple people to work on an Office document and sync edits simultaneously. Exploring potential integrations with SharePoint may be worth considering to set up a system that allows for collaborative editing.”
- Coda Review, Erika B.
Simplenote is a minimalist note-taking application that offers a clutter-free writing experience. Create and organize notes effortlessly and sync them across all your devices. With its simplicity and synchronization capabilities, Simplenote helps keep your thoughts easily accessible.
“Simplenote lives up to its name by offering a simple and basic note-taking app that allows you to add and access notes from anywhere easily. One of the great features of Simplenote is the ability to use markdown language, which enhances the formatting options for your notes. With itsW syncing capabilities, you can quickly take notes on different machines and ensure they are always accessible, even during computer problems.”
- Simplenote Review, Ali C.
“While Simplenote does not offer hierarchical organization or archiving of notes, it provides a tagging system as the primary method for organizing. Some users may find this constraint to be a helpful feature for reviewing and cleaning up notes regularly. However, if you're looking to store notes long-term, you must copy them elsewhere as Simplenote does not have a built-in archiving feature."
- Simplenote Review, Skylar Y.
Grain is an AI-powered meeting tool that records, transcribes, and summarizes the content of the meeting in real-time. The application provides users with all they need to conduct a well-ordered session, like notes, collaboration tools, and integrations with other popular workplace applications like Zoom, Google Calendar, and Slack.
“Grain provides easy access to all of my recordings in a convenient tile or list format, enabling me to locate what I need whenever I require it quickly. This layout makes it easy to pinpoint areas where I've done well or fallen short and takes steps to improve. With Grain, I can act on my discoveries quickly and efficiently.”
- Grain Review, Shahbaz I.
“I find it challenging to isolate specific parts of my meetings using Grain. Recently, I had two meetings that ended up on the same recording, but I couldn't separate or clip them apart easily. I wish there were more options to slice and dice recordings for better organization and analysis.”
- Grain Review, Melissa F.
Slite is a modern note-taking tool that facilitates real-time collaboration, allows team members to leave comments and feedback, and offers advanced search to find and access notes quickly.
“Slite has made it easy for all our teams to document important information, ranging from employee handbooks to project details and detailed design processes.
The app's nested documents embed from external services like Airtable and Spreadsheet.com, and the Table of Contents feature makes it simple to create well-organized, easy-to-follow documentation in one central location as our single source of truth.”
- Slite Review, Jesse W.
“Sometimes I become frustrated with the mobile performance of longer documents in Slite, particularly when using multiple styling techniques in the same document. Additionally, while I find the search capabilities adequate, I think there is room for improvement in this area.”
- Slite Review, Eduard B.
Whether you’re scrambling to assemble notes in a fast-paced classroom, taking your sweet time sketching a new product idea, or creating goals for the new year, we’ve all had our share of experience (and memories) with different note-taking tools.
Our discussion of these tools above serves as a starting point if you’re looking for the right note-taking software for specific use cases. To make the best choice for your needs, reflect on the most important features while working with your preferred workflows.
Note-taking and improving task management go hand in hand. Explore the best task management software to increase overall business and personal productivity.
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