Best Note-Taking Apps
The best-scoring note-taking apps we have reviewed, ranked by our own score out of 10.
Ranked from 38 published apps reviews · 23 of 38 are free · newest review Nov 2026
- Ranked
- 38
- 01NotebookLMNotebookLM is a rare instance of Google Labs out-innovating the broader market, offering a source-grounded research tool that replaces AI "guessing" w...9.2Outstanding
- 02DraftsDrafts is a rare utility that understands the fundamental physics of thought: speed is everything, and structure is a secondary concern. It is a super...8.9Great
- 03GistrGistr is an AI research tool that treats research as a dialogue with your sources rather than a dumping ground for links. It is a precise instrument f...8.8Great
- 04NotabilityNotability brings its signature audio-synced note-taking to Android with real success, and the AI Learn suite adds genuine utility — but the subscript...8.8Great
- 05MochiMochi is a sophisticated networked knowledge tool that bridges the gap between passive note-taking and active recall with real precision. It earns a s...8.8Great
- 06ReflectReflect is a focused, well-designed note-taking app built around bi-directional linking and deep AI integration, aimed squarely at professionals who t...8.7Great
- 07Craft DocsCraft Docs stakes its claim not as another note-taker, but as a carefully engineered digital workspace, offering deep organizational capabilities and ...8.6Great
- 08TaskadeTaskade is an ambitious, feature-dense workspace that merges project management with autonomous AI agents, and it earns a firm recommendation — with r...8.5Great
- 09UpNoteUpNote is a focused, well-designed note-taking app that trades the bloat of legacy suites for speed, elegant organization, and a pricing model that's ...8.5Great
- 10AnytypeAnytype is a compelling, if demanding, alternative to mainstream productivity suites, built around data sovereignty and a deeply customizable, object-...8.5Great
- 11InstapaperInstapaper remains a sanctuary for long-form devotees, trading the chaotic "attention economy" for a focused, typographically excellent reading experi...8.4Great
- 12SiYuanSiYuan is a serious, local-first alternative to Notion that trades cloud convenience for total data sovereignty and granular, block-level power. It's ...8.3Great
- 13GoodnotesGoodnotes remains a leader in digital handwriting, now bolstered by genuinely useful smart features, even if its new subscription model leaves a bitte...8.2Great
- 14SublimeSublime is a radical departure from the sterile, database-heavy architecture of modern note-taking, prioritizing intellectual serendipity and curatori...8.2Great
- 15CodaCoda is a formidable, highly extensible "operating system" for workflows that successfully bridges the gap between static documents and bespoke applic...8.1Great
- 16RemNoteRemNote is a powerhouse of academic rigor that demands a steep intellectual down payment before it starts paying dividends in long-term retention. It ...8.1Great
- 17HeptabaseHeptabase is a well-designed cognitive workbench that bridges the gap between atomic note-taking and spatial reasoning, though it demands a real menta...8.1Great
- 18NeboNebo turns handwriting into clean, searchable, editable text as well as any app on a touchscreen — and with a stylus in hand, that alone justifies the...8.0Great
- 19ReadwiseReadwise tackles a real problem: we read more than ever but remember less. It's a well-designed system for capturing and retaining knowledge that will...7.9Good
- 20WeNoteWeNote carves out a useful niche in the oversaturated productivity market, offering a privacy-centric note-taking experience built around offline func...7.8Good
- 21MemMem trades manual organization for algorithmic recall, and for the right kind of user that trade pays off — but its sparse formatting tools and mobile...7.6Good
- 22SuperlistSuperlist, born from the minds behind Wunderlist, presents a sleek, feature-rich productivity suite with ambitions of cross-platform reach, but while ...7.6Good
- 23MilanoteMilanote is a well-designed visual workspace that suits creative professionals who think in images rather than lists, though its Android app is a comp...7.6Good
- 24Sorted³Sorted³ is a productivity app with a genuine point of view — that your tasks and your calendar belong in the same timeline — and its gesture design is...7.5Good
- 25CapacitiesCapacities is a sophisticated, object-based take on note-taking that treats notes as entities rather than files, but its mobile experience lags well b...7.5Good
- 26EvernoteEvernote remains a capable, deep digital workspace for capturing and retrieving large volumes of information, but its premium pricing and dense interf...7.5Good
- 27LiquidTextLiquidText rethinks the PDF from the ground up, turning static documents into a living, draggable workspace built for deep reading—if you can stomach ...7.4Good
- 28Endless PaperEpiphanie's vector-based whiteboard ditches the confines of traditional digital paper for a fluid infinite zoom, though its militant "zero-UI" philoso...7.4Good
- 29TanaTana is an ambitious, AI-native reconstruction of the digital workspace that trades user-friendly simplicity for structural power. It is a bold attemp...7.4Good
- 30Otter.aiOtter.ai is a capable, if imperfect, answer to the perennial problem of meeting documentation — a genuinely useful AI meeting companion whose value de...7.3Good
- 31ObsidianObsidian is a powerful, deeply customizable note-taking tool for those who value data ownership above all else. Its steep learning curve makes it a co...7.3Good
- 32WorkflowyWorkflowy strips away the database bloat of modern productivity tools, offering a minimalist, infinite outlining canvas that is built for keyboard-fir...7.2Good
- 33Standard NotesStandard Notes is a privacy-first note-taking app built on end-to-end encryption and open-source principles, and it delivers on that promise. It asks ...7.1Good
- 34SimplenoteSimplenote delivers stark minimalism for pure text capture, but its deliberate avoidance of rich-text features, multimedia support, and end-to-end enc...6.8Mixed
- 35JoplinJoplin hands you total ownership of your notes — open source, local-first, encrypted on request — but the Android app is a shrunken desktop port, and ...6.8Mixed
- 36Microsoft OneNoteMicrosoft OneNote is a free, feature-rich digital notebook with a genuinely brilliant freeform canvas, but inconsistent mobile performance and a deman...6.7Mixed
- 37Novi NotesThe local MCP server is a distinctive idea for AI-heavy note workflows, but the iOS-only scope, unproven reliability and agent write-access risk make ...6.3Mixed
- 38RoutineRoutine's NLP-powered vision for unified scheduling is genuinely impressive on desktop, but the Android companion app is a compromised shadow of that ...5.9Mixed
How we chose the best note-taking apps
Notes are the one kind of file people keep for a decade, so durability comes first here: can you get everything out in a format that outlives the company, and does the app still open quickly when a vault holds thousands of entries? Our reviews weigh capture speed, search quality and linking between notes ahead of decorative extras, and they look hard at what the paid tier withholds. Titles whose notes exist only as database rows, and imports with no published review, stay off this list.
Ranking on this page is deliberately plain: each title is ordered by the score our review published, highest first, and a tie goes to the more recently reviewed product so a new verdict shows up straight away. Nothing is re-weighted for a store chart, a publisher or a release window, and no title is promoted for being well known. Price and platforms are read from each row rather than restated here, because they move.