The best note-taking apps, by how you actually take notes

Prices and features checked: 2026-11-09. Prices in the currency the vendor shows, checked on the date shown; we do not convert.

Verdict by note-taking style

There is no best note-taking app. There is a best app for the way you capture, the devices you own and how much you care about still being able to open the notes in ten years. The top results for this search today are an iPad list from Zapier, a feature matrix of 41 apps at noteapps.info, a Cloudwards round-up and three forum or video threads, under a Google AI overview.^[10] None of them checks what happens when you leave, and none quotes the vendors' AI data-training terms. Those two columns are the point of this page.

Our criteria, stated up front and applied to all eight: capture speed on the devices you already own; search and structure; sync and offline behaviour; export quality, meaning what survives when you take your notes elsewhere; encryption and who holds the keys; AI features and the vendor's written policy on training with your content; and price as shown on the vendor's page on 2026-11-09. Affiliate status did not affect the order: Apple, Google, Microsoft, Obsidian, Bear and UpNote pay us nothing, Notion's programme is closed to new applicants, and Evernote and Readwise run programmes.

• You capture fast on an iPhone or Mac: Apple Notes, then Bear if you write in Markdown.
• You want notes you will own in 2046: Obsidian, or Bear and UpNote for a simpler version of the same idea.
• You live in Google Workspace or want a shared shopping list: Google Keep, with Google Docs for anything longer.
• You use a stylus on a tablet: OneNote for free-form ink, or GoodNotes for paper-like notebooks on iPad.
• Your notes sit next to team work: Notion.
• You have a decade of clips and scans: Evernote, if the price still fits.

Demand for this question is unusual: US searches for "best note taking apps" have grown about 69 percent a year over three years even though the last twelve months are down 18 percent, "note taking app free" is up 241 percent year on year, and "best iPad note taking app" adds 9,900 searches a month with a difficulty of 12. The UK adds 1,300 a month and Germany 210 for "beste notizen app".^[11] People want a free app and an iPad app more than they want a general ranking, so both get a section below.

What the research says notes are for

Three findings decide what a note app should be good at, and they are the same three that run through our personal knowledge management guide, so we keep them short here.

Writing something down is cognitive offloading. A 2016 review in Trends in Cognitive Sciences concludes that offloading is adaptive and improves task performance, but it reduces unaided memory for what you offloaded.^[1] A A note app is for remembering less, deliberately. That makes retrieval, search and resurfacing, the feature that matters most, and capture speed second.

Spaced review beats cramming: a meta-analysis of 254 studies found distributed practice superior in the overwhelming majority of comparisons, and the ideal gap grows with how long you need to remember.^[2] A Practice testing and distributed practice were rated high-utility learning techniques, while highlighting and rereading were rated low-utility.^[3] A A library of highlights is storage. A note you rewrite in your own words, and meet again later, is learning.

The handwriting question deserves care, because the iPad apps sell on it. Mueller and Oppenheimer (2014) reported that students who took notes by hand did better on conceptual questions than students who typed, apparently because typists transcribed verbatim.^[4] A 2021 direct replication of the first study, with mini meta-analyses across similar experiments, confirmed that laptop notes were longer and more verbatim but did not find a reliable advantage for longhand on quiz performance.^[5] B Write by hand if it helps you think, not because a study proved the pen superior.

Comparison: capture, search, sync, export, price

The table at the top of the page carries the verified detail for each app. This one puts the eight side by side on the five things that decide daily use. Prices are per month, annual billing where the vendor offers it, read on 2026-11-09.^[6][7][8][9]

App	Capture strength	Search and structure	Sync and offline	Export (bulk?)	Price from
Apple Notes	Fastest on Apple: lock screen, scans, audio transcripts, handwriting	Folders, tags, smart folders; search inside scans	iCloud; offline by design	PDF or Markdown per note; no bulk export shown	Included; iCloud+ from USD 0.99
Google Keep	Instant lists, voice memos, reminders	Labels and colours; no hierarchy	Google account; offline in apps	Google Takeout only	No price listed
OneNote	Free-form canvas, ink, clipped pages	Notebooks, sections, pages; strong search	OneDrive; offline in desktop apps	Notebook ZIP via web app, Windows only to reopen	Microsoft 365 Personal USD 9.99 a month
Evernote	Web clipper, scans, audio, email-in	Notebooks, tags, semantic search	Cloud; offline on paid plans	ENEX and HTML (help centre)	USD 8.25 annual
Notion	Pages, databases, templates, web clipper	Databases with relations; full-text search	Cloud; offline for downloaded pages	Markdown and CSV, HTML or PDF	Free; Plus EUR 9.50 as served
Obsidian	Daily note, quick switcher, mobile app	Links, backlinks, graph, properties, Bases	Local files; optional E2E Sync	The folder itself	Free; Sync USD 4
Bear	Markdown editor, hashtags inline	Nested tags, backlinks	iCloud only; offline	TXT, MD, TextBundle, RTF free; more on Pro	Free; Pro USD 2.99 monthly
UpNote	Simple editor, notebooks	Notebooks, tags, search	Own cloud; offline	Text, PDF, HTML, Markdown	Free; USD 1.99 monthly or 39.99 lifetime

Best free note-taking app

Four of the eight are free in a form that lasts. Apple Notes costs nothing beyond the device, and its one real limit is iCloud storage. Obsidian is free for personal use without limits and without an account; you pay only if you want Obsidian's own encrypted sync.^[7] Google Keep lists no price at all and is the right free answer for lists. UpNote is free up to 50 notes, after which USD 39.99 once is the cheapest way out of the free tier in this field.^[9]

Two "free" tiers are trials in disguise. Evernote's free plan is 50 notes, one notebook and one device.^[8] Bear's free app is a fine editor but sync needs Pro; at USD 29.99 a year that is still the second-cheapest paid plan here.^[9]

Who should not pick free: anyone who needs a shared workspace with permissions. That is Notion's territory and its Free plan is a starting point, not a destination.

Best for iPad and handwriting

For paper-like notebooks the two choices are GoodNotes and Apple Notes. GoodNotes' free tier allows three files in total with watermarked exports; Essential is USD 11.99 a year for unlimited files and clean exports, Pro is USD 35.99 a year with cloud sync and collaboration, and the AI features sit behind an AI Pass at USD 9.99 a month. It runs on Apple, Android, Windows and the web, and its pricing FAQ says of your data that it "is kept private and you control how it is used".^[12] Apple Notes handles Apple Pencil, shape recognition and searchable handwriting free, and since iOS 18 records audio with live transcripts.^[6] OneNote is the free-form alternative if you also live in Windows.

Remember the evidence above: the pen helps you think, it does not guarantee better recall. Pick handwriting for diagrams, maths and meetings where typing is rude.

Best for linked notes

Obsidian is the clear pick: links, backlinks and a graph over plain files, with Bases for table views and a plugin ecosystem that adds spaced repetition and local AI search. Bear offers backlinks and nested tags in a far simpler package for Apple users. Notion links pages but thinks in databases. If this is your main question, Obsidian vs Notion is the full head-to-head, and for highlights that should resurface on a schedule, Readwise syncs into Obsidian, Notion and Apple Notes and runs a 30-day free trial.^[13]

Best for teams

Notion wins for teams that write: shared pages, databases, permissions and templates, with AI from the Business plan.^[6] OneNote is the default where Microsoft 365 is already paid for; shared notebooks in Teams work well until someone needs to export them. Evernote has team plans on request. Google Keep is shareable but flat. Obsidian, Bear and UpNote are personal tools; a shared vault works for a small technical team and nobody else. If your team's real need is tasks rather than notes, the task-management apps comparison is the better page, and if you are choosing an AI assistant for the whole team, the AI productivity tools overview covers that.

Export and lock-in check

This is the section the rest of the search results do not have. We did not run a timed export for this edition; the matrix below comes from each vendor's import and export documentation, read on 2026-11-09, and from the file formats each app uses. Lock-in grades: low means your notes are already in an open format or a bulk export preserves them; medium means a bulk export exists but loses structure or needs another tool; high means export is partial, platform-bound or loses the features you paid for.

App	Bulk export	Formats	What is lost	Where it imports cleanly	Lock-in
Obsidian	Not needed	.md on disk	Nothing; plugin syntax is text	Anywhere that reads Markdown	Low
Bear	Yes, File, Export notes	TXT, MD, TextBundle, RTF; HTML, DOCX, PDF, ePub on Pro	Encrypted notes must be unlocked first	Obsidian, UpNote, Notion	Low
UpNote	Yes	Text, PDF, HTML, Markdown	Notebook nesting may flatten	Obsidian, Notion	Low
Apple Notes	Not shown; per-note File, Export To	PDF, Markdown; copy as Markdown	Folder structure, attachments in locked notes	Obsidian, Bear via Markdown, one note at a time	Medium
Evernote	Yes, per the help centre	ENEX, HTML	Notebook structure beyond one level; note links	Apple Notes and Obsidian both import ENEX	Medium
Google Keep	Takeout only	HTML and JSON archive per Google's general Takeout formats	Labels become files; images separate	Manual	Medium
Notion	Yes, whole workspace	Markdown and CSV, HTML, PDF	Relations and rollups outside the API route; callouts become HTML; comments only in HTML	Obsidian via Importer (API route keeps databases)	High
OneNote	Web app only, personal OneDrive only	ZIP that only OneNote for Windows reopens; PDF per section	Everything structural, if you do not have Windows	OneNote for Windows	High

Two details decide more than the table can show. First, Obsidian's own importer warns against Notion's Markdown export because it omits data, and recommends the HTML export or the API connection, which preserves databases as Bases.^[14] Second, OneNote's export article states that the web-app export is "only available for notebooks stored on personal OneDrive accounts" and that reopening the file "is only supported in OneNote for Windows"; the old import path is deprecated.^[15] For a work-or-school notebook that leaves you with PDF.

Who should not buy

• Do not buy Evernote if you are starting fresh: the free tier is a demo and the Starter price buys more elsewhere. Stay if your archive is already there; it exports cleanly in ENEX when you decide to leave.
• Do not choose OneNote for notes you will one day need outside Microsoft; see the export row.
• Do not choose Notion for a private journal or anything a subprocessor must never read; it is not end-to-end encrypted.
• Do not choose Google Keep for anything longer than a list; it has no hierarchy and no in-app export.
• Do not choose Obsidian if you will not learn Markdown or want a shared workspace.
• Do not choose Bear if you own an Android or Windows device as your main machine; sync is iCloud.

Decision table by user type

You are	Pick	Second choice	Why
iPhone and Mac user who wants zero setup	Apple Notes	Bear	Free, fast, searchable scans and handwriting
Writer or researcher who wants to own the files	Obsidian	Bear or UpNote	Markdown on disk, links, low lock-in
Mixed Windows, Linux and Android devices	UpNote	Obsidian	Cheap, everywhere, exports to Markdown
Student with a stylus	GoodNotes on iPad, OneNote elsewhere	Apple Notes	Paper-like ink; mind OneNote's export
Team that writes together	Notion	OneNote inside Microsoft 365	Shared databases and permissions
Ten years of clips and scans	Evernote	Apple Notes via ENEX import	Archive stays searchable; exit path exists
Lists, reminders and shared shopping	Google Keep	Apple Notes	Instant, shareable, free
Privacy first, offline first	Obsidian, or Apple Notes with Advanced Data Protection	Bear Pro with encrypted notes	Local files or end-to-end encryption

What to do next

Pick two candidates from the table, not five. Put ten real notes into each for a week, then export them and open the export without the app. The one whose export you can still read is the one to keep. If you want the shortlist built from your devices, budget and whether you work alone or in a team, the Tool Finder does that against these dated prices. If AI retrieval over your notes is the deciding feature, the best AI note-taking apps compares that field with the vendors' training terms. Evernote publishes its plan comparison and offers seven-day trials of paid plans.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free note-taking app?

Apple Notes on Apple devices and Obsidian on any desktop or phone: both are free without a note limit, and Obsidian needs no account. Google Keep is the free pick for lists. UpNote is free up to 50 notes and then USD 39.99 once for life (checked 2026-11-09). Evernote's free plan is limited to 50 notes, one notebook and one device.

Which note-taking app is best for iPad?

GoodNotes for paper-like notebooks: Essential costs USD 11.99 a year and Pro USD 35.99, with a free tier of three files and watermarked exports (2026-11-09). Apple Notes handles Apple Pencil, searchable handwriting and audio transcripts free. OneNote is the free-form alternative if you also use Windows.

Does handwriting notes help you remember more than typing?

Not reliably. Mueller and Oppenheimer (2014) reported better conceptual recall for longhand notes, but a 2021 direct replication with pooled analyses across similar studies confirmed only that typed notes are longer and more verbatim, without a reliable advantage for longhand on quiz performance. B Write by hand when it helps you think.

Which note apps are end-to-end encrypted?

Obsidian Sync is end-to-end encrypted with AES-256-GCM by default, with the caveat that the mapping between file paths and contents is not. Apple Notes is end-to-end encrypted only when Advanced Data Protection is on; otherwise Apple holds the keys. Bear Pro encrypts individual notes and its iCloud sync benefits from Advanced Data Protection. Notion, Evernote, OneNote, Google Keep and UpNote encrypt in transit and at rest but are not end-to-end encrypted (vendor pages, 2026-11-09).

Do note-taking apps train AI on my notes?

The written policies differ. Notion: by default customer data is not used to train models. Evernote (policy of 1 October 2026): input and output are not used to train its models or third-party providers' models. Microsoft Copilot under enterprise data protection: prompts and responses are not used to train foundation models. Google's Gemini Apps privacy hub says a subset of chats are human-reviewed and used to train generative models unless you turn the activity setting off; Keep itself lists no Gemini features. Apple says Private Cloud Compute never stores your data, but we did not find an explicit no-training sentence. Obsidian, Bear and UpNote have no built-in AI.

Which app is easiest to leave?

Obsidian, because there is nothing to export: notes are Markdown files in a folder. Bear and UpNote export everything to Markdown in bulk. Notion exports a whole workspace but loses relations unless you use Obsidian's API importer, and OneNote's export is a ZIP that only OneNote for Windows can reopen, from personal OneDrive accounts only.

Sources and evidence

1. Cognitive Offloading — Risko EF, Gilbert SJ (2016), review A doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2016.07.002 (retrieved 2026-11-09)
2. Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis — Cepeda NJ, Pashler H, Vul E, Wixted JT, Rohrer D (2006), meta-analysis A doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.3.354 (retrieved 2026-11-09)
3. Improving Students' Learning With Effective Learning Techniques — Dunlosky J, Rawson KA, Marsh EJ, Nathan MJ, Willingham DT (2013), systematic review A doi.org/10.1177/1529100612453266 (retrieved 2026-11-09)
4. The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard: Advantages of Longhand Over Laptop Note Taking — Mueller PA, Oppenheimer DM (2014), RCT B doi.org/10.1177/0956797614524581 (retrieved 2026-11-09)
5. Don't Ditch the Laptop Just Yet: A Direct Replication of Mueller and Oppenheimer's (2014) Study 1 Plus Mini Meta-Analyses Across Similar Studies — Urry HL, Crittle CS, Floerke VA, et al. (2021), RCT B doi.org/10.1177/0956797620965541 (retrieved 2026-11-09)
6. Apple: iCloud+ plans and pricing (support 108047); Notes User Guide: import, export and print notes, lock your notes; iCloud data security overview (support 102651); Apple Intelligence and Private Cloud Compute — Apple Inc. (2026), vendor page A support.apple.com/en-us/108047 (retrieved 2026-11-09)
7. Obsidian pricing, Sync plans and Sync security; Obsidian privacy policy — Dynalist Inc. (Obsidian) (2026), vendor page A obsidian.md/pricing (retrieved 2026-11-09)
8. Evernote: compare plans (limits per plan) and privacy policy (last updated 1 October 2026, AI training clause); prices from Productivity Signal catalogue check 2026-11-09 — Evernote (Bending Spoons) (2026), vendor page A evernote.com/compare-plans (retrieved 2026-11-09)
9. Bear FAQ: features and price of Bear Pro, export your notes, syncing and privacy, encrypt and lock notes; UpNote homepage pricing and features; Google Keep product page; Microsoft 365 plan comparison; OneNote export and import article — Shiny Frog (Bear); UpNote; Google; Microsoft (2026), vendor page A bear.app/faq/features-and-price-of-bear-pro/ (retrieved 2026-11-09)
10. Google US desktop SERP for 'best note taking apps' (DataForSEO serp/google/organic/live/regular, depth 10, 2026-11-09 13:43 UTC) — Productivity Signal research, via DataForSEO (2026), dataset A dataforseo.com/ (retrieved 2026-11-09)
11. Productivity Signal keyword database, US/en, UK and DE rows for 'best note taking apps', 'note taking app free', 'best ipad note taking app' (DataForSEO Labs keyword_overview, historical_search_volume and keyword_suggestions) — Productivity Signal research, via DataForSEO (2026), dataset A dataforseo.com/ (retrieved 2026-11-09)
12. Goodnotes pricing and FAQ — Goodnotes (2026), vendor page A www.goodnotes.com/pricing (retrieved 2026-11-09)
13. Readwise pricing and docs: exporting highlights to Notion, Obsidian, Apple Notes, Markdown and CSV — Readwise (2026), vendor page A readwise.io/pricing (retrieved 2026-11-09)
14. Notion help: export your content; Obsidian help: import from Notion — Notion Labs; Dynalist Inc. (Obsidian) (2026), vendor page A www.notion.com/help/export-your-content (retrieved 2026-11-09)
15. Microsoft support: export and import OneNote notebooks; Microsoft Learn: Copilot privacy and protections ('Prompts and responses aren't used to train the underlying foundation models'); Google Gemini Apps Privacy Hub (updated 26 October 2026) — Microsoft; Google (2026), vendor page A support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/export-and-import-onenote-notebooks (retrieved 2026-11-09)