I Examined 7 Finest Be aware Taking Apps: Right here’s My Palms-On Overview!

I’ve all the time been a note-taker. Whether or not it’s a fast grocery checklist, a random concept I don’t need to overlook, or a full-blown define for a venture, jotting issues down looks like my manner of creating sense of the chaos.

Over time, my notice taking habits have advanced— from scribbling in numerous notebooks to typing furiously on my cellphone when inspiration strikes on the most inconvenient instances. And whereas I nonetheless love the texture of pen on paper, I can’t deny the magic of recent note-taking apps. They’re like an extension of my mind, solely far more organized.

What I’ve discovered is that not all the perfect notice taking apps are created equal. Some are smooth and easy, whereas others are feature-packed and designed that can assist you handle your complete life. One of the best half? There’s one thing on the market for everybody, irrespective of your model or wants.

In the event you’re seeking to degree up your notice taking recreation or interested in what these notice taking apps can supply, this checklist may simply be the productiveness enhance you’ve been ready for. Let’s dive into the checklist of the perfect notice taking apps!

7 greatest notice taking apps I examined and beloved!

For me, the perfect note-taking apps are like having a private assistant in my pocket—they assist me seize concepts, keep organized, and even remind me of issues I’d in any other case overlook. 

Some instruments are extremely versatile, letting you sketch, report audio, or collaborate with others, whereas others shine of their simplicity, specializing in simply jotting issues down rapidly. What I’ve seen is that the perfect note-taking instruments are those that match seamlessly into your routine, making note-taking really feel easy moderately than a chore. As soon as you discover the fitting notice taking software program, it’s exhausting to think about the way you ever managed with out it.

Whether or not you’re somebody like me who loves to jot down issues down, or somebody seeking to set up your ideas successfully, I hope my perspective helps you discover the proper instrument to your wants. 

What makes the perfect notice taking apps value it? My perspective

Testing note-taking apps is about discovering what works greatest for you. A few of you may want easy and quick options whereas some could want feature-rich apps. Determining which instruments are value investing time (and generally cash) into is essential. Listed here are some elements I prioritized whereas evaluating these instruments. 

• Writing and modifying expertise: A note-taking app ought to supply a easy and versatile writing expertise. Fundamental textual content formatting choices like daring, italics, bullet factors, and headers ought to be simple to make use of. Some apps additionally help tables, checklists, and markdown formatting for extra structured notes.

  In the event you regularly connect photos, hyperlinks, or paperwork, see how effectively the app integrates multimedia parts. An intuitive textual content editor ought to will let you give attention to capturing your ideas with out getting slowed down by formatting limitations. I examined the instruments primarily based on the writing and modifying expertise they provide, how seamless the method is, and the way simply I can format my notes.

• Cross-device syncing: An ideal note-taking app ought to sync seamlessly throughout a number of units, guaranteeing you may entry your notes whether or not you are utilizing a smartphone, pill, or pc. Listening to how rapidly adjustments made on one gadget mirror on one other. Delayed syncing can disrupt workflow and result in inconsistencies. I additionally checked out how effectively the app performs throughout completely different working programs—some apps work higher on Apple units, whereas others have stronger help for Home windows or Android.

  A very versatile means that you can take notes wherever, with out worrying about gadget compatibility. Notes typically must be accessed on the go, whether or not in your cellphone, pill, or laptop computer. I regarded for the sync options of the highest apps.

• Voice and audio integration: Some note-taking apps supply built-in voice recording, making them best for capturing lectures, conferences, or brainstorming periods. In the event you depend on audio notes, take a look at whether or not the app means that you can report whereas taking notes concurrently. Some superior instruments, like Otter.ai and Notability, even present automated transcription, changing speech into textual content. This characteristic is especially helpful for college students and professionals who want correct assembly minutes or lecture summaries.
• Search and retrieval effectivity: The flexibility to rapidly discover info inside an app is simply as necessary as taking notes within the first place. A powerful search operate ought to be capable of find notes utilizing key phrases, tags, and even handwritten textual content (if OCR know-how is supported). Some superior apps will let you filter outcomes by date, notice sort, or class, making retrieval much more environment friendly. In the event you regularly take intensive notes, testing how effectively the search operate performs is crucial to make sure you gained’t waste time digging via previous entries. I regarded for apps with highly effective search options, like key phrase search, scanned paperwork, and filters to find notes by date, tags, or content material sort. Because the variety of notes grows, discovering what you want rapidly turns into a problem.
• Media integration: I examined how effectively apps deal with multimedia parts like photos, movies, sketches, and audio recordings, as these improve the flexibility of note-taking. Notes are now not restricted to textual content. The flexibility to embed photos, sketches, movies, or audio permits customers to seize concepts in no matter format fits the context, making the app extra versatile and creative-friendly.
• Stylus help: For individuals who want handwritten notes, stylus help is a game-changer. Some apps enable for pure handwriting enter and even supply handwriting-to-text conversion. handwriting-supported app ought to present easy pen strokes, customizable pen types, and the power to spotlight and annotate immediately on paperwork or PDFs. In the event you use an Apple Pencil, Samsung S Pen, or one other stylus, take a look at how responsive the app is to your handwriting model.
• Collaboration and sharing: Collaboration options could be extremely helpful, particularly for groups or college students who work on shared notes. Some apps enable for real-time collaboration, the place a number of customers can edit the identical notice concurrently—very like Google Docs. Verify whether or not the app helps completely different permission ranges, reminiscent of “view-only” or “edit” entry. In the event you typically share notes with others, see if the app permits simple exporting in a number of codecs like PDF, Phrase, or Markdown. Robust collaboration instruments be certain that teamwork and communication stay seamless.

These are the primary elements that guided my testing and analysis course of. My checklist comprises choices that cater to completely different wants and budgets. Whether or not you’re a person consumer or seeking to jot workforce assembly notes and collaborate, there’s an answer current. 

To be included on this class, an answer should:

• Create editable, text-based paperwork
• Permit customers to create and retailer a number of notes
• Present restricted performance for lists, reminiscent of entry cross-off or test containers
• Provide collaborative note-taking instruments or notice sharing

*This knowledge was pulled from G2 in 2025. Some evaluations could have been edited for readability.  

In the event you love staying organized and having all of your notes in a single place, Notion may simply be your new favourite factor.

As somebody who makes use of Notion for all my note-taking and venture monitoring wants, I really like how versatile it’s. Want a to-do checklist? Executed. An in depth venture tracker? Simple. A spot to handle your workforce’s workflow, consumer databases, or perhaps a private studying checklist? Notion’s received you lined. 

Whereas it might take a while to regulate to all of Notion’s options (there’s a lot you are able to do!), when you get the dangle of it, it’s a recreation changer for certain. Notion is a kind of instruments you need to use each personally and professionally. Right here’s a technique I exploit Notion to trace my each day duties. 

One other game-changer? Customized templates & automation. I don’t need to reinvent the wheel each time I arrange a brand new venture or workflow. I exploit templates that pre-fill fields, dashing up my course of dramatically. The flexibility to create database templates is very helpful for issues like content material calendars and recurring duties.

For these of us who love textual content formatting, Notion helps Markdown and wealthy textual content. It even permits for code blocks with syntax highlighting, which is a big plus for builders maintaining documentation in a single place. I really like the truth that I can write freely and format simply with out having to cope with clunky menus.

Whereas Notion does a lot proper, it isn’t good. The studying curve is actual—it takes time to determine one of the best ways to construction your workflow, and new customers can really feel overwhelmed by the limitless potentialities. I undoubtedly needed to watch tutorials to get essentially the most out of it. After which there’s the offline limitation. Notion isn’t a real offline-first app, which could be irritating after I’m touring or working in a spot with poor web. Whereas not too long ago accessed pages stay accessible, it’s not as seamless as I’d like.

Efficiency is one other situation when dealing with massive quantities of information. In the event you go overboard with nesting pages and databases, issues begin to decelerate. It’s not a deal-breaker, nevertheless it’s one thing to bear in mind when you depend on Notion for heavy-duty venture administration.

What I dislike about Notion: 

• After I first began utilizing Notion, I felt overwhelmed. It’s not the type of instrument you may simply choose up and use effortlessly; I needed to watch tutorials and experiment lots earlier than I felt snug.
• Notion is nice when I’ve an web connection, however after I’m offline, it’s irritating. I can solely entry not too long ago opened pages, and actual offline performance continues to be missing.

What G2 customers dislike about Notion: 

“The one downside with the offline mode in Notion is that it doesn’t work too effectively, and it has a difficulty when my web shouldn’t be too secure. It has solely delayed me after I wanted these notes throughout a gathering. The search performance is one other downside because it fails to hint older information. The options are additionally difficult with crusing, so it makes onboarding slower for brand new workforce members, which in flip will get in the way in which of effectivity with workflow.”

– Notion Overview, Ron H. 

First off, the benefit of use in the case of Google Workspace is unbelievable. Every little thing simply works. Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides make collaboration easy. I can actually see my workforce making edits in actual time, depart feedback, and observe adjustments with out ever hitting the save button. It’s all cloud-based, which implies I can entry my information from wherever—whether or not I’m on my laptop computer, cellphone, and even borrowing a pal’s gadget.

Talking of entry, Google Drive is a lifesaver. It integrates completely with Gmail, making it tremendous simple to connect information, share paperwork, and set up all the things. And let’s not overlook Types—in all probability some of the underrated instruments within the suite. I exploit it for surveys, suggestions assortment, and even easy knowledge entry duties.

One other huge win? Google Meet. It’s a stable video conferencing instrument, and because it’s constructed into Gmail and Calendar, scheduling and becoming a member of conferences is a breeze. I don’t have to obtain further software program—simply click on a hyperlink, and I’m in.

Whereas Google Workspace integrates effectively inside its personal ecosystem, connecting it to third-party instruments (like CRMs) isn’t all the time seamless. Some integrations really feel clunky, and I’ve run into occasional compatibility points.

Lastly, the training curve. In the event you’re used to Microsoft Workplace, switching over can really feel a bit bizarre at first. Some options work in a different way, and there are minor limitations (like fewer superior formatting choices in Docs in comparison with Phrase).

What I dislike about Google Workspace: 

• It’s nice for fast notes, however I’d love folders or higher tagging choices to maintain all the things structured.
• Google’s note-taking instruments don’t supply superior stylus help or handwriting-to-text conversion.

What G2 customers dislike about Google Workspace: 

“The search performance inside Google Drive could be irritating, because it generally struggles with finding older information or paperwork with generic names. Moreover, the dearth of some superior options in comparison with desktop software program (e.g., Excel for energy customers) could be limiting for particular use circumstances.”

– Google Workspace Overview, Verified consumer in medical companies.  

I’ve been utilizing Fathom, and I’ve to say—it’s been a game-changer in how I seize and set up my assembly notes. One of many greatest benefits is its extremely correct transcription, which makes reviewing conversations easy. I additionally love the way it robotically generates notes and motion objects, saving me tons of time. The search performance is extremely highly effective, permitting me to immediately discover previous discussions with out digging via limitless information. Plus, the seamless integrations with Zoom, Groups, and GoTo make it tremendous handy to make use of in my each day workflow.

That mentioned, there are some things that may very well be improved. Whereas I personally haven’t confronted main points, I would love a bigger display screen view. There are occasional minor glitches, however nothing that has considerably disrupted my expertise.

See the underside left? That’s the place you may entry the transcript and abstract particulars! There’s a characteristic on the prime to seek for notes. 

What I dislike about Fathom: 

• I’ve seen that the app’s digicam stays on throughout conferences, which could be distracting and pointless.
• I’ve seen that fathom generally lacks voice recognition skills, which could be a difficulty when a number of customers are talking.

What G2 customers dislike about Fathom: 

“Relating to the sorts of conferences with which Fathom works most successfully, I’ve recognized two important points – first, the occasional lack of voice differentiation in massive group conferences, and second, the failure to separate voices if individuals speak concurrently. It will even be much more highly effective if its transcription accuracy may very well be enhanced in such circumstances.“

– Fathom Overview, Rohit W.

I have been utilizing ClickUp for some time now, and general, it has been an awesome expertise. One of many issues I respect essentially the most is how effectively the product and tech groups work collectively to constantly enhance the platform. The design is crisp, clear, and simple to navigate, which makes it a pleasure to make use of. 

First off, the process administration options are completely good. You’ll be able to create duties and subtasks and even break issues down right into a hierarchy that works for you. There is a ton of flexibility, which implies you may tailor it to match your workflow completely. The collaboration instruments are a game-changer. I additionally examined out the whiteboard! With options like feedback on duties, file sharing, and real-time updates, it looks like the entire workforce is on the identical web page, even when you’re unfold throughout the globe. 

That mentioned, some customers (and I’ve seen this myself) complain about occasional slowness or bugs. For instance, sure options—just like the Gantt charts—don’t all the time load as rapidly as you’d like, particularly throughout peak work hours.

The studying curve is value mentioning. Whereas the fundamentals are simple, mastering superior options like automation and detailed reviews may take a little bit of trial and error. One of many extra irritating limitations is the shortcoming so as to add each subtasks and important duties throughout completely different sprints, which is a typical want in agile workflows. Moreover, the way in which filters and the “Me Mode” work shouldn’t be very intuitive—it took a number of help conversations to determine learn how to correctly view solely assigned duties. Synchronization additionally doesn’t all the time replace in real-time, requiring handbook refreshes all through the day to make sure the most recent model of the dashboard is seen. 

What I dislike about ClickUp: 

• One of many greatest frustrations I encountered was the shortcoming to assign important duties and subtasks to completely different sprints. For note-taking in an agile setting, this was a noticeable downside since I typically set up assembly notes into completely different motion objects.
• Though I respect ClickUp’s potential to combine with different apps, some integrations have been tough to arrange. I struggled with sure configurations.

What G2 customers dislike about ClickUp: 

“Battle to search out one of the best ways to have a spot of simply note-taking throughout the name. I lump them collectively below completely different duties I’ve opened beforehand. Typically I discover myself working from the identical 5-8 duties and simply depart notes as we go.”

– ClickUp Overview, Stephan B.

One of many issues I really like most about Microsoft OneNote is its flexibility—it permits me to construction my notes precisely how I need, whether or not via freeform note-taking, embedded media, or a well-organized pocket book format. The combination with different Microsoft instruments like Phrase, Excel, and Outlook makes my workflow a lot smoother, and the power to sync throughout units ensures that I all the time have entry to my notes, whether or not I am on my laptop computer, pill, or cellphone.

One other main plus is its search performance. Discovering particular notes, even from years in the past, is easy due to the highly effective search instrument that scans each typed and handwritten notes. 

From a technical perspective, OneNote’s efficiency could be inconsistent. Often, it turns into gradual and unresponsive, significantly when dealing with massive notebooks with lots of embedded media. One other situation is the dearth of superior export choices—whereas OneNote integrates effectively inside the Microsoft ecosystem, exporting notes into different codecs can generally be cumbersome and restricted. 

What I dislike about Microsoft OneNote: 

• Whereas the cloud-based sync is beneficial, it’s not all the time dependable, particularly when switching between a number of units or working offline. There have been moments the place my adjustments took longer to replace, inflicting slight workflow disruptions.
• There are occasions when OneNote turns into sluggish or throws errors like “quota exceeded,” making it tougher to work easily.

What G2 customers dislike about Microsoft OneNote: 

“What I dislike about Microsoft Onenote is the dearth of superior formatting choices. Whereas does provides fundamental formatting, it would not have as many options as another note-taking/ phrase processing software.”

– Microsoft OneNote Overview, Jasmine Ok.

One of many issues I really like most about Fellow is the power to assign motion objects and observe them effortlessly. Having all my assembly notes in a single place, with clear follow-ups, has considerably improved my workflow. The built-in templates are one other main plus—they make structuring my notes a lot simpler, guaranteeing that I don’t miss crucial factors throughout discussions.

One other standout characteristic is the AI-powered transcription and summaries. They’re surprisingly correct and save me lots of time when reviewing assembly outcomes. The flexibility to combine with my calendar and collaborate with my workforce in real-time can be an enormous benefit. It’s a good way to maintain everybody on the identical web page with out juggling a number of apps.

Whereas it really works effectively as a meeting-focused instrument, it generally feels extra like a private to-do checklist moderately than a fully-fledged note-taking app. For individuals who depend on intensive notice group past conferences, it would really feel a bit restricted. Moreover, a number of the extra superior options, like personal notes and deeper integrations, are locked behind the paid plans, making the free model considerably restrictive.

I’ve encountered minor sync points and occasional lag when dealing with bigger units of notes. 

What I dislike about Fellow: 

• I discovered that there are occasional bugs or syncing delays, which may generally be irritating. 
• In the event you’re trying to make use of it for non-meeting notes, it’s a bit extra restricted in flexibility. Fortunately I used to be utilizing it for work.

What G2 customers dislike about Fellow: 

“How individuals use it. Individuals have a tendency so as to add notes as speaking factors within the default template that are by no means checked off. Motion objects do not have clear reminders and may simply get misplaced. The AI options are cool, however their accuracy, particularly round motion objects, is low.” 

– Fellow Overview, Verified consumer in pc software program. 

One factor I really like about taking notes in Lark is  that I can create structured notes with bullet factors, headings, and attachments, making it simple to doc assembly summaries, to-do lists, and venture concepts. The flexibility to collaborate in real-time with my workforce has additionally been a game-changer—everybody can contribute to shared notes, eliminating the necessity for limitless e mail chains and fragmented discussions.

That mentioned, there are just a few limitations. Formatting choices are considerably restricted, which could be irritating after I need to customise my notes past the fundamentals. Moreover, whereas Lark’s cellular app is beneficial, it doesn’t supply the identical easy expertise because the desktop model—sure actions, like rapidly accessing saved notes, can really feel barely clunky.

One other draw back is that syncing throughout units is not all the time immediate. There have been instances after I’ve made updates on my laptop computer that didn’t instantly mirror on my cellphone, requiring a handbook refresh. This isn’t a serious situation however could be annoying after I want fast entry to the most recent model of my notes.

One factor that basically stood out (sadly, not in a great way) is the dearth of split-screen or full-screen modes for notes. It will make multitasking manner simpler, particularly after I’m referencing slides or different paperwork. 

What I dislike about Lark: 

• I discovered that there have been some challenges with organizing or engaged on notes inside different workflows (e.g., importing/exporting notes or collaborating with non-Lark customers).
• Whereas I really like the built-in communication options, video conferencing tends to lag often, particularly when sharing my display screen.

What G2 customers dislike about Lark: 

“I would say there are some unintuitive interactions – though minor.

One new characteristic that I’ve an enormous gripe with is the default to opening docs in Lark moderately than in a browser tab like earlier than. It makes doc group messier – it is also potential to layer open docs contained in the Lark UI, so that you’d have to “x out” of 3-4 docs inside Lark earlier than seeing the folder hierarchy once more.” 

– Lark Overview, Tim L. 

Be aware-taking and bettering process administration go hand in hand. Discover the greatest process administration software program to extend general enterprise and private productiveness.