Best notebook on Reddit
221 reviews from r/notebooks, r/fountainpens, r/hobonichi and 13 more subreddits
221 reviews from
and
By Brand
/By Product
#1
Midori
4.6
(31)
"Midori MD A5. Cant be beaten."
"The paper is great to write with various pens, dotted paper, light."
"Best notebook I’ve used so far is Midori. My fountain pens write smoothly on it and my inks neither bleed through nor skip."
"I'd go for either Midori MD or Leuchtturm1917."
"I really like it. There is minimal ghosting, even with highlighters!"
"100039742848% recommend. i’ve used these notebooks since i was 16 (22 now) and i adore them."
"Can’t beat an A5 Midori MD paper notebook."
"I have filled dozens and dozens of Midori A5 notebooks and cannot recommend them highly enough."
"Midori paper is so satisfying to write on."
"Midori has been my go to for writing for some years."
#2
Leuchtturm1917
4.5
(20)
"One of the best options is surely the Leuchtturm1917 A5 in 120 gsm."
"I second (third?) Leuchtturm1917."
"I believe they do have softcover notebooks as well in their line up."
"An A6 Leuchtturm, either hard or soft cover, is in my daily carry for the same purposes."
"I use a Leuchtturm1917 - 2025 Weekly Planner & Notebook (A5)."
"Neil Gaiman actually writes his first draft by hand with a fountain pen!"
"Neil Gaiman writes all of his books using pen and paper. Well he uses Leuchtturm1917 notebooks."
"I love my leuchtturm notebooks."
"Leuchtturm1917 is a great option, as it can be found at HomeGoods/TJ Maxx stores for much cheaper than usual retail price."
"Leuchtturm1917 for numbered pages"
#3
Rhodia
4.5
(20)
"Rhodia are great."
"Rhodia or dingbats my preference."
"You can't go wrong with Rhodia"
"For a great writing experience you can go with Rhodia."
"Rhodia. They actually use clairefontaine paper."
"I saw others mentioning Rhodia and that paper has an especially smooth feel to it."
"Rhodia and clairefontane, awesome paper too."
"Rhodia have quite a few ring bound variants. Paper is amazing for fountain!"
"B5 notebooks I've used with dotted or sectioned grids and fountain pen friendly paper: Rhodia."
"I like Rhodia & Clairefontaine."
#4
Kokuyo
4.4
(20)
"Kokuyo softring! Ideally the sooofa line, which is harder to find in person."
"I love them and are very affordable."
"I love them and are very affordable."
"Had been treating me well for years."
"It only has 100 pages but less bulky to carry and high quality paper"
"Kokuyo Campus notebooks are highly recommended."
"Cheap, easy to write on, good paper."
"Kokuyo campus notebooks."
"Kokuyo notebooks are very fountain pen friendly."
"Kokuyo campus 100% definitely look through the different styles."
#5
Leuchtturm
4.2
(15)
"I have two in-progress notebooks, one (Leuchtturm A5 120g) for daily notes."
"Leuchtturm is probably the best."
"Leuchtturm, Clairefontaine and Field Notes are all good options."
"Leuchtturm, sterling ink (tomoe river paper), jetpens has a lot of options too."
"Leuchtturm is fine, and personally I love it."
"I like Leuchtturm and Rhodia for general use."
"B5 notebooks I've used with dotted or sectioned grids and fountain pen friendly paper: Leuchtturm 1917."
"All reasonably priced and fountain pen friendly."
"I like Leuchtturm or Rhodia notebooks."
"You can try leuchtturm, cognitive surplus, or Kokuyo campus."
#6
Clairefontaine
4.6
(10)
"I love Clairefontaine."
"My go-to everyday carry is an A6 "age bag" notebook from Clairefontaine."
"I use the Clairefontaine My Essential notebook. Superior quality paper."
"I started with Clairefontaine paper, and I love it so much I’m afraid to try anything else."
"Clairefontaine & Rhodia make some excellent for fountain pens B5 softcover notebooks."
"Search for clairfontaine, rhodia and/or Maruman Mnemosyne… all are supposedly good with fountain pens."
"I like Rhodia & Clairefontaine."
"Midori MD, Clairefontaine, Rhodia and Traveler’s Notebook all have fountain friendly paper."
"European paper: Clairefontaine I like either their A4 and A5 spirals and their Triomphe pads."
"I enjoy Rhodia and Clairefontaine generally."
#7
Maruman
4.6
(7)
"I haven’t tried Septcouleur but you could try Mnemosyne by Maruman, very smooth."
"Septcouleur is solid. I like the side spiral. My go to is the Maruman Mnemosyne 105 (A5, 5mm dot) or the Maruman Spiral Dot Basic."
"It really is great paper for fountain pens, and the price is right."
"Maruman Mnemosyne has an A4, ring-bound, squared, landscape-oriented notebook with fantastic paper."
"Maruman Mnemosyne is excellent and relatively inexpensive."
"The paper is very nice!! I also like that it is perforated."
"I generally recommend Maruman, Rhodia, or Clairefontaine."
#8
Muji
4.5
(6)
"I personally swear by this system by Muji."
"My on-the-go is a Muji, and it’s great with fountain pens."
"[muji] has great notebooks for equally great prices."
"I think Muji’s pocket notebooks come in dot grid now, so they’d be my first recommendation."
"I've settled on Muji for a loose leaf study binder."
"Look at Muji"
#9
Stalogy
4.3
(4)
"Stalogy and Midori notes are often my recommendations for people."
"I use Stalogy notebooks in my Hobo covers."
"Stalogy notebooks are gridded and have good paper"
"Great for cutting off the spine and spiral binding, very convenient."
#10
Hobonichi
4.3
(4)
"Hobonichi cousin! It has monthly, weekly, and daily pages all in one book!"
"Sewn binding with small signatures is the most durable, and also the best for laying flat."
"I recommend Hobonichi notebook placed inside Kokuyo Systemic cover."
"I love Hobonichi but they're on the expensive side and not ideal if you can't stand ghosting."
#11
Apple
4.0
(4)
"I always recommend building a PC. It's easy to learn, you can find tutorials on Youtube."
"I bought a refurbished m1 MacBook pro with 16gb ram in december for like $900 CAD and it’s a breeze."
"The base MacBook Pro with the m4 (not m4 pro or max) is well within that budget."
"While MacBooks can be used for coding, many students found themselves needing to use university computers due to software compatibility issues."
#12
Midori MD
5.0
(3)
"I’d recommend Midori MD, Apica CD, or a Life Noble notebook."
"Midori MD is one of my favourites. Either in cream (the A5 blank is my go to), or white (the TN inserts)."
"Midori MD paper notebooks, chefs kiss."
#13
Dingbats
5.0
(3)
"I cannot recommend Dingbats enough."
"Try the Dingbats Pro that comes in B5."
"B5 notebooks I've used with dotted or sectioned grids and fountain pen friendly paper: Dingbats."
#14
Yu-Sari
4.3
(3)
"I use Yu-Sari grid in B5, previously used A5 too."
"I enjoy yu-sari notebooks. The cover is a flimsy compared to leuchturm but the paper is great."
"Great for fountain pens, just like Muji, and reasonably priced."
#15
Oxford
4.3
(3)
"Oxford makes great, inexpensive notebooks using their 'Optik Paper'."
"In the USA, we have the Oxford brand of 80-sheet composition books."
"Other options are Oxford FocusNotes in Cornell."
#16
Apica
4.3
(3)
"I love them and are very affordable."
"I also enjoyed Apica as I find its thicker."
"For small, soft cover I like Apica."
#17
Moleskine
3.7
(3)
"There is a pattern to finding Moleskines that are Fountain pen friendly."
"My first ever notebook was a Moleskine."
"I am in love with the size of the large moleskine expanded."
#18
H&P
5.0
(2)
"H&p notebook on Amazon"
"It also made rounding so much easier because everything was organized."
#19
Kokuyo Campus
4.5
(2)
"I love Kokuyo Campus."
"I also recommend the Kokuyo Campus Notebooks, it only has 100 pages but less bulky to carry and high quality paper."
#20
Rhodiarama
4.5
(2)
"There's also the Rhodiarama notebooks which do have softcovers as well!"
"Look at Rhodiarama line by Rhodia. They have soft and hard cover. My favorite paper."
#21
Penco
4.5
(2)
"Penco B7 is your answer."
"Penco B7"
#22
Tomoe River
4.5
(2)
"I also tried Tomoe River paper, which is so thin you’ll think it starts to tear or bleed but it doesn’t."
"Tomoe River is the gold standard for fountain friendly papers."
#23
Traveler's Notebook
4.5
(2)
"A ring planner or traveler’s notebook would be my suggestion."
"Midori MD, Clairefontaine, Rhodia and Traveler’s Notebook all have fountain friendly paper."
#24
Tsubame
4.5
(2)
"Tsubame has a b5 200 sheet and a 100 sheet on Amazon, both lined."
"They are all nice paper, NOT thick."
#25
Notebook Therapy
4.5
(2)
"I’ve been using them for about 3 years now and I have no complaints."
"I recommend both but I found that NT has more options and cuter covers!"
#26
Filofax
4.0
(2)
"Filofax A5, one day on two pages - plenty of room for your notes."
"I use a Filofax for that. It’s refillable and quite sturdy."
#27
Scribbles That Matter
4.0
(2)
"Scribbles That Matter makes a good hardcover B5."
"Scribbles that matter are good and uk based."
#28
Seqes
5.0
(1)
"Very good quality for the price - it’s a dot notebook with thick pages."
#29
Papier Platz
5.0
(1)
"I bought them off of Jetpens and gave one to my wife and the other to my kiddo."
#30
BookFactory
5.0
(1)
"The standard notebook all the labs I worked for have adopted since my undergrad."
#31
SCNO
5.0
(1)
"We get the soft-cover ones for teaching labs ($3 each) and then I get different versions of the hardcover ones for my research lab."
#32
Wonderland
5.0
(1)
"Hands down for me- Wonderland 222."
#33
Franklin Christoph
5.0
(1)
"My personal favorite is the Franklin Christoph gray book."
#34
Peter Pauper
5.0
(1)
"Not sure if they have B5 size. I use their A5 and honestly I've never had a better notebook."
#35
Atoms to Astronauts
5.0
(1)
"Look up Atoms to Astronauts. I have a couple of their notebooks - amazing quality."
#36
Shinola
5.0
(1)
"I’ve been loving the Shinola notebook I use for a journal."
#37
Tūl
5.0
(1)
"I love tūl paper and happy planner paper."
#38
Passport Traveler's Notebook
5.0
(1)
"I really like the passport travelers notebook with grid and blank inserts!"
#39
Oasis
5.0
(1)
"I love the oasis notebooks. They have a really nice lined grid and are sold on Amazon."
#40
Tome River
5.0
(1)
"For a great writing experience you can go with Tome River."
#41
Traveler's
5.0
(1)
"For a great writing experience you can go with Traveler’s."
#42
Life Noble Notebooks
5.0
(1)
"Life Noble Notebooks are my personal favorite for FPs."
#43
Pen + Gear
5.0
(1)
"I bought some Pen + Gear notebooks at Walmart for $0.97 each."
#44
Paperage
5.0
(1)
"I swear by Paperage notebooks."
#45
Jinhao
4.0
(1)
"On the fountain pen front, check out a Jinhao 80 on AZ."
#46
Moo
4.0
(1)
"I use the hardback notebooks from Moo actually."
#47
Iroful
4.0
(1)
"Iroful, Plotter, Cosmo Air Light, Midori, Rhodia, Clairefontaine, Tomoe River, Endless (Regalia Paper)."
#48
Pen & Gear
4.0
(1)
"Maruman Notebook
Pen & Gear Poly Notebook."
#49
Lochby
4.0
(1)
"I switched to a Lochby field journal."
#50
CAL
4.0
(1)
"CAL, B7 Natural, Iroful paper, Original Tomoe River are best at showing sheen."
#51
Asus
4.0
(1)
"What I like about it is you can install up to 3 ssd (2 NVME, 1 SATA)."
#52
Supernote
4.0
(1)
"Seems like a couple of options that are "distraction free" are the upcoming supernote A5x2."
#53
Rinrda
4.0
(1)
"I like Rinrda lined spiral notebooks."
#54
TruRed
4.0
(1)
"If you want something accessible and relatively inexpensive, TruRed from Staples work well for me."
#55
EMSHOI
4.0
(1)
"This is my fav."
#56
Danika58
4.0
(1)
"I would recommend danika58.com - everything on her site is quality and FP friendly."
#57
Zequenz
4.0
(1)
"I’ve been using this and really like it."
#58
Lamy
4.0
(1)
"If you use fountain pens I’m loving my softcover A6 Lamy notebook."
#59
Exceed
4.0
(1)
"Walmart Exceed line with the heavy weight paper is surprisingly good."
#60
Caliber
4.0
(1)
"The Caliber composition book available at CVS is very fp friendly."
#61
Cosmo Air Light
4.0
(1)
"A lot of people in the pandemic Discord server recommend the Cosmo Air Light paper."
#62
Dingbats Pro
4.0
(1)
"Dingbats Pro."
#63
Spiral A4
4.0
(1)
"Can't go wrong with piles of spiral A4 notebooks."
#64
Stone Paper
4.0
(1)
"There are a few brands of notebooks that use something branded “stone paper” - it was developed for use in a kitchen."
#65
Mnemosyne
4.0
(1)
"Maybe Mnemosyne? Cheap, easy to get with a variety of rulings and paper sizes."
#66
Rite in the Rain
4.0
(1)
"Rite in the Rain was my first thought."
#67
Note.Booki
4.0
(1)
"Note.booki ( if for a little girl and it's cheap compared to others) - on insta"
#68
Plotter
4.0
(1)
"Check out Plotter."
#69
Wonderland 222 notebooks
4.0
(1)
"Wonderland 222 notebooks. They sell them in 96 page, 192 pages, or 368 pages."
Discover your audience
GummySearch is an audience research toolkit for 130,000 unique communities on Reddit.
If you are looking for startup problems to solve, want to validate your idea or find your first customers online, GummySearch is for you.
Sign up for free, get community insights in minutes.
Tell me more
Get started
