Notetaking App reviews from Reddit
Summary
We analyzed 457 Reddit reviews across 35 subreddits and 67 posts to rank the best Notetaking App brands recommended by redditors, including communities like r/ipad, r/NoteTaking, r/GalaxyTab, r/todoist, r/productivity. Top-rated brands include GoodNotes (4.6/5), Notability (4.5/5), OneNote (4.3/5).
Stats
Reviews457
Subreddits35
Posts67
Brands94
Products9
457 reviews from
and
By Brand
/By Product
#1
GoodNotes
4.6
(88)
"GoodNotes 6 is great and does all you are looking for"
"I have been using good notes for almost 3 years and it works great."
"GoodNotes is my favorite note taking app. Never any major problems."
"I use Goodnotes since a few Years and never had any Problems."
"I've been using GoodNotes since 2019 and it hasn't failed me yet."
"Goodnotes is smooth and mostly hassle free."
"IMO: 1. Goodnotes 5 2. Notability 3. Notes Writer 4. OneNote"
"GoodNotes most definitely."
"I like goodnotes better."
"GoodNotes. The latest version is mint!"
#2
Notability
4.5
(54)
"I love noteability and it’s my choice for college / medical program."
"Noteful - My go to note taking app(College student)"
"DEFINITELY Notability"
"Notability is my go-to, especially for Pencil people."
"I personally like Notability the most."
"Been using notability for years now."
"I love Notability."
"I’ve used Notability (iOS app) for about 8 years."
"Notability!"
"I like Notability, it doesn’t seem to lag for me and can be great for studying."
#3
OneNote
4.3
(36)
"OneNote is wonderful to organize your notes based on courses and lectures."
"Default notes app and one note. They’re both free."
"I personally really like OneNote you can have individual notebooks and sections"
"OneNote is my choice!"
"I have been in school for 7yrs and have tried several note taking apps and I am a whole hearted believer in One Note."
"Onenote is best if you’re already in the Microsoft system."
"Nothing beats #Onenote"
"OneNote, as it also supports Inkt to Text."
"If handwriting is your primary focus, have you tried OneNote?"
"I liked onenote the best."
#4
Samsung Notes
4.8
(21)
"I use Samsung Notes. I could access files I edit on it to my Samsung phone."
"I have used Samsung notes through uni physics."
"Samsung Notes is one of the bests, is free."
"S Notes was my favorite until its name and logo changed to Samsung Notes."
"Using Samsung notes and syncing them up with onenote for an easy backup is by far the most convenient option."
"Samsung notes is my go to for just regular note taking."
"Samsung notes is the best notetaking app."
"Samsung notes is the best experience I've had for notes."
"Pure Handwriting=Samsung Notes"
"For note taking Samsung notes is the best app on Samsung galaxy tabs"
#5
Obsidian
4.2
(22)
"Maybe try obsidian? I just switched recently and stuck with it because of its good latex support."
"Obsidian"
"Obsidian. Don't be scared. Watch tutorials."
"Obsidian without a doubt!"
"A bunch of other people have said it already, but just to add my 2c - **Obsidian** is awesome!"
"I absolutely second Obsidian, it's a fantastic application and the devs are making amazing progress."
"Obsidian and Notein."
"I recommend Notion or Obsidian!"
"Obsidian and necessary plugins that fit your needs."
"I’ve been tooling around with [Obsidan](https://obsidian.md/). There’s a crap ton of extensions you can add to customize it to do whatever you want."
#6
Nebo
4.6
(20)
"If that's what you need, Nebo is the best for you."
"Been using Nebo for years."
"I like nebo. I think it jas the best handwriting recognition out there."
"You should look Nebo for it."
"Nebo is great for this and very smooth"
"Nebo. Amazing Notes taking app. Although it is paid."
"Nebo / Myscript is great as Noteshelf."
"If you write a lot with the pencil, NEBO."
"I’ve been using Nebo as it has some of the best hand writing to text recognition."
"Nebo is the best at handwriting recognition and formatting."
#7
Collanote
4.9
(16)
"Collanote is a great app that’s free."
"CollaNote is sooooo good. It’s free, no ads and no in-app purchases!"
"Collanote is best,,no need to pay"
"Collanotes for free."
"CollaNote is awesome and free."
"I use CollaNote because it’s free."
"Try Collanote, has 95% of all features of Goodnotes/notability, completely free."
"Collanote is the best and it’s totally free."
"Collanote for a free note taking app."
"Collanote is the best option, and it's completely free!"
#8
Microsoft
4.2
(18)
"I feel like One Note is the best [free/affordable] app where you can seamlessly go between typing and using an apple pencil"
"I’ve only ever used one note and I love it !"
"I use one note as it easily syncs across multiple devices :D"
"I stand with OneNote."
"OneNote. After that…still OneNote."
"One note is was I use"
"OneNote hands down, fully integrated in Microsoft 365 and works really well in iOS."
"I've found it to be a non-issue. By using OneNote on the Boox my notes end up where they belong in the first place."
"I use OneNote because I handwrite a lot and I love that handwriting and files and pictures all exist together on the infinite canvas."
"One note"
#9
Notion
4.2
(17)
"Notion"
"I'm combining Todoist with Notion for both personal life and work. I love it so far."
"NOTION >>> (And it’s free for students)"
"I haven't found anything better than Notion for my needs to easily capture and organize things."
"Notion. You can access it to your computer, phone and tablet."
"Notion"
"Notion - hyperlink and index notes."
"I’ve tried them all at this point and I stick to Notion."
"I’m currently in the process of converting all of my stuff over to Notion."
"I like Notion, but beware, you can spend days down rabbit holes."
#10
Evernote
4.4
(12)
"I put literally everything in Evernote, highly recommend."
"Evernote has never let me down!"
"I'm still very happy using Evernote 7.2.3 Legacy"
"Evernote. Start using it for more than college and watch your life be changed."
"I always used Evernote on my macbook/iphone."
"What about Evernote?"
"Evernote? Obsidian?"
"Word doesn’t have anywhere near the organising functionality of Evernote, OneNote or Google Keep."
"Evernote."
"I use evernote because I type a lot."
#11
Apple
4.1
(12)
"**Just - Use - Notes.**"
"Start with apple notes, if you feel it’s limiting you then you can move off to something else"
"Apple notes."
"Apple Notes in iOS 18 beta"
"Yes, don't try notion :( It's super overwhelming for ADHDer like us."
"I use Apple Notes for everything nowadays."
"Notes"
"Apple Notes will be really good too with iOS 17."
"I like the default apple notes."
"I use the default Notes app tbh and it works just fine."
#12
Noteful
4.3
(7)
"Vote for noteful from me!"
"Noteful and Nebo"
"Try noteful"
"Noteful is cheap and quite good"
"All of the features of GoodNotes except full text search for hand written notes."
"Noteful is collab of goodnotes + notability + one note."
"Has all of the note taking functionality that I need except stickers."
#13
Noteshelf
4.2
(6)
"Noteshelf 3 is my #1, followed by Collanote"
"You can try using Noteshelf or xodo (in case you are most dealing with pdfs)"
"I use a combo of Noteshelf for handwritten notes."
"Noteshelf, Goodnotes."
"I like the option of zooming to a desired percentage."
"Personally I interchange between Noteshelf and Notability, these apps are really useful."
#14
Microsoft OneNote
3.8
(6)
"Fr man OneNote is goated."
"I like Microsoft OneNote, but I have also heard good things about Obsidian and Notion."
"OneNote is great."
"One Note comes with our subscription to Microsoft office."
"I’m surprised Microsoft’s OneNote isn’t on this list."
"Way to bloated for notes. MS created OneNote just for you."
#15
Apple Notes
4.4
(5)
"Apple note easily !"
"Apple Notes don't lag for me even on very large note files."
"Tried good notes and I just didn’t see the desire for it."
"I keep coming back to the mighty simple apple notes."
"Ever try Apple's NOTES app? I use it everyday."
#16
Notewise
4.2
(5)
"Best alternative for me is Notewise 💕"
"Notewise is goated"
"Notewise for me. The official own stylus works very well with minimal latency... Otherwise everything else is amazing"
"Notewise for the win."
"Each one has different features and problems (imo), but I need to choose one eventually."
#17
Jnotes
4.8
(4)
"Jnotes for me!"
"I personally like using jnotes, i have used touchnotes in the past"
"If you want more features, Jnotes is the best overall."
"There are jnotes and touchnotes"
#18
3.8
(5)
"I use Keep myself because it's to do list and notes taking."
"I use Google keep for notes."
"From the simpler ones like Keep or Tdo to more feature-packed like Todoist."
"I like to keep it simple, for most of my note I use Google Keep."
"I ended up using Google Keep and Google Docs just for cross-platform notes."
#19
Flexcil
4.5
(4)
"Flexcil is amazing for me."
"Flexcil, from what I know it's the only app that allow you to copy and paste text from pdf."
"The closest one i got is flexcil (premium version which is a one time payment lets you edit and add pages to pdf like they are your own notes)."
"Personally i like flexcil."
#20
Joplin
4.3
(4)
"Try Joplin."
"Joplin or any app that has LaTeX support."
"Try joplin. Its foss (free and open source) and lets you edit in markdown."
"Yeah Joplin is a great choice."
#21
UpNote
4.0
(4)
"Upnote and mebot"
"Upnote"
"Check out UpNote for something cross platform."
"I really like UpNote."
#22
Defter Notes
5.0
(3)
"I just found and bought Defter Notes. It works very different than other Note taking apps - so there is a learning curve. And it is expensive. But it is super amazingly awesome."
"My fav is defter notes"
"If you enjoy freeform’s freely moving objects, defter notes is what you’re looking for."
#23
LectureNotes
4.3
(3)
"LectureNotes is the most complete note-taking app I've tried."
"I'm gunna go against the grain and say you should try this indie app called LectureNotes."
"I really like LectureNotes."
#24
Squid
4.0
(3)
"Squid is best for me"
"Squid?"
"I am using Squid with Tab S6 Lite as it offers the closest to what I need."
#25
Notes+
5.0
(2)
"Notes+"
"Notes+. Free app. Same features as goodnotes or notability."
#26
Notein
5.0
(2)
"Notein"
"Notein could offer all the features i was lookin for, i almost tried all the notetakin apps n found it the best for me"
#27
Write
4.5
(2)
"It is free."
"Those are my favorite note apps. Write> Metamoji note> Bamboo paper at recognizing the S-pen."
#28
Simplenote
4.5
(2)
"I use simple note."
"Simplenote"
#29
Xodo
4.5
(2)
"Xodo hands down for students."
"You may try xodo, which can do both annotation and typing."
#30
Devonthink
4.5
(2)
"Devonthink is integrated with various note editors/formats."
"I use app Devonthink on my Mac and iPad."
#31
Mebot
4.5
(2)
"It's the only note-taking program that lets me record my thoughts anywhere, anytime."
"Im using mebot app and website."
#32
Workflowy
4.5
(2)
"I now use Workflowy and love it."
"I use Workflowy and Amplenote for both personal and work purposes."
#33
Freenotes
4.0
(2)
"Freenotes is actually pretty good. It has the tape feature and a lot of customisation options."
"You may give ‘Freenotes’ a try."
#34
INKredible
4.0
(2)
"Take a look at INKredible, my daily driver for half a year."
"If you like inkredible, also try squid for a few days."
#35
Google Keep
4.0
(2)
"You can use voice commands with Google Assistant to search and interact with Google Keep."
"Try keep. If it gets to basic you could move onto notion."
#36
Concepts
4.0
(2)
"I've been using concepts for note taking with the pen and notion for work."
"Concepts is really good. It's a drawing app, but i use it to write notes"
#37
Touchnotes
5.0
(1)
"Paid for the premium version for around 5-8usd (one time payment) and it has everything i need"
#38
UltraNotes
5.0
(1)
"Try UltraNotes. It’s good. One- time paid app, no subscriptions."
#39
Kilonotes
5.0
(1)
"Kilonotes is good"
#40
Clibu Notes
5.0
(1)
"Clibu Notes is a note-taking and Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) app."
#41
Reflect
5.0
(1)
"Check out Reflect they have a free student plan."
#42
BearApp
5.0
(1)
"BearApp, hands down!"
#43
Muse
5.0
(1)
"Try Muse, it's really magical and a bit niche."
#44
PenBook
5.0
(1)
"If you are willing to pay a bit, the best app I have come across in PenBook."
#45
VOMO AI
5.0
(1)
"Super handy if you’re juggling a lot of character/world info."
#46
Recall
5.0
(1)
"It’s an AI-powered notetaking app that lets you search your notes contextually."
#47
Modus
5.0
(1)
"We have a really powerfully agent to chat to your notes which suits your use case perfectly."
#48
Weavernote
5.0
(1)
"Looks like Keep but you can organise notes in folder/notebook."
#49
Craft
5.0
(1)
"I’m a big fan of the app called “Craft” very nice looking."
#50
XMind
5.0
(1)
"It must be Xmind.
Xmind is the best note-taking app."
#51
Not specified
5.0
(1)
"I use it, it's great."
#52
Sumatra PDF
5.0
(1)
"Im a big fan of lightweight and opensource. I use SumatraPDF and love it"
#53
FlowNote
5.0
(1)
"I developed FlowNote, would love some feedback :)"
#54
VoiceOne
5.0
(1)
"Best AI note taking app for students I've ever seen."
#55
ZoomNotes
5.0
(1)
"Without any possible comparison, and by far : [ZoomNotes]"
#56
Soulver
5.0
(1)
"[Soulver]"
#57
Inkredible Pro
5.0
(1)
"Inkredible pro. Worth the money."
#58
capacities.io
5.0
(1)
"Forget about Obsidian, Notion, Apple Notes or anything else. Try this - capacities.io."
#59
noteanytime
4.0
(1)
"You can use stylus or just typing, it's vector based so you can zoom/shrink text/image."
#60
Freeform
4.0
(1)
"Freeform"
#61
Sophosia
4.0
(1)
"[Sophosia](https://sophosia.com) for grad students and researchers."
#62
Notes App
4.0
(1)
"I use it daily. No lag or issues it always works the way I need it to."
#63
LiquidText
4.0
(1)
"But for reading from a lot of documents that you need to get back to for context often, LiquidText is awesome."
#64
PDFgear
4.0
(1)
"If you have plenty of PDFs to read and annotate, I recommend PDFgear."
#65
Pinfig
4.0
(1)
"Try Pinfig a new visual note-taking tool."
#66
MobileSheets
4.0
(1)
"For annotating PDFs, I use MobileSheets (pro version costs about $13)."
#67
Xournal++
4.0
(1)
"Keep an eye on Xournal++"
#68
Notebooks 8
4.0
(1)
"I swear by Notebooks 8."
#69
NVAlt
4.0
(1)
"NVAlt/plaintext. You'll thank me in a few years."
#70
Inkcredible
4.0
(1)
"Another great thing about Inkcredible that I forgot to mention, it has automatic palm rejection so you don't have to worry about resting your hand on the Fire while drawing."
#71
Amplenote
4.0
(1)
"I recommend Amplenote, it´s very simple to work on it."
#72
RemNote
4.0
(1)
"Remnote: markdown support, locally stored."
#73
Foxit Reader
4.0
(1)
"I believe Foxit Reader is pretty good if you only want to annotate directly on the pdf."
#74
Emacs
4.0
(1)
"If you have the time, emacs with orgmode can be configured to your liking."
#75
Xournal
4.0
(1)
"Xournal works fine."
#76
Zotero
4.0
(1)
"I heard zotero is good but i havent ever tried it."
#77
Notepad++
4.0
(1)
"Notepad++"
#78
Trilium
4.0
(1)
"Check out Trilium"
#79
HackMD
4.0
(1)
"Take a look at hackmd.io, a markdown web app with a lot of collaborative features."
#80
Ulysses
4.0
(1)
"I use pen and paper and then transcribe to Ulysses."
#81
Outline
4.0
(1)
"Outline is OneNote compatible."
#82
AnyType
4.0
(1)
"AnyType, AFFiNE..."
#83
Samsung
4.0
(1)
"Touchnotes, samsung notes, squid, flexcil, nebo, noteshelf."
#84
Notational Velocity
4.0
(1)
"Notational Velocity (free) synced with SimpleNote (free) have always worked best for me."
#85
Bear
4.0
(1)
"Check out Bear."
#86
GoodReader
4.0
(1)
"It is a old but still very useful and the price point was great."
#87
Penly
4.0
(1)
"Penly, jnotes, mi notes, mi canvas, onenote, evernote, journal, samsung notes"
#88
Scrivano
4.0
(1)
"My favourite app is my own app Scrivano."
#89
NotePlan
4.0
(1)
"Give NotePlan a try."
#90
Noteshelf 2
4.0
(1)
"Noteshelf 2 is the best handwriting note taking app."
#91
Agenda
4.0
(1)
"Agenda has been pretty neat for me!"
#92
Pages
3.0
(1)
"Works fine for me and freeform just seems to lag."
#93
Markor
3.0
(1)
"Markor... But can't draw."
#94
LyX
3.0
(1)
"Having a reliable and flexible note taking method would be really helpful."
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