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The tables below compare features of notable note-taking software. These comparisons highlight differences in platform availability, synchronization capabilities, formatting options, storage limits, and integration with other applications. While some applications like Microsoft OneNote and Evernote offer robust features with cloud syncing across devices, others such as Simplenote prioritize minimalism and speed. Open-source tools like Joplin provide privacy-focused alternatives, allowing users to host their own notes and use end-to-end encryption. These tables aim to help users choose a note-taking tool that best fits their workflow, whether for academic, personal, or professional use.
The tables below compare features of notable note-taking software.
| Name | Developer(s) | License | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|
| AllMyNotes Organizer | Vladonai Software | Freemium | Microsoft Windows |
| Bear | Shiny Frog | Freemium | macOS, iOS |
| CintaNotes | Cinta Software | Freemium | Microsoft Windows |
| ConnectedText | Eduardo Mauro | Shareware | Microsoft Windows |
| Day One | Bloom Built (Automattic) | Proprietary commercial | macOS, iOS, Android |
| Dropbox Paper | Dropbox | Freemium | Android, iOS, web-based |
| Evernote | Evernote Corporation | Freemium | Android, iOS, macOS, Microsoft Windows 7/8/10, Microsoft Windows Phone, and web-based |
| Gnote | Aurimas Černius | GPL-3.0-or-later | Linux |
| Google Keep | Freeware | Android, iOS, ChromeOS, browser based | |
| Joplin | laurent22 et al. | AGPL-3.0 or later | Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android |
| KeyNote | Marek Jedliński, Tranglos Software | MPL-2.0 | Microsoft Windows |
| Logseq | Logseq Inc | AGPL-3.0 or later | Windows, macOS, Android, Linux, iOS, BSD |
| Memonic | Nektoon AG | Freemium[Notes 1] | Android (not released yet), iOS, macOS, Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7/Mobile web-based |
| Microsoft OneNote | Microsoft | Freemium[Notes 2] | Android, macOS, iOS, Microsoft Windows (desktop and mobile), PWA |
| MyInfo | Milenix Software | Shareware | Microsoft Windows |
| MyNotex | Massimo Nardello | GPL-3.0-or-later | Linux |
| Notational Velocity | Zachary Schneirov | GPL-3.0-or-later | macOS |
| Notes | Apple | Proprietary commercial | macOS, iOS, web-based |
| Notion | Notion Labs Inc. | Freemium | Android, macOS, iOS (iPad, iPhone), Microsoft Windows, web-based |
| Obsidian | Dynalist Inc. | Freemium | Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, iOS, Android |
| Open-Sankoré | Sankoré | LGPL-2.0-only | Linux, macOS, Unix, Microsoft Windows |
| Org-mode (Emacs) | Carsten Dominik, et al. | GPL-3.0-or-later | Linux, macOS, Unix, Microsoft Windows |
| PDF Studio | Qoppa Software | Shareware | Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, web-based |
| Personal Knowbase | Bitsmith Software | Proprietary commercial | Microsoft Windows |
| QOwnNotes | Patrizio Bekerle it | GPL-2.0-only | Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows |
| Qiqqa | Quantisle Ltd. | Freemium | Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7/8, Web-based, Android |
| Roam | Roam Research | Proprietary commercial | macOS, Linux, Microsoft Windows[1] |
| Samsung Notes | Samsung Electronics | Proprietary commercial | Android, Microsoft Windows |
| Simplenote | Automattic inc. | Clients: GPL-2.0-only | Web app |
| TagSpaces | TagSpaces UG | AGPL-3.0-only | Web app |
| TiddlyWiki | Jeremy Ruston | BSD-3-Clause | Cross-platform (single HTML file, runs in browser, on a nodeJS server, on Android and IOS) |
| Tomboy | Alex Graveley | LGPL-2.1-only | Cross-platform (Mono/GTK+) |
| Ulysses | The Soulmen | Shareware | macOS, iOS |
| Whizfolders | AvniTech Solutions | Proprietary commercial | Microsoft Windows |
| Microsoft Windows Journal | Microsoft | Proprietary commercial | Windows XP Tablet PC edition, Windows Vista through Windows 10 v1511 |
| Zettlr | Hendrik Erz | GPL-3.0-or-later | macOS, Microsoft Windows, Linux |
| Zim | Jaap Karssenberg | GPL-2.0-or-later | Cross-platform (Python, GTK+) |
| ZOHO Notebook | ZOHO Corporation | Freemium | Web app |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Organizing principle(s) | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Sync | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Printing | File save/export/import formats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Tree | Yes | No | Yes | ? | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Proprietary, encrypted; import: plain text, RTF, CSV, images, HTML; exports: plain text, HTML, RTF, images |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | tags | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Proprietary, encrypted; export: plain text, markdown, textbundle, RTF, HTML, DOCX, PDF, JPG, ePub |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Notebooks, sections, tags | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | ? | Yes | Proprietary; export to Unicode text, XML and HTML |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Wiki, Tree and Categories | Yes | Yes | No | ? | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Proprietary (SQL); Export to text, XML, CHM and HTML. Import from text, HTML, XML and RTF |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Chronological, tags | Yes | No | Yes [Notes 3] |
? | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes [Notes 4] |
Markdown (in GUI), XML (data file); Export as: pdf, txt, md |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | tags, Notebooks, Stacks | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Partial [Notes 5] |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Imports and exports in Evernote XML.[2][3] |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Notebooks | ? | No | Yes | ? | Yes | No | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | NoteXmlFormat, HTML, PDF |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | tags, colors | No | No | Yes | Partial [Notes 6] |
No | Yes | No | ? | Partial [Notes 7] |
Yes | ? | No | Proprietary; export to Google Doc and thence to PDF, Word, ODT etc. |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Nested notebooks, tree, tags | Yes | No | Yes | Browser Extension | No | No | Plug-In | No | Yes | Yes | Plug-In | Yes | Import/Export: JEX (Proprietary), RAW (Proprietary, directory), Markdown (optionally with front matter); Export: HTML, PDF; Import: Evernote ENEX |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Notebooks, notes and tree | Yes | Yes | No | ? | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Internal: combination of TXT and RTF; import/export: TXT, RTF, HTML, Treepad |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Notebooks, journal pages, blocks and pages | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Internal: There are two versions of the software: a markdown version and a database version; export: PDF, HTML. |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | ? | ? | No | Yes | ? | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Notes stored as XML; can attach any filetype |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Notebooks, notebook sections, section groups, tags (could be applied to content blocks) | Yes | Yes | Yes [Notes 8] |
Yes | Yes [Notes 9] |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Imports: Evernote XML.[4] Exports: OneNote binary format.[5] |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Notebooks, sections, notes, tree, tags, custom attributes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Proprietary, encrypted; import: plain text, RTF, CSV, MS Word, TreePad, images, web pages; exports: plain text, HTML, RTF, CSV, MS Word, TreePad |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | No | No | No | No | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | Sqlite based, zipped attachments; export to HTML; copying as LaTeX; import text files, OpenOffice.org documents |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | notes, tree, tags | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Sqlite based; export to PDF |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Notebooks, notebook sections, section | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial [Notes 6] |
Yes [Notes 10] |
No | No | No | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Proprietary; export to PDF, HTML, Markdown, CSV |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Wiki, Tree and Categories | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Plug-In | No | Plug-In[6] | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Markdown, PDF |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | ? | ? | ? | No | ? | Yes [Notes 10] |
No | No | No | ? | ? | ? | Yes | PDF, PS, TIFF, CHM, DjVu, DVI, XPS, ODF, others; export PDF+notes for sending to other Okular users |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | tree, notebooks | No | No | No | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | ? | Yes | Save/export: PDF, IWB, UBZ; Import: PDF, IWB, UBZ, images, image directories |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | tree, tags | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[7] | Yes | Plug-In[8] | Plug-In[9] | No | Yes | Yes | Yes[10] | Yes | LaTeX, HTML, DocBook, Taskjuggler, PDF, Freemind, XOXO, iCalendar |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | tags | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Export to RTF, HTML, TXT, CSV |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | tags, brainstorm | No | No | Yes | ? | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | ? | Yes | Proprietary, PDF, Brainstorm; export to RTF and Word |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ||
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | tags | Yes | No | Yes | ? | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Export to XML |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | tags, files, directories | Yes | No | No | ? | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | ? | Yes | PNG, JPG, GIF, BMP, ICO, WEBP, SVG, PDF, HTML, MHT, MHTML, MARKDOWN, TXT, XML, JSON, OGG, OGV, WEBM, ODT, ODS, ODP, ODG, EPUB, ZIP |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | tags (wikiwords) | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Via plugin | No | ? | No | Yes(via browser) | Yes | ? | Yes | HTML, json, txt, csv |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | NoteXmlFormat, HTML, PDF, wiki-formats |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Notebooks, sections, tags | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Rich text; export as HTML; import text files; markdown editing. |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | No | ? | Yes | Yes [Notes 11] |
? | ? | ? | Yes | Proprietary |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Tree, Tags, Wiki | Yes | ? | Yes [Notes 12] |
No | No | No | No | No | Yes [Notes 13] |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Markdown, Export and Import of Pandoc supported formats. |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | tags (wikiwords) | Yes | No | No | ? | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes, using installed web browser | Stored in modified DokuWiki Markdown; export: HTML, LaTeX, Pandoc Markdown, Sphinx RST (reStructuredText) |
| Name | Organizing principle(s) | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Sync | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Printing | File save/export/import formats |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Other objects | Remarks / other features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Alarms, check-boxes, bullets, phones, advanced links, autosaving; last cursor position memory, passwords on tree folders, failure-resistant self-healing DB engine | |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | check-boxes, bullets, link to notes, encryption, document scanning, OCR search | |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | ? | No | No | No | Yes | Links to notes | Tagging and searching for tags, tag hierarchy |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Scripting of pages with Python and other scripting languages. | LaTeX, Scripts, RSS Feeds, Transclusion, Directed Graphs and Flowcharts by GraphViz, many other features. |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | No | Yes | No | tags, bullets, numbering, line, programming code snippets | editable note metadata (date/time, location, weather, motion activity, music playing, step count) |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes [Notes 14] |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Check-box, line, tags | Business and personal notes integrated in same client; businesses have control over business notes, but cannot see personal notes |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? | Port of Tomboy to C++; wiki-style linked notes |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Partial [Notes 15] |
Yes | ? | No | Google Calendar reminders | Notes can be shared with other Google Keep users. |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Part of IPython shell; allows for programming code, output and annotation to be combined in single interactive environment |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial [Notes 16] |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Links to other notes | Configurable editor layout with live preview of Markdown; Command pallette; Notes <--> Todo conversion; Plug-ins; Cloud sync available with various services, including a separate server self-hosted server; Configurable note history; Optional client side encryption; Custom CSS (imported from local or remote source) for rendered Markdown as well as app interface; |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes [Notes 17] |
Yes | Yes [Notes 18] |
No | No | Yes | OLE objects; "virtual nodes" which integrate and edit the content of external plain-text or rich-text files; internal links; mirror nodes. | Text processing; tree numbering and sorting; custom tree icons; node checkboxes; checkbox filtering; search filtering; reminder alarms; compressed or encrypted notebooks; auto-minimize and/or auto-lock when idle; quick access key for fast notes; additional scratchpad; autosave of up to 9 previous file versions; automatic clipboard capturing; read-only notebooks or notes; macros; templates; text shortcuts; plug-ins; bookmarks; custom keyboard shortcuts; program can be made portable through "Options" setting |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Schedule/Deadline, TODO, LaTeX, arbitrary extensions | |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes [Notes 19] |
Yes | Yes | OLE, bullets, line, flags, formulas | No local storage of notebooks on Mac or versions past Office 2016[11] |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | OLE, bullets, numbering, page breaks, advanced links | Tags; filters; calendar; reminders |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | Activity lists; tags; notes management by subject; encryption with AES or GPG; multilingual |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Instant open and searching |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Bullets, numbering, checkboxes, reminders, calendars | |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Bullets, numbering, checkboxes, canvases, HTML, LaTeX, internal links | |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | plug-ins, web pages, applications | Annotate live desktop applications and web pages; autosave; plug-in system; audio recording |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Yes[12] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[13] | Yes | No | No | Yes | Advanced linking,[clarification needed] bullets, tags, checkboxes, full spreadsheet, embedding of programming code, formulas, markup | Major mode of Emacs; uses plain-text; includes ToDos, spreadsheet, deadlines, encryption, reminders, agenda, calendar |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | Passwords; portable[clarification needed] |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | ? | No | No | No | No | PDF, brainstorm, citations | |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | No | Yes | ? | ? | ||
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | ? | No | No | No | No | ||
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Tags, plugins | Plugins, you can present your local images, videos and music to your TV via ChromeCast. You can create a personal "wiki" for tracking of your projects, ideas or memories. |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | ? | Yes(with plugin) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | HTML, LaTeX, markdown plugins | Plugins; user scripts |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Partial | No | Partial | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Note Links, highlighting, fixed-width | Reminders; to do-lists; formulas in LaTeX |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial [Notes 20] |
Yes | No | No | No | Bullets, numbering, checkboxes, HTML, LaTeX, internal links, citations | |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | No | Yes [Notes 21] |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Plugins; Versioning; LaTeX integration (formulas, export); HTML export (including slideshow); GNOME's Zeitgeist integration; Lilypond music sheet integration | ASCII diagram drawing; Tags; Tasks; Table of Content navigation; SQLite3 search indexing; Autosaving; Last cursor position memory; Tabbed multi-documents |
| Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Script error: No such module "Vertical header". | Other objects | Remarks / other features |