Comparison of note-taking software explained

The tables below compare features of notable note-taking software.

General information

Name	Developer(s)	License	Platforms
AllMyNotes Organizer	Vladonai Software		Microsoft Windows
Bear	Shiny Frog		macOS, iOS
CintaNotes	Cinta Software		Microsoft Windows
ConnectedText	Eduardo Mauro		Microsoft Windows
Day One	Bloom Built (Automattic)		macOS, iOS, Android
Dropbox Paper	Dropbox		Android, iOS, web-based
Evernote	Evernote Corporation		Android, iOS, macOS, Microsoft Windows 7/8/10, Microsoft Windows Phone, and web-based
Gnote	Aurimas Černius		Linux
Google Keep	Google		Android, iOS, ChromeOS, browser based
Joplin	laurent22 et al.		Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android
KeyNote	Marek Jedliński, Tranglos Software		Microsoft Windows
Memonic	Nektoon AG	^[1]	Android (not released yet), iOS, macOS, Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7/Mobile web-based
Microsoft OneNote	Microsoft	^[2]	Android, macOS, iOS, Windows (desktop and mobile), PWA
MyInfo	Milenix Software		Windows
MyNotex	Massimo Nardello		Linux
Notational Velocity	Zachary Schneirov		macOS
Notes	Apple		macOS, iOS, web-based
Notion	Notion Labs Inc.		Android, macOS, iOS (iPad, iPhone), Microsoft Windows, web-based
Obsidian	Obsidian		Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, iOS, Android
Open-Sankoré	Sankoré		Linux, macOS, Unix, Microsoft Windows
Org-mode (Emacs)	Carsten Dominik, et al.		Linux, macOS, Unix, Microsoft Windows
PDF Studio	Qoppa Software		Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, web-based
Personal Knowbase	Bitsmith Software		Microsoft Windows
QOwnNotes	Patrizio Bekerle		Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows
Qiqqa	Quantisle Ltd.		Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7/8, Web-based, Android
Roam	Roam Research		macOS, Linux, Windows^[3]
Samsung Notes	Samsung Electronics		Android, Windows
Simplenote	Automattic inc.
TagSpaces	TagSpaces UG		Web app
TiddlyWiki	Jeremy Ruston		Cross-platform (single HTML file, runs in browser, on a nodeJS server, on Android and IOS)
Tomboy	Alex Graveley		Cross-platform (Mono/GTK+)
Ulysses	The Soulmen		macOS, iOS
Whizfolders	AvniTech Solutions		Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows Journal	Microsoft		Windows XP Tablet PC edition, Windows Vista through Windows 10 v1511
Zettlr	Hendrik Erz		macOS, Microsoft Windows, Linux
Zim	Jaap Karssenberg		Cross-platform (Python, GTK+)
ZOHO Notebook	ZOHO Corporation		Web app

Basic features

Name	Organizing principle(s)	Outline bulleting with indent	Tabbed sections	Sync	Web Clipping	PDF annotate and save ^[''<span title="The meaning of this column has been questioned. See the discussion page.">unclear</span>'']	White­board	Ink-pen input	Handwriting recognition	Spell check	Search	Replace in note	Printing	File save/export/import formats
AllMyNotes Organizer	Tree													Proprietary, encrypted; import: plain text, RTF, CSV, images, HTML; exports: plain text, HTML, RTF, images
Bear	tags													Proprietary, encrypted; export: plain text, markdown, textbundle, RTF, HTML, DOCX, PDF, JPG, ePub
CintaNotes	Notebooks, sections, tags													Proprietary; export to Unicode text, XML and HTML
ConnectedText	Wiki, Tree and Categories													Proprietary (SQL); Export to text, XML, CHM and HTML. Import from text, HTML, XML and RTF
Day One	Chronological, tags			^[4]									^[5]	Markdown (in GUI), XML (data file); Export as: pdf, txt, md
Evernote	tags, Notebooks, Stacks							^[6]						Imports and exports in Evernote XML.^[7] ^[8]
Gnote	Notebooks													NoteXmlFormat, HTML, PDF
Google Keep	tags, colors				^[9]					^[10]				Proprietary; export to Google Doc and thence to PDF, Word, ODT etc.
Joplin	Nested notebooks, tree, tags													Import/Export: JEX (proprietary), RAW (proprietary, directory), Markdown (optionally with front matter); Export: HTML, PDF; Import: Evernote ENEX
KeyNote NF	Notebooks, notes and tree													Internal: combination of TXT and RTF; import/export: TXT, RTF, HTML, Treepad
Memonic														Notes stored as XML; can attach any filetype
Microsoft OneNote	Notebooks, notebook sections, section groups, tags (could be applied to content blocks)			^[11]		^[12]								Imports: Evernote XML.^[13] Exports: OneNote binary format.^[14]
MyInfo	Notebooks, sections, notes, tree, tags, custom attributes													Proprietary, encrypted; import: plain text, RTF, CSV, MS Word, TreePad, images, web pages; exports: plain text, HTML, RTF, CSV, MS Word, TreePad
MyNotex														Sqlite based, zipped attachments; export to HTML; copying as LaTeX; import text files, OpenOffice.org documents
Notes	tree, tags	notes, tree, tags													Sqlite based; export to PDF
Notion	Notebooks, notebook sections, section					^[15]								Proprietary; export to PDF, HTML, Markdown, CSV
Obsidian	Wiki, Tree and Categories							^[16]						Markdown, PDF
Okular														PDF, PS, TIFF, CHM, DjVu, DVI, XPS, ODF, others; export PDF+notes for sending to other Okular users
Open-Sankoré	tree, notebooks													Save/export: PDF, IWB, UBZ; Import: PDF, IWB, UBZ, images, image directories
Org-mode (Emacs)	tree, tags				^[17]		^[18]	^[19]				^[20]		LaTeX, HTML, DocBook, Taskjuggler, PDF, Freemind, XOXO, iCalendar
PDF Studio														PDF
Personal Knowbase	tags													Export to RTF, HTML, TXT, CSV
Qiqqa	tags, brainstorm													Proprietary, PDF, Brainstorm; export to RTF and Word
Samsung Notes
Simplenote	tags													Export to XML
TagSpaces	tags, files, directories													PNG, JPG, GIF, BMP, ICO, WEBP, SVG, PDF, HTML, MHT, MHTML, MARKDOWN, TXT, XML, JSON, OGG, OGV, WEBM, ODT, ODS, ODP, ODG, EPUB, ZIP
TiddlyWiki	tags (wikiwords)									(via browser)				HTML, json, txt,csv
Tomboy														NoteXmlFormat, HTML, PDF, wiki-formats
Ulysses	Notebooks, sections, tags													Rich text; export as HTML; import text files; markdown editing.
Microsoft Windows Journal									^[21]					Proprietary
Zettlr	Tree, Tags, Wiki			^[22]						^[23]				Markdown, Export and Import of Pandoc supported formats.
Zim	tags (wikiwords)												, using installed web browser	Stored in modified DokuWiki Markdown; export: HTML, LaTeX, Pandoc Markdown, Sphinx RST (reStructuredText)
Name	Organizing principle(s)	Outline bulleting with indent	Tabbed sections	Sync	Web Clipping	PDF annotate and save	White­board	Ink-pen input	Handwriting recognition	Spell check	Search	Replace	Printing	File save/export/import formats

Advanced formatting and content

Name	Drawing atop text ^[''<span title="The meaning of this column has been questioned. See the discussion page.">unclear</span>'']	Text box, flow diagram ^[''<span title="The meaning of this column has been questioned. See the discussion page.">unclear</span>'']	Text and paragraph formatting	Insert hyperlink ^[''<span title="The meaning of this column has been questioned. See the discussion page.">unclear</span>'']	Insert image	Resize image	Insert table	Insert audio	Insert video	Attachment ^[''<span title="The meaning of this column has been questioned. See the discussion page.">unclear</span>'']	Other objects	Remarks / other features
AllMyNotes Organizer											Alarms, check-boxes, bullets, phones, advanced links, autosaving; last cursor position memory,passwords on tree folders,failure-resistant self-healing DB engine
Bear											check-boxes, bullets, link to notes, encryption, document scanning, OCR search
CintaNotes						?					Links to notes	Tagging and searching for tags, tag hierarchy
ConnectedText						?					Scripting of pages with Python and other scripting languages.	LaTeX, Scripts, RSS Feeds, Transclusion, Directed Graphs and Flowcharts by GraphViz, many other features.
Day One						?					tags, bullets, numbering, line, programming code snippets	editable note metadata (date/time, location, weather, motion activity, music playing, step count)
Evernote						^[24]					Check-box, line, tags	Business and personal notes integrated in same client; businesses have control over business notes, but cannot see personal notes
Gnote												Port of Tomboy to C++; wiki-style linked notes
Google Keep						?	^[25]				Google Calendar reminders	Notes can be shared with other Google Keep users.
IPython Notebook						?						Part of IPython shell; allows for programming code, output and annotation to be combined in single interactive environment
Joplin						^[26]					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 for rendered Markdown as well as app interface;
KeyNote NF					^[27]		^[28]				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
Memonic						?
Microsoft OneNote								^[29]			OLE, bullets, line, flags, formulas	No local storage of notebooks on Mac or versions past Office 2016^[30]
MyInfo											OLE, bullets, numbering, page breaks, advanced links	Tags; filters; calendar; reminders
MyNotex						?						Activity lists; tags; notes management by subject; encryption with AES or GPG; multilingual
Notational Velocity						?						Instant open and searching
Notion											Bullets, numbering, checkboxes, reminders, calendars
Obsidian											Bullets, numbering, checkboxes, canvases, HTML, LaTeX, internal links
Okular
Open-Sankoré											plug-ins, web pages, applications	Annotate live desktop applications and web pages; autosave; plug-in system; audio recording
Org-mode (Emacs)						^[31]					Advanced linking, 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
PDF Studio
Personal Knowbase												Passwords; portable
Qiqqa											PDF, brainstorm, citations
Samsung Notes											PDF
Simplenote						?
TagSpaces											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.
TiddlyWiki		(with plugin)									HTML, LaTeX, markdown plugins	Plugins; user scripts
Tomboy											Note Links, highlighting, fixed-width	Reminders; to do-lists; formulas in LaTeX
Microsoft Windows Journal
Zettlr						^[32]					Bullets, numbering, checkboxes, HTML, LaTeX, internal links, citations
Zim		^[33]									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
Name	Drawing atop text	Text box, flow diagram	Text and paragraph formatting	Insert hyperlink	Insert image	Resize image	Insert table	Insert audio	Insert video	Attachment	Other objects	Remarks / other features

See also

• Comparison of text editors
• Comparison of web annotation systems
• Comparison of wiki software
• Comparison of word processors
• List of personal information managers
• List of text editors
• List of wiki software
• Outliner
• Personal information manager
• Personal knowledge base
• Personal wiki

External links

• Web site: Taking Notes in Linux for Students . Jean-Paul . Sauve . Jan 9, 2014 . Linux software comparison . January 12, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140112044303/http://dotcadot.ca/articles/note-taking-linux-students . January 12, 2014 . dead .

Notes and References

1. Free users limited to 100 notes.
2. Depends on platform and version.
3. Web site: Roam Research – A note taking tool for networked thought. . Roam Research . 2023-05-17.
4. Data is synced between devices by Dropbox or iCloud.
5. Printable via exported pdf files.
6. No support for ink notes in Mac version. Cannot mix ink with text
7. Web site: Import notes and notebooks – Evernote Help & Learning.
8. Web site: Export notes and notebooks as ENEX or HTML – Evernote Help & Learning.
9. Clips URLs and titles only. Web page content is not clipped
10. On Android and ChromeOS uses platform's spell checker.
11. All versions can sync with OneDrive and SharePoint. Versions later than Office 2016 can only use online notebooks and cannot use local notebooks.
12. OneNote 2010 and OneNote 2007 Service Pack 2 and beyond have it built in. A Save As PDF add-in is available for earlier versions of OneNote 2007. Can save to PDF with add-in.https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=4D951911-3E7E-4AE6-B059-A2E79ED87041&displaylang=en
13. Web site: Import content from Evernote to OneNote .
14. Web site: Export and import OneNote notebooks .
15. Saved in separate file.
16. Web site: Excalidraw - Full featured sketching plugin in Obsidian.
17. Web site: Newell . Bob . A Web Clipper of Sorts for Org-Mode . 26 February 2023.
18. Web site: Valentin Herrmann / org-xournalpp · GitLab. GitLab.
19. Web site: raw and Scribble Notes in GNU Emacs . . 26 February 2023.
20. Web site: Query Replace . gnu.org . 19 March 2023.
21. Handwritten notes are searchable.
22. Sync of files and folders using external services.
23. Internal spell check or LanguageTool integration.
24. At least Microsoft Windows version (06/2016)
25. Lists only, with check-box facility.
26. Resize large images
27. As the RTF format stores pictures internally as bitmaps (.bmp), this leads to large notebook files.
28. Tables must be created in another program. After pasting the table into Keynote NF, one can edit the cells and add new rows, but changing the size of the columns and adding or removing columns is not possible. These operations can be done by pasting the table into another program (for example, MS Word).
29. Can also search in audio.
30. Web site: Frequently Asked Questions about OneNote in Office 2019 . support.office.com.
31. (setq org-image-actual-width nil)
32. Resize upon initial insertion.
33. Using plugins