Best Apple Notes Alternatives
17 tools that can replace or complement Apple Notes
Pricing Comparison
| Tool | Free Plan | Starting Price | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple Notes | ✓ Yes | Free | ★ 4.2 |
 Notion | ✓ Yes | Free / $10+ | ★ 4.6 |
 Obsidian | ✓ Yes | Free / $4+ | ★ 4.7 |
 Evernote | ✓ Yes | Free / $10.83+ | ★ 3.8 |
 Logseq | ✓ Yes | Free / $5+ | ★ 4.4 |
 Notion AI | ✗ No | $10+ | ★ 4.2 |
 Roam Research | ✗ No | $15+ | ★ 4.1 |
 Craft | ✓ Yes | Free / $5+ | ★ 4.5 |
 AppFlowy | ✓ Yes | Free / $12.5+ | ★ 4.3 |
 Anytype | ✓ Yes | Free / $10+ | ★ 4.4 |
 Memos | ✓ Yes | Free / $0+ | ★ 4.4 |
| Mem | ✓ Yes | Free / $14.99+ | ★ 4.2 |
| Capacities | ✓ Yes | Free / $9.99+ | ★ 4.4 |
| Heptabase | ✗ No | $11.99+ | ★ 4.6 |
| Tana | ✓ Yes | Free / $12+ | ★ 4.3 |
 Bear | ✓ Yes | Free / $2.99+ | ★ 4.5 |
 Joplin | ✓ Yes | Free / $2.99+ | ★ 4.2 |
 Standard Notes | ✓ Yes | Free / $7.5+ | ★ 4.3 |
All Apple Notes Alternatives
Notion
All-in-one workspace for notes, tasks, wikis, and databases.
- Extremely flexible
- Great free tier
- Powerful databases
- Slow with large pages
- Steep learning curve
Obsidian
A knowledge base that works on local Markdown files.
- 100% offline
- Local-first
- Plugin ecosystem
- No real-time collaboration
- Steep learning curve
Evernote
Note-taking app for capturing and organizing ideas.
- Great web clipper
- OCR for images
- Cross-platform
- Expensive
- Feels outdated
Logseq
Open-source, local-first knowledge management tool based on outliner and bidirectional links.
- 100% open-source
- Local-first and privacy-friendly
- Powerful outliner structure
- Steeper learning curve than Notion
- Mobile app is less polished
Notion AI
AI assistant built into Notion for writing, summarizing, translating, and extracting insights from your workspace content.
- Works directly within your existing Notion workspace
- Understands context from your pages and databases
- Q&A across entire workspace knowledge base
- Requires existing Notion subscription plus add-on cost
- Quality limited compared to dedicated AI tools
Roam Research
Networked thought tool with bidirectional linking and daily notes for building a personal knowledge graph.
- Bidirectional links surface unexpected connections
- Block-level referencing for atomic notes
- Daily notes workflow reduces friction
- Steep learning curve for new users
- No free tier (expensive for note-taking)
Craft
Beautiful document editor for Mac and iOS with nested pages, real-time collaboration, and native Apple ecosystem integration.
- Stunning native macOS/iOS design
- Offline-first with seamless sync
- Nested documents for organized hierarchies
- Best experience limited to Apple ecosystem
- Web app less capable than native apps
AppFlowy
Open-source Notion alternative offering documents, databases, kanban boards, and AI-powered features with data privacy and self-hosting capabilities.
- Open-source with full self-hosting option
- Familiar Notion-like interface and features
- Local-first with offline support
- Less mature than Notion with fewer integrations
- Template library is limited
Anytype
Local-first, open-source knowledge management tool with end-to-end encryption, graph-based relations, and type system for personal and team knowledge bases.
- Local-first with end-to-end encryption
- Open-source with peer-to-peer sync
- Powerful type system and relations
- Unique paradigm requires learning investment
- Smaller community than Notion/Obsidian
Memos
Open-source, self-hosted memo hub for capturing quick thoughts, ideas, and notes with a privacy-first approach, tags, and markdown support.
- Completely free and open-source
- Lightweight and fast (single binary deployment)
- Twitter-like quick note interface
- No real-time collaboration features
- Limited organizational tools (no folders/hierarchy)
Mem
AI-powered note-taking tool that automatically organizes your notes and surfaces relevant information when you need it, without manual folder structures.
- AI auto-organizes notes
- No folder structure needed
- Smart search finds related content
- AI organization can feel unpredictable
- Limited formatting options
Capacities
Object-based note-taking app that structures information as interconnected objects (people, books, meetings) rather than pages, inspired by how the brain works.
- Unique object-based approach
- Daily notes with automatic linking
- Beautiful and intuitive interface
- No mobile app yet (web only)
- Limited export options
Heptabase
Visual note-taking tool that helps you make sense of complex topics using whiteboards, cards, and mindmaps to visually organize your knowledge and research.
- Visual-first approach to note-taking
- Whiteboards for spatial thinking
- Card-based system is very flexible
- No free plan
- Mobile app is limited
Tana
AI-powered workspace combining notes, tasks, and data with a unique supertag system that makes every piece of information a queryable node in your knowledge graph.
- Supertags create structured data effortlessly
- Powerful AI-powered search and commands
- Everything is queryable and linked
- Steep learning curve
- No mobile app yet
Bear
Beautiful markdown note-taking app for Apple devices with powerful organization.
- Beautiful design
- Markdown support
- Nested tags
- Apple only
- No collaboration
Joplin
Open-source note-taking app with end-to-end encryption and sync across devices.
- Free and open-source
- End-to-end encryption
- Self-host option
- Less polished UI
- Sync requires setup
Standard Notes
Encrypted notes app focused on longevity, portability, and privacy.
- End-to-end encrypted
- 100-year company promise
- Cross-platform
- Basic free version
- Fewer features than Notion
Not Sure Which to Pick?
Compare Apple Notes against any alternative side-by-side.
Compare Apple Notes vs Notion →