Apple Notes
Tana
| Feature | Apple Notes | Tana |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free only | Free / from $12/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.2 / 5 | 4.3 / 5 |
| Best For | apple-users, casual-note-takers, students, families | power-users, researchers, knowledge-workers, systems-thinkers |
| Founded | 2012 | 2020 |
| Rich Text | ✓ | ✗ |
| Scanning | ✓ | ✗ |
| Shared Folders | ✓ | ✗ |
| Tags | ✓ | ✗ |
| Quick Notes | ✓ | ✗ |
| Icloud Sync | ✓ | ✗ |
| Supertags | ✗ | ✓ |
| Ai Commands | ✗ | ✓ |
| Live Queries | ✗ | ✓ |
| Views | ✗ | ✓ |
| Node Graph | ✗ | ✓ |
| Daily Notes | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Apple Notes Pros
- Free with Apple devices
- Fast and reliable
- Good scanning
- Shared folders
✗ Apple Notes Cons
- Apple ecosystem only
- Limited organization
- No markdown
✓ Tana Pros
- Supertags create structured data effortlessly
- Powerful AI-powered search and commands
- Everything is queryable and linked
- Flexible views (table, board, calendar)
✗ Tana Cons
- Steep learning curve
- No mobile app yet
- Still in development (features changing)
The Verdict
Apple Notes is built for apple users and casual note takers, with a focus on rich-text and scanning. Tana targets power users and researchers and leads with supertags and ai-commands.
Apple Notes uses custom enterprise pricing, while Tana starts at $12/mo — a tangible advantage for teams with a fixed budget.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.