Top 10 Best Note Taking Tools
Ranked by rating, features, and user satisfaction. Last updated: May 2026.
| # | Tool | Rating | Free Plan | Starting Price | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Obsidian | ★ 4.7 | ✓ | Free / $4+ | researchers, writers |
| 2 | Notion | ★ 4.6 | ✓ | Free / $10+ | startups, students |
| 3 | Heptabase | ★ 4.6 | ✗ | $11.99+ | researchers, students |
| 4 | Craft | ★ 4.5 | ✓ | Free / $5+ | apple users, writers |
| 5 | Bear | ★ 4.5 | ✓ | Free / $2.99+ | apple users, writers |
| 6 | Logseq | ★ 4.4 | ✓ | Free / $5+ | researchers, writers |
| 7 | Anytype | ★ 4.4 | ✓ | Free / $10+ | privacy enthusiasts, personal knowledge management |
| 8 | Memos | ★ 4.4 | ✓ | Free / $0+ | self hosters, quick note takers |
| 9 | Capacities | ★ 4.4 | ✓ | Free / $9.99+ | knowledge workers, researchers |
| 10 | AppFlowy | ★ 4.3 | ✓ | Free / $12.5+ | privacy focused teams, open source enthusiasts |
A knowledge base that works on local Markdown files.
- ✓ 100% offline
- ✓ Local-first
- ✓ Plugin ecosystem
- ✗ No real-time collaboration
- ✗ Steep learning curve
All-in-one workspace for notes, tasks, wikis, and databases.
- ✓ Extremely flexible
- ✓ Great free tier
- ✓ Powerful databases
- ✗ Slow with large pages
- ✗ Steep learning curve
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
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
Beautiful markdown note-taking app for Apple devices with powerful organization.
- ✓ Beautiful design
- ✓ Markdown support
- ✓ Nested tags
- ✗ Apple only
- ✗ No collaboration
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
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
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)
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
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