From paper-based notebooks to note-taking apps, note-taking has been in use for a long time. Today, there are enormous tools, but only a few always get to the top.
Here is an article covering the few best and free note-taking apps for Windows 10 and 11.
Disclaimer: All are tested on Windows 11
Google Keep
Pros: Synchronisation | Multiple note types | Web clipper
Cons: Browser-based | No rich text | No note-type mixes
Cost: Free
Google Keep is a straightforward browser-based app from Google. It can be accessed by going to keep.google.com. Its simple user interface makes Keep one of the best Windows apps.
You find the search bar on the top with a text field to add a new note. The tool supports the below note types on Windows:
- Text
- Image
- Checklist
- Drawing
Other options include adding people to collaborate, pinning notes, sending notes to Google Docs, taking text from pictures, and adding labels to separate notes.
Furthermore, it suggests grocery items while adding items to your shopping list (example).
One of the downsides of Keep is that there is no native desktop app. You can install it on Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge.
Another drawback is that it does not support some note types in a single note. For example, adding a checklist in a text note will convert all the existing text to checklists.
Google Keep also comes as an extension for most Chromium-based browsers that allows saving a page’s link to your Keep account.
Obsidian
Pros: Native app | Markdown editing | Plugins
Cons: Offline only | No integrations
Cost: Freemium
One of the popular note-taking apps for Windows today is Obsidian. Obsidian is considered your second brain because it’s not just a note-taking app.
It’s a powerful knowledge graph app that lets you connect pages with pages and then show a graph with connected notes.
Obsidian helps visualize projects. For example, while designing a game, you can use Obsidian to create pages for each game screen, connect those screens with the other screens, and see the data in a graph.
The above video shows a great example of how Obsidian works.
Zoho Notebook
Pros: Desktop app | Rich text editing | Synchronisation | Integrations | Web clipper
Cons: None
Cost: Free
With several features and rich editing options, Zoho Notebook is an all-in-one app. It offers the following text editing tools:
- Bold, italicize, underline, and strikethrough text
- Add background color to the text
- Text alignment
- Text indent
- Unordered and ordered lists
- Checklists
- Hyperlinks
- Add photos
- Add separators
- Tables
- Quotes
- Add code blocks
The app is available on most platforms and syncs data with your account. Some other noticeable features of Zoho Notes are:
- Spell check (Zia spell check assistant)
- Reminders
- Change a note’s background color
- Collaborate
- Share note
- Save a note in ZNote, ZIP, and PDF formats
- See notes’ history
- Password protect notes
- Print notes
- Merge notes
- Add tags
- Search for text in notes
- Drawing notes
- Audio notes
- Integrations (Slack, Google Workspace, Zoho Mail, etc.)
Furthermore, it comes with a web clipper that screenshots the whole page, a part of the page, or the focused area.
You can also save the content part of the page. Here is a video to see the web clipper in action.
OneNote
Pros: Desktop app | Web clipper | Draw on text | Rich text editing | Immersive reader
Cons: Can be overwhelming
Cost: Free
A native app from Microsoft, OneNote has somehow maintained its position.
Being a part of the Office apps, it adapts the Office apps’ styles. The tool, especially on desktop, comes with some great features:
- Notebooks
- Section within notebooks
- Pages within sections
- Password protection on sections
- Collaboration tools
- Hand drawing above text and images
- Sharing with others
- Translate text
- Immersive reader (A tool for simplifying the note text for easy reading. It also supports the speech-to-text feature)
These are the pillars of OneNote, but along with those, you get rich text editing options. Some of those are:
| Headings | Checklists | Ordered lists |
| Unordered lists | Fonts | Font color |
| Highlight text | Bold text | Font size change |
| Italicize text | Underline text | Insert tables |
| File attachments | Attach pictures | Embed online videos |
| Links | Add audio | Add meeting details |
| Add symbols | Add equations | Attach PDF |
| Change page color | Subscript | Superscript |
| Strikethrough | Text indent | Attach other files |
One problem with OneNote is that you don’t find all the above features on its mobile app. The app does come with rich text editing tools, but not most of the options mentioned above.
The web clipper is also a part of OneNote. You get an advanced web clipper that can clip the whole page, just a region and the article only.
Also read: Google Keep vs. OneNote
Evernote
Pros: Desktop app | Rich text editing | Integrations | Templates | Web clipper
Cons: Internet is required
Cost: Freemium
The first in the freemium section is Evernote. Like OneNote, Evernote offers many options to get you started with note-taking.
For starters, it provides templates to create notes according to your project needs. Let’s see some of its options:
- Notebooks
- Sharing tools
- Export notes in HTML, PDF, or ENEX formats
- Stretch notes
- Add task notes
In terms of rich text editing, you get:
- Headings
- Fonts
- Font size
- Text color
- Bold, italicize, underline, and highlight text
- Ordered and unordered lists
- Add checklists and hyperlinks
- Indent and strikethrough text
- Add superscripts and subscripts
- Insert images, videos, and documents
- Insert tables, dividers, audio, code, and tasks in notes
Lastly, you get a web clipper with options to snapshot the page, copy the readable content, and bookmark the page to your Evernote notes.
The free version of Evernote allows for creating unlimited notes with a 60 MB monthly upload limit. The downsides of the free plan are:
- You can only use the app on two devices at the same time.
- An internet connection is required.
More like this: Trello vs. Evernote
Notion
Pros: Desktop app | Rich text editing | Integrations | Discount for students | Templates
Cons: A bit complex | Internet is required
Cost: Freemium
Notion is a freemium note-taking, database, and documentation tool. The app uses blocks to create the most complex notes.
What makes this Notion complex is that you can add blocks inside of blocks. Also, you can change the view of the page to a calendar, kanban board, gallery, etc. This lets you see the project from a different angle.
Moreover, Notion is full of templates, and honestly, those templates are mind-blowing. You won’t believe that some of those are made in Notion.
Some of the noteworthy (ironic) features of Notion are:
- Sharing with others
- Export notes to PDF and HTML files
- Import notes
- Password protect notes
- Create workspaces
- Rich text editing
Here are some blocks that make Notion one of the best note-taking apps for Windows 10:
| Headings | To-do lists | Ordered lists |
| Unordered lists | Toggle list | Quote |
| Divider | Date or reminder | Inline table |
| Full page table | Inline table | Full page list |
| Inline list | Full page calendar | Inline calendar |
| Inline gallery | Embed audio | Embed images |
| Embed videos | Code block | embed Google Drive files |
| Embed tweets | GitHub Gist | Embed Google Maps |
| Math equations | Add breadcrumbs | Embed other content |
Other than that, you can:
- Change text color
- Mention other pages
- Comment on each block
- Mention users in comments
- Link databases
- Upload files
- Add table of contents
Notion also provides a web clipper for Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge, and you can save web pages’ links to your workspace using the clipper.
More like this: OneNote vs. Notion
Nimbus Note
Pros: Native app | Rich text editing | Integrations | Templates
Cons: Internet is required | Block and note limits
Cost: Freemium
Taking the same approach as Notion, Nimbus Note is a block-based note-taking app available on major platforms.
Nimbus Note offers features, including the web clipper extension, templates, and integrations. Some of its note-taking blocks are:
- Paragraphs
- Checklists
- Lists
- Images and files
- Headings
- Font style, color, and size
- Section breaks
- Tables
Teams can work on projects as Nimbus offers a chat option to communicate without leaving the app.
Slite
Pros: Desktop app | Rich text editing | Integrations | Templates | Team-focused
Cons: Internet is required
Cost: Freemium
Slite is a team-focused note-keeping app supporting blocks like Notion. Organizations can save notes and write documentation.
It does not support as many block types, but it has no limits on team members and integrations. Some of its features are:
- Commenting on blocks
- Mentioning users
- Company channels
- Catch up feature
- Guests
- File attachments
There is a limit of 50 documents per account for free, but you get templates to help you get the most out of the program without creating too many documents.
Wrap up
Note-taking is a good habit, but the habit becomes great and fun when you have all the required features.
Those eight best note-taking apps for Windows were selected because of their features, popularity, and brand trust.
I hope you choose one of those to be your tool. Let me know your views in the comments so others can quickly decide.