What is the Best Note-Taking App?

An overview of the features of Obsidian, Notion, Evernote, Google Keep, OneNote, Lattics…

Today, having a reliable note-taking app is crucial. But with so many options available, it can be overwhelming to choose the best one for your needs. Some apps specialize in organization, while others offer advanced formatting options, and some are just basic text editors.

I’m going to share with you my selection of the best note-taking apps and compare their characteristics, to finally allow you to find the one that best fits your needs.

Obsidian

Let me start with my favorite, Obsidian. Obsidian is a note-taking app that has been gaining popularity recently. It is a free app that allows you to create a network of notes and ideas, interconnected through hyperlinks. This means that you can easily navigate through your notes and find connections between them.

One of the main features of Obsidian is its ability to work with plain text files, which makes it easy to access and use your notes across different devices and platforms. Additionally, Obsidian supports Markdown, a lightweight markup language that allows you to format your notes easily. This is particularly useful for those who like to write using headings, bold and italicized text, and bullet points.

Obsidian also has a robust plugin ecosystem, which allows you to extend the app’s functionality. There are plugins available for everything from task management to calendar integration.

Another important thing to know about Obsidian is that it only works with local files. I think it’s an advantage because it means that no third party owns your notes, but some people may see it as a drawback because it can make synchronization between different devices hard (Obsidian Sync is a service allowing you to synchronize notes easily, but it’s a paid option).

One potential drawback of Obsidian is that you can quickly make things too complex. It’s just a text editor, but it offers so many features that you can really shape your note-taking system as you want. It’s an advantage, but for beginners, it can be overwhelming, so start small and change your system as your needs evolve.

Notion

Notion isn’t really a note-taking app, but I know a lot of people use it for note-taking, so I’ll talk about it.

Notion is a productivity tool that includes note-taking as one of its many features. It allows users to create pages that can be customized with various types of content, such as text, images, tables, and more. This makes Notion a good option for a variety of workflows, from simple note-taking to project management and team collaboration.

One of the most important features of Notion is its flexibility. You can create pages from scratch or choose from pre-designed templates for tasks such as note-taking, meeting agendas, and project planning. This can save time and make it easier to get started with the app.

Notion also has a powerful database feature, which allows you to create databases of information that can be linked to other pages and databases. This makes it easy to create a knowledge base or reference library within Notion, and to find related information quickly.

Another strength of Notion is its collaboration features. You can share pages and databases with others, assign tasks, and leave comments. This makes it a great option for team projects or group brainstorming sessions.

Also, Notion works according to a block structure. This allows you to easily move blocks of text, titles, tables, etc. and to quickly reorganize your notes.

One potential downside of Notion is its pricing structure. While there is a free plan available, it has some limitations, and the paid plans can be expensive compared to other note-taking apps.

Additionally, the app can be complex and overwhelming for some users, especially those who are new to the concept of databases and relational linking.

And also, I don’t like Notion that much because everything is stored online. If one day something happens to Notion, you won’t be able to get your notes back, so I won’t trust it to store my entire knowledge base. It also means you can’t really use Notion offline, and this one is a big drawback for me.

Evernote

Evernote is a famous note-taking app, long established. It is a feature-rich app that allows you to create notes in a variety of formats, including text, images, and audio recordings. It also has a robust tagging and search system that makes it easy to find notes quickly.

Evernote allows you to sync easily notes across multiple devices. This means that you can access your notes from your phone, tablet, or computer, making it easy to stay organized on the go. It also has a web clipper tool that allows you to save articles and web pages directly to your account for later reference.

Another strength of Evernote is its integration with other apps and services. You can connect Evernote to your email, calendar, and task management tools, making it easy to keep all of your information in one place.

Evernote also has a robust collaboration feature that allows you to share notes and notebooks with others.

However, one thing I don’t like about Evernote is that it’s sometimes a bit clunky. Also, I don’t like its pricing structure. The free plan is okay if you just want to take notes, but I think there’s no point in using Evernote if you just want to take notes. When trying it, I’ve also experienced some performance issues, which is not acceptable for a note-taking app.

In the end, I think Evernote is a bit outdated now, there are better options, but this is just my opinion.

Google Keep

I love this app because it is very simple and minimalist. I find that the application replicates a bit a desktop on which you would put sticky notes.

The app is very handy, especially for synchronizing notes between your devices.

However, due to its simplicity, I wouldn’t recommend it if you need to set up a complex note-taking system. Indeed, you don’t have a lot of solutions to organize your notes properly, so it can become messy if you have too many notes.

I rather recommend using Google Keep to quickly capture ideas or access your notes from your phone.

OneNote

OneNote is a digital note-taking app developed by Microsoft that allows you to capture, organize, and share notes in a variety of formats.

OneNote is flexible, it allows you to create notes in a variety of formats, including typed text, handwritten notes, audio recordings, and images. You can also draw sketches and diagrams directly within notes, making it a versatile tool for capturing ideas and information.

Then, OneNote allows you to organize notes into notebooks, sections, and pages, making it easy to find and access information. It also allows you to tag notes with keywords to further classify and organize them.

Also, OneNote syncs across devices, allowing you to access your notes from your computer, tablet, or smartphone. You can also share notebooks with others and collaborate in real-time, leave comments, and even co-author notes.

As OneNote is a Microsoft product, it integrates with other Microsoft tools like Outlook, Word, and PowerPoint, allowing you to easily insert notes, images, and other content into your documents.

Finally, I think OneNote is a good app. If you like the Microsoft suite, you’ll probably like it. And it’s an app that is used a lot in companies, so it can be useful to know how to use it.

Lattics

I place this app here because it is not very well known, you have probably never heard its name.

Lattics is a knowledge management application that allows you to organize your documents into projects while providing an unlimited hierarchy to support complicated projects requiring a high level of organization. You can also use tags or reference documents.

The application has three graphical views, including the mind map view, that allows you to graphically organize your documents and create new ones.

Lattics is local-based, meaning that notes are not stored on the cloud and you have full control of your data.

Lattics provides many features that enhance the user experience, such as the ability to navigate through all the notes of a project without interruption, drag and drop files, and a search feature.

Like Notion, the application works on a block principle, allowing you to edit and reorganize notes quickly.

You can also customize colors, fonts, and the style of characters, and note templates can modify the style of a note according to a template.

You can find more info about this app in the review of it I made.

Which One you Should Use?

It depends on your needs. For me, I use Obsidian for storing permanent notes and notes such as weekly reviews or references. I also use Google Keep when I want to quickly take notes that will sync easily with my other devices.

If you don’t bother not having your data locally, Notion or Evernote can be good alternatives to Obsidian.

Alternatively, there are other apps I have not talked about such as Craft, Roam Research, Logseq… that can be interesting for you if you don’t like the apps I introduced here.

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