Best Note Taking Apps for 2025

One of the fastest ways to remember something is write it down.

That's why millions of people every single day note-take. Bringing their ideas down to paper, or quick capturing something on their app. Practices like GTD (Getting Things Done) by David Allen and Second Brain by Tiago Forte have influenced many people into using it to organize their mind.

How could I use a note taking app?

There's many benefits that you can tailor for your own lifestyle, but here are some common ones:

• Checklists - holiday pack lists, present ideas, house move priority items and much more.

• Ideas - business ideas, project concepts, ways of doing things or even reflections on how you might have done something better next time.

• Memories - photos, stories, recipes or journeys to help remember the road you've taken.

• Sources - college bibliographies, bookmarks, useful articles, news stories & anything worse bringing back up as a source.

1. Obsidian

Best for PKM

Obsidian is one of the best note-taking applications on the market.

It allows you to take notes offline and on your device (meaning no storage costs). This allows you to take notes securely, using markdown note-taking & offline too. The app has many features like graph view (for seeing connected notes), canvas view for white boarding ideas, notes & images, bi-directional links & fantastic features for writers. Many people love that Obsidian is free to use, but if users were eager to store their knowledge and sync between devices (mobile) then they can pay $4 per month (subject to change) for E2E encrypted notes.

Best Features

• It is free to use and uses your local storage to host the notes and files you take.

• Might take some time to learn.

• Regularly updates from user feedback.

• Great for advanced note-taking and seeing notes connected.

How much is Obsidian?

• They are free to use locally.

• It charges $4 per user for syncing notes

• There is an additional upgrade for $8 to create a digital garden.

2. Capacities

Best for Objects

Capacities is a note taking with a unique feature, objects.

Many people are flocking to Capacities for the object based note-taking concept. It resembles templates that allow you to create a "type of note" - this way when you create a note, it could be a meeting object, or a person, or a book, this helps to structure each note as you take it. It creates a nice life organization system that looks more like your brain than something that is just all notes. You can still add tags, journal with daily notes, add task items and even connect apps to import tasks in too. So there's a lot of exciting features in Capacities on offer.

Best Features

• Create notes and use objects to organize them.

• Fantastic design and constant feature adaptations.

• Objects are like templates and help you structure your account.

• AI allows you to go deeper with notes in AI Chat.

How much does Capacities cost?

• They are free to use.

• AI features are locked under premium.

• Capacities charges $8 per user per month

3. NotePlan

Best for Calendar & Tasks

• NotePlan impressed us this year as an all-around tool for your productivity with notes and a system for tasks and calendars in one. Many people like this combination of markdown feel, but with the abilities you get in Evernote & other such tools.

• Their mobile app has been upgraded to help many people use the planner abilities on the go and we've been watching their progress in 2025.

4. Evernote

Best for All Round

• Evernote wants to be your base for tasks, notes & calendar in a much more traditional style making life easier for connecting calendar events, meeting notes, project tasks and project notes all in one hosted location.

• Evernote presents a decent notes app that has had many years of struggles with their history of change between 2013 - 2020 it has recently been acquired by Bending Spoons with a vision of making AI the focus of the long-standing notes app.

• For those looking for a traditional all-rounder, Evernote still does a brilliant job and we hope the new team at Bending Spoons will breathe speed, reliability & new features into it over the 2025 season.

5. Reflect Notes

Best for PKM & E2E

• Reflect brings a sense of class to this list with a stunning design this application isn't just about the looks. Reflect Notes packs in graph for connected notes, meetings for connecting your calendar, E2E note encryption and newer AI abilities.

• Reflect Notes does come at a price of $10 per month without a free plan. They want to be the best-in-class notes app and fund their future features with this, and you can tell the attention to detail they offer throughout the application.

• With Reflect AI, you can dictate and transcribe notes, create action lists, and save custom prompts - ideal for newbies to using AI and beyond. There's a lot of focus on security of notes and integrations - making Reflect one of our apps to watch throughout 2025.

6. Anytype

Great for Object Based Notes

Pros:

• Open-source note-taking

• Local-first and peer-to-peer networking

• Works with markdown and native on desktop

• It comes with sets and collections for set-ups

• Good-rated iOS, and Android on respective App Stores

• Privacy-focused notes with E2E secure notes

• Good community and audience

Cons:

• It can be overwhelming to use

• Limited database abilities compared to Notion

• Still developing features

7. RemNote

Best for Students

RemNote is one of the best, or if not, the best notes app for students. It combines the ability to take notes and collect PDFs, presentations & uploads with notes & the ability to turn the notes into flashcards. This ability isn't hard or complicated and allows students to import notes from other apps and then instantly turn those into flashcards making them an more useful study resources.

There are no limits on the ability to create flashcards or notes in RemNote, but there are locks on abilities like PDF annotation and file upload per note. RemNote has approachable pricing for those who want to invest in their studies. It is probably popular with pHD and master's students looking to better invest in their tools.

8. Amplenote

Best for All Round

Amplenote hits the spot as a classic notes app with the vision to grow and grow. They currently have a range of features, almost too many, that help you to unlock your notes, but not just your notes - your tasks and calendar can be housed in Amplenote. Much like Evernote, they want to be your brain for everything and believe they could do with building a system for it hence their match-up to GTD.

One of the notable experiences as a notes app isn't actually their note abilities; for us, we adored the ability to manage your task alongside and rank your tasks using a simple set of parameters, which makes adding notes to tasks much more interactive for projects and beyond.

What is the best simple, free note-taking apps?

• Simplenote, Apple Notes & Google Keep are the best free simple note-taking apps.

• They all offer no charge or upgrades to access all the features.

• They are recommended for those who want something simple and easy, without detailed features.