# Best Note Taking Apps in 2026: 6 Tools Compared and Ranked

URL: https://heartheweb.com/compare/best-note-taking-apps
Type: comparison
Locale: en
Published: 2026-11-06
Updated: 2026-11-07

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> Six note taking apps ranked on price, storage, capture, AI and read-aloud support, with a clear pick for readers who want to keep what they hear and read.

## Ranking (6 products)

**Winner:** obsidian

**Verdict:** Among the best note taking apps, Obsidian wins for readers who want to keep what they read: plain Markdown files, free for personal use, and backlinks that surface old highlights. Notion is the better pick for shared workspaces. OneNote and Apple Notes win on free, fast capture. Evernote now suits clippers with existing archives, and TicNote fits spoken input, not typed notes.

**Methodology:** We compared six apps on seven public facts: price tiers, platforms, where notes are stored, capture tools, built-in AI, read-aloud support and the limits each vendor documents. Prices come from vendor pricing pages and recent third-party roundups, checked in November 2026, and they change often. Scores run from 0 to 5 and are editorial judgments weighted toward long-term archives and capture speed, informed by aggregated public reviews. We did not run a lab benchmark for each app. TicNote carries an affiliate link; it is ranked last for general note taking on purpose.


### Criteria

| Criterion | obsidian | notion | onenote | apple-notes | evernote | ticnote |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free for personal use; Sync from $4/month billed annually | Free plan; Plus $10/user/month billed annually | Free with a Microsoft account; bundled in Microsoft 365 | Free on iPhone, iPad and Mac; iCloud storage optional | Free capped at 50 notes; Starter from $8.25/month billed annually | Free 300 minutes/month; paid plans roughly $15 to $29/month |
| Where notes live | Plain Markdown files on your own device | Notion cloud, block-based pages and databases | Microsoft cloud, notebooks, sections and pages | iCloud, with local copies on each Apple device | Evernote cloud, notebooks and tags | TicNote cloud, project workspaces built on recordings |
| Platforms | Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android (no web app) | Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, web | Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, web | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Vision, Apple Watch, iCloud.com | Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, web | Chrome extension, web app and companion devices |
| Capture and clipping | Web clipper plus plugins; manual by default | Web clipper and email-to-page | Web clipper, ink and typed notes anywhere on the canvas | Share sheet, document scanning and sketching | Best web clipper of the group, OCR search in images and PDFs | Records meetings in 120 languages with no bot in the call |
| Built-in AI | None built in; third-party plugins with your own API key | Notion AI; full AI bundled from the $20/user/month Business tier | Copilot features tied to a paid Microsoft 365 plan | Apple's on-device summaries and writing tools | AI Assistant and semantic search on paid tiers | Shadow Agent turns recordings into slides, reports and dashboards |
| Reading aloud (hear.the.web angle) | Relies on OS text-to-speech or plugins | No native read-aloud; browser or OS speech works | Immersive Reader reads pages aloud on Windows and the web | Spoken Content and VoiceOver read any note | No native read-aloud; OS speech only | Transcripts from audio rather than audio from text |

### Per-product notes

- **notion** — best for: Shared workspaces that mix notes, docs and databases, score: 4.5/5
  Best when notes need to become a shared system, less so for pure capture.
- **onenote** — best for: Free freeform notebooks, handwriting and Microsoft 365 users, score: 4.2/5
  The strongest free option when you already live inside Microsoft 365.
- **ticnote** — best for: Turning meetings and recordings into notes and files, score: 3.5/5
  A capture tool for spoken input, a poor fit if you mostly type.
- **evernote** — best for: Heavy web clippers and existing Evernote archives, score: 3.6/5
  Worth it only if clipping is your main workflow and the archive already lives there.
- **obsidian** — *Our pick*, best for: Readers who want a private, linked archive they own, score: 4.6/5
  Best long-term home for highlights and reading notes, if you accept the setup cost.
- **apple-notes** — best for: Fast, free capture across iPhone, iPad and Mac, score: 4.1/5
  Hard to beat for quick capture, limited once the archive grows.

## FAQ

### What is the best note taking app overall?

For readers who want to keep and link what they read, Obsidian. It is free for personal use and stores plain Markdown files you own. For shared team notes, Notion is the stronger choice.

### Which note taking app is best for free?

OneNote and Apple Notes are the strongest fully free options. OneNote runs on every major platform with a Microsoft account, and Apple Notes is built into iPhone, iPad and Mac.

### Is Obsidian really free?

Yes for personal use. Optional services cost extra: Sync starts at $4 a month billed annually. Check Obsidian's licence page if you plan to use it commercially.

### Is Evernote still worth paying for in 2026?

Only if web clipping is your core workflow. The free plan caps at 50 notes, one notebook and one device, and Starter starts at $8.25 a month billed annually.

### Which note app works best with text to speech?

Apple Notes pairs with VoiceOver and Spoken Content, and OneNote includes Immersive Reader. Obsidian, Notion and Evernote rely on your operating system's speech tools.

### Can a meeting recorder replace a note taking app?

Not for typed notes. TicNote records and transcribes meetings in 120 languages, but it suits spoken input. Pair it with Obsidian or Notion for your everyday written archive.

### How many note apps should I use at once?

One archive plus one capture tool is plenty. Capture quickly in Apple Notes or OneNote, then move what matters into Obsidian or Notion weekly.