
I'm a longtime user of both applications, so I've taken a look at the latest version of each for Windows, macOS, iPad, iPhone and Android. But they also have some very distinct differences. OneNote and Evernote are available for all the major desktop and mobile OSes, they can each sync your notes to all of your devices and the web, and both promise to be the only note-taking app you need.
#BEST FREE STANDALONE NOTES APP FOR MAC WINDOWS#
(Microsoft hasn’t released user numbers for OneNote, but between Office and Windows 10, more than a billion users likely have a version of it installed on their machines.) Evernote launched in 2008 and has enjoyed steadily increasing user numbers since then the company now says it has 225 million users worldwide.
#BEST FREE STANDALONE NOTES APP FOR MAC FOR FREE#
Launched in 2003, OneNote was added to Microsoft Office in 2007 and is now bundled with Windows 10 and also offered for free as a standalone product. It's an ideal choice for students attending lectures, business folk that need to take minutes of meetings, and a handy way to record interviews while jotting down comments.There are two leading contenders for the crown: Microsoft’s OneNote and the independent Evernote. If you need to combine recording audio with note-taking then we thoroughly recommend Noted. This is a contemporary note-taking solution with an intuitive user interface and a clean design.Īnyone looking to hand write their notes on a digital device is advised to check out Nebo, it's ultra-smart handwriting recognition technology will take your hastily scribbled scrawls and convert them into neat type in no time. We're big fans of all these apps, all of which offer something to suit particular needs and users. When you're done you can export Nebo pages as a Word doc, a PDF, HTML, and text. All Nebo notes, whether handwritten or typed, are searchable. You can add words, names, or acronyms to your personal dictionary to "train" Nebo to recognize them in the future. Nebo notes can easily be organized by dragging and dropping. You can add images into Nebo notes, then annotate them in the note. Once you're done, there are options to share and export both the audio and the notes. Within the text editor, there is also the option to snap a live photo, add an image from your camera roll, attach a document, and even create a quick sketch, complete with Apple Pencil support. You can quickly and easily add a searchable time tag at any point during the recording. This has a clean interface and allows you to do basic formatting, including highlighting.

You simply create a new Notebook, which works like a folder, give it a title, add a new note to it, hit the record button to start the audio recording, then make notes using the text editor. This app is highly effective and easy to use. It's available for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, with an Apple Watch version that allows you to record from your wrist. This makes it ideal for anyone who needs to both record audio and make notes at the same time in lectures, meetings, and interviews. Noted has a unique note-taking premise as it's a fully-integrated audio recording and note-taking app. In the middle is a tidy, scrollable icon menu that offers one-touch formatting options such as text style, bulleting, link making, adding the date in different formats, inserting images, and adding attachments.


You have a blank screen at the top and your keyboard view at the bottom. The middle section is the Note List which offers a chronological list of all your notes (although you can choose to pin a note to the top), and then there's the Editor area, where you create your notes. The first section is the Sidebar, which is where you'll see a list of tags you've created within the app. We like the Bear app for its incredibly clean and simple design, which makes it both easy to use and easy to view. Bear Pro, which you can subscribe to monthly or annually, offers more advanced features such as the ability to sync between all your devices, improved security features, and more powerful export options. Using the free version you can create notes, add tags and attachments, and export to a variety of formats. Many of the Bear app's features are available for free on Mac, iPad, and iPhone.

Bear is an advanced editor that supports over 150 programming languages and is far superior to the iPhone's native Notes app.
