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    Microsoft OneNote Alternatives

    Microsoft OneNote is described as 'part of the Microsoft Office Suite, is a digital notebook application that gives people one place to gather notes and information' and is a leading Note-taking tool in the office & productivity category. There are more than 100 alternatives to Microsoft OneNote for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iPhone. The best alternative is Joplin. It's not free, so if you're looking for a free alternative, you could try NoteLedge or Zim. Other great apps like Microsoft OneNote are Obsidian, Notion, Standard Notes and CherryTree.

    Microsoft OneNote is mainly a Note-taking Tool but alternatives to it may also be Todo List Managers or Task Management Tools. Filter by these if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of Microsoft OneNote.
    This page was last updated May 25, 2022
    Microsoft OneNote
      1068
    • Freemium • Proprietary
    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Chrome OS
    • Windows S
    • Windows Phone
    • iPad
    • Apple Watch
    • Android Wear
    • Kindle Fire
    More ▼
    Microsoft OneNote, part of the Microsoft Office...
    Learn more about Microsoft OneNote
    1. monday.com Work OS is far more than a project management tool. It is an intuitive platform that helps transform the way teams work together, meet deadlines, and build a culture of transparency.
    2. Joplin is a free, open source note taking and to-do application, which can handle a large number of notes organised into notebooks. The notes are searchable, can be copied, tagged and modified either from the applications directly or from your own text editor.
      Joplin vs Microsoft OneNote opinions
      Most users think Joplin is a great alternative to Microsoft OneNote.
       all • positive • negative      relevance • date
      pretty and very clear user interface
      Top positive comment  about 3 years ago

      12
      dasonic Same structure as Onenote, supports images, looks modern. Doesn't have all the same features (like drawing on the screen) but also has its own unique features Onenote doesn't have. Also runs on Linux, which is the biggest plus for me.
      Top positive comment  about 2 years ago

      12
      martinligabue it doesn't have pen input support
      Top negative comment  7 months ago

      1
      thepisu It's simple enough when you need to write small notes or to-do quickly, with a clean interface, but it's also powerful with cloud sync, cross platform (Linux included), and support formatting, images and attachments.
      Positive comment • 8 months ago

      1
      RemovedUser Joplin doesn't allow files to be attached, it doesn't support colors, and you have to learn a special programming language to use it.
      Negative comment • over 1 year ago

      -5
      Your data is YOUR data. I'm able to keep my data on my own Nextcloud server. Not on Microsoft OneDrive. And, it can be encrypted as well (mine is).
      Positive comment • over 1 year ago

      1
      naxawo7733 it is a markdown editor with integrated sync for nextcloud
      Positive comment • over 1 year ago

      0
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      7 of 11 comments
    4. Capture inspiration from Pinterest, YouTube or web pages, organize ideas in one place and add your notes. Make mood boards or quick sketches to visualize and present ideas!.
      NoteLedge vs Microsoft OneNote opinions
      Almost everyone thinks NoteLedge is a great alternative to Microsoft OneNote.
      hryan5369 With this app you can organize everything including your daily activity or special event.
      Positive comment • almost 3 years ago

      -1
    5. Powerful knowledge base that works on top of a local folder of plain text Markdown files.
    6. Zim brings the concept of a wiki to your desktop. Store information, link pages and edit with WYSISYG markup or directly typing some lightweight markup syntax and see it previewed as-you-type.
      Zim vs Microsoft OneNote opinions
      Most users think Zim is a great alternative to Microsoft OneNote.
       all • positive • negative      relevance • date
      LordMax Wonderful. Every file is a .txt file, so you're in total control.
      Top positive comment  about 4 years ago

      18
      Local, Wysiwyg, drag and drop, Quicknote, Webcite-function.
      Top positive comment  over 4 years ago

      6
      GUI is pretty different, plus as mentioned by other people. Most functionality isn't the same. Also, looks like smth from the age of Win'98.
      Top negative comment  over 2 years ago

      2
      impishwhite I like Zim as it stores information in an open source and flat file format directly using the computer file system. So you can the software as a kind of file explorer with the difference that you have a note associated with each folder of your computer. From my point of view, it is really structuring my numeric environment. After discovering it, I would not return to OneNote and other kinds of note taking apps I tried.
      Positive comment • about 1 year ago

      0
      Zim is essentially a desktop wiki. Searching of notes is great and there are lots of plugins, e.g. you can have latex equations included, R-plots, gnuplots, along with pictures etc.; syncing is via cloud storage such as dropbox. It is available across platforms but as a linux desktop user I find it particular useful.
      Positive comment • about 2 years ago

      1
      Zim is more like simplenote, or a desktop wiki. It is missing most of the functionality of onenote.
      Negative comment • over 3 years ago

      19
      satsaeid It's better because It saves your notes in your system not in cloud, plus it also have a great to-do system. easy to use
      Positive comment • over 3 years ago

      2
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      7 of 9 comments
    8. With so many tools, it's hard to keep everyone on the same page. Notion is a new tool that unifies them all.
      Notion vs Microsoft OneNote opinions
      Almost everyone thinks Notion is a great alternative to Microsoft OneNote.
      raphaelaguiar Better visualization and flexible organization. Keeps your information in a multi-hierarchical wiki, not in notes,
      Positive comment • almost 5 years ago

      3
      Biggest feature of Onenote is drawing & typing everywhere, which Notion doesn't support. Notion is good to store highly structured data, while Onenote is more like a digital paper.
      Negative comment • about 2 years ago

      6
      rongmu Notion is aesthetic, powerful and highly flexible. You can mix different types of contents within one page. Markdown formatting for texts. Sub-pages for wiki-like or hierarchical organization. Databases for a of lot data; a database comes with multiple possible views and you can choose the one that best suits your data.
      Positive comment • almost 3 years ago

      -1
      infinite nesting, cross platform, powerful edting and embed tools
      Positive comment • almost 3 years ago

      0
    9. Standard Notes is a simple and private notes app. It allows you to write and sync your notes across all your devices, including your iPhone, iPad, Mac, and web browser.
      Standard Notes vs Microsoft OneNote opinions
      Most users think Standard Notes is a great alternative to Microsoft OneNote.
      Encrypted, very lightweight and not owned by Microsoft.
      Top positive comment  over 4 years ago

      0
      The free version is only plain text editing - can't even paste images or use bold and italics. There simply aren't enough features in the free one to determine whether I like it enough to pay for premium.
      Top negative comment  almost 2 years ago

      4
      Anipe Very, VERY BASIC, its open source and free but its basic and the features it offers are paid compared to one note's free model
      Negative comment • 9 days ago

      0
      Don't have sections or pages, just notes.
      Negative comment • 10 months ago

      0
      Extremely feature-light. Does only the bare minimum to be considered a notes app, whereas OneNote does much more.
      Negative comment • over 3 years ago

      5
      OneNote is way more powerful
      Negative comment • almost 4 years ago

      0
    10. A hierarchical note taking application, featuring rich text and syntax highlighting, storing data in a single xml or sqlite file.
      CherryTree vs Microsoft OneNote opinions
      Most users think CherryTree is a great alternative to Microsoft OneNote.
       all • positive • negative      relevance • date
      its not OneNote, but its as close as I´ve found on linux. This finally frees me from Windows. Just started using it, but already i can see it will do. Now if only it accepts photos, voice clips, videos and webpages I can call it a day!
      Top positive comment  over 5 years ago

      9
      hierarchical Nodes and Subnode with icons, quick tool bar, simple as well rich text format, import export option, extremely light weight set up, easy backup, adjustable font size with mouse button, complete set of editting tools, customizable lay out, stable, supports text upto million of words, word count, password protected, multiple data basis, free and easy to use.
      Top positive comment  about 2 years ago

      2
      Doesn't have detailed sorting like a notebook or various notebooks
      Top negative comment  over 2 years ago

      0
      The hierarchy is fantastic!
      Positive comment • about 3 years ago

      0
      It is more like Simple Note which is bare bones & not comparable to OneNote. No dragable containers, no ocr or voice recording. Also lacks sync.
      Negative comment • over 3 years ago

      5
      is the best for left to right and right to left note. multi language like en&
      Positive comment • over 3 years ago

      1
      Powerfull and SQLite3 database based, excellent.
      Positive comment • about 4 years ago

      2
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      7 of 8 comments

    11. Evernote

      • Freemium • Proprietary
      • Mac
      • Windows
      • Online
      • Android
      • iPhone
      • Blackberry
      • Windows S
      • Android Tablet
      • Windows Phone
      • iPad
      • Apple Watch
      • Android Wear
      • Kindle Fire
      • Pebble
      More ▼
      More ▼
      Evernote is a cross-platform, freemium app designed for note taking, organizing, and archiving.
      Evernote vs Microsoft OneNote opinions
      This alternative is disputed. Evernote is still a legitimate alternative to Microsoft OneNote, but it might have issues that some users think are important.
       all • positive • negative      relevance • date
      aquanovus8 Evernote is clunky, overwhelming, and slow. It has a lot of cool features that used to be relatively unique, but it's grown stagnant. Also the mobile version is pretty buggy.
      Top positive comment  over 2 years ago

      6
      Easy to use, and easy to search.
      Top positive comment  about 5 years ago

      -1
      Evernote can't be used to draw with the stylus
      Top negative comment  almost 6 years ago

      25
      frankzhang Evernote's handwriting is seriously lacking. Especially on the android platform.
      Negative comment • about 2 years ago

      1
      Whilst Evernote is a wonderful lightweight note organizer, Onenote it is a FAR cry from.
      Negative comment • almost 3 years ago

      3
      No insert latex formulas in document
      Negative comment • over 3 years ago

      2
      The possibility of inserting sections is missing.
      Negative comment • over 3 years ago

      12
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      7 of 9 comments
    12. Made by the company behind WordPress, Simplenote enables users to take notes, lists, and ideas. These notes are stored on the cloud and are accessible across multiple devices.
      Simplenote vs Microsoft OneNote opinions
      This alternative is disputed. Simplenote is still a legitimate alternative to Microsoft OneNote, but it might have issues that some users think are important.
       all • positive • negative      relevance • date
      It doesnt feature writing with a pen on screen. (Wacom etc.)
      Top negative comment  almost 5 years ago

      31
      It is more akin to Apple's iNotes, albeit a little less feature rich (No sketches, folders, etc.). In terms of functionality, Simplenote and iNotes is not a viable alternative to OneNote.
      Negative comment • about 2 years ago

      1
      Simplenote is more similar to Notepad than Onenote. It's basically a plain text editor that lets you store your notes online. Some of the very basic features of OneNote can be approximated, such as inclusion of images, links and text formatting, but it requires learning markdown, which is extremely cumbersome to use and time consuming to learn. Simplenote has only rudimentary organization and search features. Better than Notepad. Not even close to Outlook.
      Negative comment • almost 3 years ago

      -2
      No support for web clippings. No separation of Notebooks. Really not like OneNote at all
      Negative comment • about 3 years ago

      3
      Not even the same category
      Negative comment • over 3 years ago

      0
      No drawing, no hand writing.
      Negative comment • about 4 years ago

      0
      Simplenote is great for super simple plaintext notetaking but it only has one feature in common with OneNote which is syncing. Not an alternative
      Negative comment • over 4 years ago

      17
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      7 of 9 comments
    Showing 10 of 441 alternatives