“Given your requirements, I'd concentrate on Obsidian, Microsoft OneNote, Joplin, Apple Notes and Notion.”
“Obsidian | Very good | Excellent | Excellent | Flexible knowledge base”
“Obsidian | Very good | Excellent | Excellent | Flexible knowledge base”
“Obsidian | Very good | Excellent | Excellent | Flexible knowledge base”
“- Customisable mobile toolbar. - Home-screen widgets and shortcuts. - Quick Capture on iOS. - Share-sheet integration. - Voice capture and transcription on supported iPhones.”
“The bigger advantage is that your notes are ordinary Markdown files rather than documents trapped inside a proprietary database.”
“Obsidian is a particularly good choice if you want your notes to feel like files on your computer.”
“- Works without an internet connection.”
“- Available on Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android.”
“Weakness: Android quick capture has historically been less polished than iOS. Its mobile experience also takes some configuration to get right.”
“The only catch is synchronisation: Obsidian Sync is a paid option, although other synchronisation methods are available.”
“Given your requirements, I'd concentrate on Obsidian, Microsoft OneNote, Joplin, Apple Notes and Notion.”
“Joplin | Good | Very good | Very good | Open-source, offline-first”
“Joplin | Good | Very good | Very good | Open-source, offline-first”
“Joplin | Good | Very good | Very good | Open-source, offline-first”
“- Offline-first operation.”
“- Open-source software.”
“- Markdown support.”
“- Local data storage.”
“- Optional end-to-end encrypted synchronisation.”
“Joplin is worth considering if you dislike being locked into a particular company's ecosystem.”
“Its mobile interface is functional, but I wouldn't rank it above Apple Notes, OneNote or Obsidian for capture convenience.”
“It isn't quite as polished as Obsidian, but it's a credible alternative.”
“Given your requirements, I'd concentrate on Obsidian, Microsoft OneNote, Joplin, Apple Notes and Notion.”
“Notion | Good | Very good | Very good | Structured workspace”
“Notion | Good | Very good | Very good | Structured workspace”
“Notion | Good | Very good | Very good | Structured workspace”
“- Home-screen widgets. - Share-sheet capture. - Quick access to Notion AI. - Voice and camera capture through its AI interface. - Access to your pages and databases.”
“Notion offers downloadable applications for Windows and Mac, with desktop notifications and convenient application-level navigation.”
“However, Notion is fundamentally designed around pages, databases and workspaces. Capturing a random thought into the right place can take more steps than in Apple Notes or OneNote.”
“Some downloadable applications, notably Notion, still rely heavily on web technologies internally.”
“Evernote | Very good | Very good | Very good | Document and information archive”
“Evernote | Very good | Very good | Very good | Document and information archive”
“Evernote | Very good | Very good | Very good | Document and information archive”
“Evernote | Very good | Very good | Very good | Document and information archive”
“Evernote is particularly strong for: - Photographing documents. - Scanning receipts and paperwork. - Recording audio. - Saving web content. - Creating notes with attachments.”
“Its Windows and Mac applications maintain local databases of synchronised notes, making offline desktop access possible.”
“Weakness: It's a heavier application than you need if your primary activity is simply writing down thoughts.”
“Given your requirements, I'd concentrate on Obsidian, Microsoft OneNote, Joplin, Apple Notes and Notion.”
“OneNote | Very good | Excellent | Very good | Traditional digital notebook”
“OneNote | Very good | Excellent | Very good | Traditional digital notebook”
“OneNote | Very good | Excellent | Very good | Traditional digital notebook”
“OneNote is particularly good if you want something that works consistently across iPhone, Android, Windows and Mac.”
“- Home-screen widgets for creating new notes. - Dedicated audio and picture note capture. - Sharing articles, images and files directly into OneNote. - Access to recent notes from the home screen. - Sticky Notes integration.”
“OneNote is a very mature desktop application.”
“- Excellent Windows integration.”
“Weakness: OneNote has a relatively traditional notebook structure. It can feel cumbersome if all you want is a lightweight inbox for random thoughts.”
“Given your requirements, I'd concentrate on Obsidian, Microsoft OneNote, Joplin, Apple Notes and Notion.”
“Apple Notes | Excellent | ❌ | Excellent | Simple, frictionless notes”
“Apple Notes | Excellent | ❌ | Excellent | Simple, frictionless notes”
“Apple Notes is arguably the benchmark for frictionless capture if you use an iPhone.”
“- Quick Notes accessible through Control Centre. - Capture content directly from the iOS share sheet. - Lock Screen access and convenient shortcuts. - Photos, scanned documents, checklists and voice recordings. - Almost instantaneous synchronisation with your Mac.”
“Weakness: No proper Windows desktop application. There is an iCloud web interface, but that doesn't meet your desktop-app requirement.”