Best note taking apps under $10 a month

Notion

Notion is a workspace app where every line is a block you can drag, nest, or turn into a database, which is why people use it for wikis and project trackers as well as notes. Its free plan is unusually generous for one person: unlimited pages and blocks, with only file uploads capped. That flexibility is also the usual complaint, since a blank Notion page asks you to design a system before you can start writing. Paid plans start higher than most of this list, so the free tier is the reason it belongs in an under-$10 comparison.

Obsidian

Obsidian works directly on a folder of plain Markdown files on your own disk, so your notes stay readable even if the app disappears. The app itself is free for personal and commercial use, and only the optional Sync and Publish services cost anything, with Sync being the usual way to get a vault onto a phone. A large community plugin ecosystem adds everything from kanban boards to graph and canvas views. The trade-off is setup: you choose the structure, the plugins and the sync method yourself, and there is no web version.

Bear

Bear is a Markdown notes app built only for Apple devices, and its appeal is the writing experience: a calm editor, a tag system instead of folders, and export to almost any format. The free version keeps notes on one device; the Pro subscription is what unlocks iCloud sync, the extra themes, and search inside PDFs and images. It has been a critical favourite on the Mac and iPhone for years and is among the cheapest paid tiers here. If you use Windows or Android at all, it is a non-starter.

Evernote

Evernote is the app that made web clipping and searchable scanned documents normal, and it still does both well, with AI transcription and semantic search layered on top. Its free tier is now the tightest here: 50 notes, one notebook and one device, which in practice means no sync until you pay. The Starter plan is the cheapest way back to real use and lands just under $10 a month on annual billing. Long-time users tend to weigh that against how much cheaper the newer apps on this list are.

Apple Notes

Notes is the app already on every iPhone, iPad and Mac, and it has quietly grown into a capable one: formatted text, checklists, tables, scanned documents, Apple Pencil sketches and password-locked notes. Syncing runs through iCloud with no account to create and nothing to pay. There is no Windows or Android app, and organisation stops at folders and tags, so people with large archives often outgrow it. For most Apple users it is the default that is very hard to beat on price.

Google Keep

Keep is Google's sticky-note app: coloured cards you pin, label and share, with photos, voice memos and reminders that can fire at a time or a place. It comes free with any Google account as part of the Docs suite, and it is the fastest app here for catching something before you forget it. There is no desktop app, only the web and mobile, and no document structure to speak of, so long-form writing belongs elsewhere. Its strength is capture rather than organisation.

Microsoft OneNote

OneNote is a free-form canvas: you click anywhere on a page and type, draw with a pen, or drop in a screen clipping, all filed into notebooks, sections and pages like a binder. Microsoft has given it away on every platform since 2014, and it also ships with Microsoft 365. It is the strongest free option for handwriting on a Surface or an iPad without buying a dedicated app. The canvas model can get messy, and searching a large notebook set is slower than in the tidier apps here.

Simplenote

Simplenote does one thing: plain text notes with Markdown preview, tags, instant search and version history, synced everywhere with no upsell attached. It is made by Automattic and is completely free across iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Linux and the browser, which is rare on this list. There are no attachments, no images, no folders and no formatting beyond Markdown. That restraint is the whole point for some people and a dealbreaker for others.

UpNote

UpNote is a rich-text notes app people usually find after tiring of subscriptions: the paid tier costs about two dollars a month, or a one-time lifetime purchase. The free version syncs across every device and only caps you at 50 notes, so you can judge it properly before deciding. The editor covers lists, images, attachments, quotes and code blocks, with notebooks, themes and a focus mode, and notes work offline. It is a small independent app, so it has none of the plugin ecosystems or third-party integrations of the bigger names.

Notesnook

Notesnook is an end-to-end encrypted notes app whose apps and sync server are both open source, aimed at people who want privacy without giving up a normal editor. Its free plan is the most generous of the encrypted apps here: unlimited notes on unlimited devices, with only attachment storage metered. Paid tiers buy storage rather than access, and cancelling leaves your notes readable, editable and exportable. Encryption costs it some conveniences, and it is a smaller app than the names it competes with.

Capacities

Capacities replaces folders with objects: a book, a person, a meeting each become a typed thing with its own properties, and everything links to everything else. The free tier is unlimited on spaces, objects and blocks with sync included, and the makers promise the core product will stay free. Pro adds an AI assistant, task management, calendar integration and version history for just under $10 a month. It is a newer app with a small user base, and the object model takes real effort before it starts paying off.

Craft

Craft is built around documents that look presentable when you share them: pages made of styled blocks and cards, which is how it won an Apple Design Award and Mac App of the Year. Everything works offline and syncs when you reconnect, and there are now Windows and Android apps alongside the Apple ones. The free plan is more of an extended trial than a permanent home, capped at 1,500 blocks across all your documents and 1 GB of storage. Regular note-takers reach that ceiling fairly quickly.

Goodnotes

Goodnotes is the handwriting app: you write with a stylus on templates or imported PDFs, and it searches, converts and reorganises the ink afterwards. Essential is the cheapest paid plan on this list at $11.99 a year, which removes the free tier's three-file limit and adds unlimited audio recording. It runs on iPad, iPhone, Mac, Windows, Android and the web, though the Apple Pencil experience is the one reviewers single out. Cross-device sync and real-time collaboration sit on the pricier Pro plan rather than Essential.