Comparison of notetaking software

The table below compares features of notable notetaking software.

General features

Name	License	Platforms	Tabbed sections	Synchronizing	PDF annotate, save	Whiteboarding	Keyboard text entry	Write notes via pen-ink	Handwriting Recognition	Printing	Formats	Remarks
A.nnotate	Free or paid	Web-based	?	?	Yes	No	Yes	?	?	Yes	PDF, .doc, .docx, images, web pages	Mostly oriented to including comments in PDF and Microsoft Word documents.
AllMyNotes Organizer	Free or paid	Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7	?	?	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Proprietary, encrypted. Supports import from plain text, HTML, RTF, EverNote, KeyNote, CSV, images. Exports to plain text, html, rtf.	Access restriction by password, alarms, tasks, icons, rich text, file attachments, outlining, portable, skins, multilingual, autobackup, capture text via tray icon, spell checker, auto-backups (history).
BasKet Note Pads	GPL	Linux	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Rich text (export as HTML)	Features adding, managing notes by category, importing text files, images, sounds, autosave.
CintaNotes	freeware	Windows	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	export to Unicode text or XML	Tagging and searching for tags
DéjàClick	Proprietary	Linux, Mac OS X, Unix, Windows	?	?	No	No	Yes	?	?	Yes	XML	Features ability to annotate live web pages via DéjàNotes and share scripts. Notes may include rich text or HTML and can be printed and saved as a normal web page via the Firefox browser.
org-mode	GPL	Linux, Mac OS X, Unix, Windows	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	LaTeX, HTML, DocBook, Taskjuggler, PDF, Freemind, XOXO, iCalendar	org-mode is a major mode of Emacs, fully customisable, use only plain-text, includes ToDos, spreadsheet, deadlines, encryption, reminders, agenda, calendar and many more
Evernote	Freemium	Android, iOS, Mac OS X, Windows XP/Vista/7/Mobile/Phone 7, Palm Pre and web application	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Partial	Yes	Yes	Notes stored as XML. Both Free and Paid version allows notes in any file type.
Gnote	GPL 3	Linux	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	?	?	Yes	NoteXmlFormat, HTML, PDF	Port of Tomboy to C++, wiki-style linked notes
Google Notebook	web service	Web-based	No	?	No	No	Yes	?	?	Yes	Web-based; export to ODF, Microsoft Word, PDF etc. via Google Docs	no longer maintained
Jarnal	GPL	Any Java enabled platform: Linux, Mac OS X, Windows	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	?	Yes	ad-hoc (zip compatible archive containing an SVG per page, a config file, optional background PDFs/images). Can export to txt, html, jpg, pdf.	Requires Java, is slow
Memonic	Freemium	Android, iOS, Mac OS X, Windows XP/Vista/7/Mobile web application	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	?	Yes	Notes stored as XML. Can attach any filetype.	Integrates into a number of different platforms.
Microsoft OneNote	Proprietary	iOS (iPad, iPhone), Windows XP/Vista/7/Mobile/Phone 7, web, mobile web	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Proprietary	Supports inserting images, audio and video-recording, screen clipping and drawings. Supports importing from web pages or any Windows application by means of a virtual printer. Supports attaching files of any types to the note, similar to email attachments. Can search text, audio, pictures and handwritten input in Microsoft Tablet PCs. Files can by synchronized to multiple desktop PCs, laptops, mobile phone, a Windows Live SkyDrive account or to a SharePoint site.
MyInfo	Proprietary	Windows XP/Vista/7	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Proprietary, encrypted. Supports import from plain text, RTF, CSV, Ms Word, images. Exports to plain text, HTML, RTF, CSV, Ms Word.	Spell-checking, text styles, search in multiple files, import web pages, tags, filters, calendar, reminders, attachments.
MyNotex	GPL	Linux	?	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Sqlite based, zipped attachments, export to HTML	Features text formatting, file attachments, tagging, searching, notes management by subject, encryption with AES algorithm, text files and OpenOffice.org documents import. Multilingual.
Circus Ponies NoteBook	Proprietary	Mac OS X	?	?	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Proprietary, export: html, opml, rtf, txt, doc, pdf	Features adding, managing note entries, outlining, tabs, tagging, automatic indexing, audio recording, screen clipping, importing files (text, audio, video), link or embed files, etc.
Notational Velocity	GNU	Mac OS X	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	TXT, RTF	Instant open and searching. Plain and RTF text only. Sync via dropbox, etc. or via SimpleNote service
NoteScribe	Proprietary	Windows	?	?	No	No	Yes	?	?	Yes	save as .NSE (NoteScribe), export to .rtf	supports image, video, text, PDF, spreadsheet attachments, generate citations and bibliographies
Okular	GPL	Linux, Unix	?	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	PDF, PS, TIFF, CHM, DjVu, DVI, XPS, ODF, various others	Can export PDF + notes, for sending to other Okular users
PDF Studio	Proprietary	Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, web-based	?	?	Yes	No	Yes	?	?	Yes	PDF	Review and markup PDF documents.
Personal Knowbase	Proprietary	Windows	?	?	No	No	Yes	?	?	Yes	export to RTF, HTML, TXT, CSV	Supports tags, hypertext, attachments, passwords. Portable.
TiddlyWiki	BSD	cross-platform (browser, web-based)	Via plugin	Yes	Via plugin	No	Yes	?	?	Yes	HTML	extensible via plugins and user scripts
Tomboy	LGPL	cross-platform	?	Yes	No	No	Yes	?	?	Yes	NoteXmlFormat, HTML, PDF, wiki-formats	Reminders, to do-lists, formulae in LaTeX
Windows Journal	Proprietary	Windows XP Tablet PC edition, Windows Vista, Windows 7	No	?	No	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Proprietary
Xournal	GPL	Linux, Windows, Mac OS X	No	?	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	XML, export to PDF	Fast boot, smooth curves
Name	License	Platforms	Tabbed sections	Synchronizing	PDF annotate, save	Whiteboarding	Keyboard text entry	Write notes via pen-ink	Handwriting Recognition	Printing	Formats	Remarks

Formatted text features, others

Name	Drawing atop text	Text box, flow diagram	Outline bulleting with indent	Text and paragraph formatting	Insert hyperlink	Insert image	Insert table	Insert audio	Insert video	Insert SWF	Other objects	Attachment	Spell check	Search
AllMyNotes Organizer				Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Alarms, check-boxes, bullets, phones, advanced links	Yes	Yes	Yes
BasKet Note Pads				Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	tags (check boxes, etc.)	Yes	Yes	No
org-mode				Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	advanced linking, bullets, tags, checkboxes, full spreadsheet, embedding of programming code, formulars, markup	Yes	Yes	Yes
Evernote	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Check-box, line, tags	Yes	Yes	Yes
Microsoft OneNote	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	OLE, bullets, line, flags	Yes	Yes	Yes
MyInfo	?	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	OLE, bullets, numbering, page breaks, advanced links	Yes	Yes	Yes

See also

• Comparison of web annotation systems