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Comparison of note-taking software

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The tables below compare features of notable note-taking software.

General information

Name Developer(s) License Platforms
AllMyNotes Organizer ? ? Windows
AS Noted No-cost, unknown license Android / iOS / Chrome
BasKet Note Pads KDE Open source (GPL) Unix-like (KDE)
CintaNotes Cinta Software Proprietary, Freemium Windows
Circus Ponies NoteBook Circus Ponies Software Proprietary, Commercial Mac OS X, iOS
ConnectedText Eduardo Mauro Proprietary, Commercial Windows
Day One Bloom Built Proprietary, Commercial Mac OS X, iOS
DéjàClick AlertSite Proprietary, Commercial Linux, Mac OS X, Unix, Windows (Mozilla add-on)
Evernote Evernote Corporation Proprietary, Freemium for personal use, per-seat licensing for business Android, iOS, Mac OS X, Windows XP/Vista/7/8, Windows Phone, Blackberry, HP WebOS and web-based
Gnote Aurimas Černius Open source (GPL v3) Linux
Google Keep Google Proprietary, no-cost Android, iOS, Chrome OS, browser based
Jarnal David K. Levine and Gunnar Teege Open source (GPL) Any Java-enabled platform
KeyNote NF Marek Jedliński, Tranglos Software Open source (MPL) Windows
Laverna Laverna Open source (MPL 2.0) Linux, Windows, OS X, Android (coming soon), Self-hosted.
Memonic Nektoon AG Proprietary, Freemium[Notes 1] Android, iOS, Mac OS X, Windows XP/Vista/7/Mobile web-based
Microsoft OneNote Microsoft Proprietary, Shareware/Freeware/Freemium[Notes 2] Android, Mac OS X, iOS (iPad, iPhone), Symbian, Windows XP/Vista/7/Mobile/Phone 7/8/8.1/10, web-based, mobile web
MyInfo Milenix Software Proprietary, Shareware Windows XP/Vista/7
MyNotex Massimo Nardello Open source (GPL) Linux
Notational Velocity Zachary Schneirov Open source (GPL v3) Mac OS X
Notes (iOS) Apple Proprietary iOS (iPad, iPhone), web-based
Notizen .NET ? No-cost, unknown license Windows XP/Vista/7
Okular Okular Team (KDE) Open source (GPL) KDE-enabled Linux, Unix, Windows, Mac OS X, *BSD[1]
Open-Sankoré Sankoré Open source (GPL) Linux, Mac OS X, Unix, Windows
OpenNote FoxUSA Open source (MIT License) Self-hosted. Not is a SaaS, it's a system to install in an own server.
Org-mode (Emacs) Carsten Dominik, et al. Open source (GPL) Linux, Mac OS X, Unix, Windows (Emacs mode)
Outline Gorillized Corporation Proprietary, Commercial Mac OS X, iOS
PDF Studio Qoppa Software Proprietary, Shareware Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, web-based
Personal Knowbase Bitsmith Software Proprietary, Commercial Windows
QOwnNotes Patrizio Bekerle Open source (GPL) GNU/Linux, Mac OS X, Windows
Qiqqa Quantisle Ltd. Proprietary, Freemium Windows XP/Vista/7/8, Web-based, Android
TagSpaces TagSpaces UG Open source (AGPL) Cross-platform (browser, web-based)
TiddlyWiki Jeremy Ruston Open source (BSD) Cross-platform (single html file, runs in browser)
Tomboy Alex Graveley Open source (LGPL) Cross-platform (Mono/GTK+)
TreeDBNotes ? Proprietary, Freemium Microsoft Windows
Whizfolders AvniTech Solutions Proprietary, Commercial Windows
WikidPad Michael Butscher Open source (BSD) Cross-platform (Python)
Windows Journal Microsoft Proprietary, Commercial Windows XP Tablet PC edition, Windows Vista, Windows 7/8/10 (included with OS)
Zim Jaap Karssenberg Open source (GPL) Cross-platform (Python, GTK+)
ZOHO Notebook ZOHO Corporation Proprietary, Commercial, Freemium Self-hosted. SaaS.

Basic features

Name Organizing principle(s) Outline bulleting with indent Tabbed sections Sync PDF annotate and save
[unclear] 		White­board Ink-pen input Handwriting recognition Spell check Search Printing File save/export/import formats
AllMyNotes Organizer Tree ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes Yes ? ?
As Noted Notebooks, sections, tags Yes Yes Yes No No No No Yes Yes ? Import from evernote; dropbox sync
BasKet Note Pads Tree, tags ? No No No Yes No No Yes Yes No Rich text; export as HTML; import text files
CintaNotes Notebooks, sections, tags Yes Yes Yes No No No No No Yes Yes Proprietary; export to Unicode text, XML and HTML
Circus Ponies NoteBook indexing Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Proprietary; export: html, opml, rtf, txt, doc, pdf
ConnectedText Wiki, Tree and Categories Yes Yes No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Proprietary (SQL); Export to text, XML, CHM and HTML. Import from text, HTML, XML and RTF
Day One Chronological, tags Yes No Yes[Notes 3] No No No No Yes Yes Yes[Notes 4] Markdown (in GUI), XML (data file); Export as: pdf, txt, md
DéjàClick ? ? ? ? No No ? ? ? ? Yes[Notes 5] XML; notes may include rich text or HTML
Org-mode (Emacs) tree, tags Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes LaTeX, HTML, DocBook, Taskjuggler, PDF, Freemind, XOXO, iCalendar
Evernote tags, Notebooks, Stacks Yes No Yes Yes No Partial[Notes 6] Yes Yes Yes Yes Notes stored as XML; both free and paid versions allow notes of any file type
Gnote Notebooks ? No Yes Yes No ? ? Yes Yes Yes NoteXmlFormat, HTML, PDF
Google Keep tags, colors No No Yes No No No ? Partial[Notes 7] Yes No Proprietary; export to Google Doc and thence to PDF, Word, ODT etc.
Jarnal ? No No Yes[Notes 8] Yes Yes Partial[Notes 9] Yes No Yes Yes Zip compatible archive containing one SVG per page, config file, and optional background PDFs/images; can export to txt, html, jpg, pdf
KeyNote NF Notebooks, notes and tree Yes Yes No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Internal: combination of TXT and RTF; import/export: TXT, RTF, HTML, Treepad
Memonic ? ? No Yes Yes No No ? ? ? Yes Notes stored as XML; can attach any filetype
Microsoft OneNote Notebooks, sections, pages Yes Yes Yes[Notes 10] Yes[Notes 11] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Open, XML,[2] import from web pages and other applications[clarification needed]
MyInfo ? Yes Yes No Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes Proprietary, encrypted; import: plain text, RTF, CSV, MS Word, images, web pages; exports: plain text, HTML, RTF, CSV, MS Word
MyNotex ? ? ? Yes No No No No ? Yes Yes Sqlite based, zipped attachments; export to HTML; copying as LaTeX; import text files, OpenOffice.org documents
Notizen .NET tree ? No No No No No No ? Yes No TXT (ANSI/Unicode), RTF, ALX
Okular ? ? ? No Yes[Notes 12] No No No ? ? Yes PDF, PS, TIFF, CHM, DjVu, DVI, XPS, ODF, others; export PDF+notes for sending to other Okular users
Open-Sankoré tree, notebooks No No No Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Save/export: PDF, IWB, UBZ; Import: PDF, IWB, UBZ, images, image directories
Outline Tree-structured notebooks, sections, pages Yes Yes Yes[Notes 13] Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes MS OneNote format, export/import as PDF
PDF Studio ? ? ? ? Yes No ? ? ? ? Yes PDF
Personal Knowbase tags ? ? ? No No ? ? ? ? Yes Export to RTF, HTML, TXT, CSV
Qiqqa tags, brainstorm No No Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes Proprietary, PDF, Brainstorm; export to RTF and Word
TagSpaces tags, files, directories Yes No No No No No No No Yes Yes PNG, JPG, GIF, BMP, ICO, WEBP, SVG, PDF, HTML, MHT, MHTML, MARKDOWN, TXT, XML, JSON, OGG, OGV, WEBM, ODT, ODS, ODP, ODG, EPUB, ZIP
TiddlyWiki tags (wikiwords) ? Yes Yes Via plugin No ? ? ? Yes Yes HTML
Tomboy ? Yes ? Yes No No No No Yes Yes Yes NoteXmlFormat, HTML, PDF, wiki-formats
TreeDBNotes tree Yes Yes ? ? ? No No Yes Yes Yes RTF, HTML, txt
WikidPad tags (wikiwords) ? No No No No No No ? ? Yes HTML
Windows Journal ? ? No ? No ? Yes Yes[Notes 14] ? ? Yes Proprietary
Zim tags (wikiwords) Yes No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes, using installed web browser Stored in modified DocuWiki Markdown; export: HTML, LaTeX, Pandoc Markdown, Sphinx RST (reStructuredText)
Name Organizing principle(s) Outline bulleting with indent Tabbed sections Sync PDF annotate and save White­board Ink-pen input Handwriting recognition Spell check Search Printing File save/export/import formats

Advanced formatting and content

Name Drawing atop text
[unclear] 		Text box, flow diagram
[unclear] 		Text and paragraph formatting Insert hyperlink
[unclear] 		Insert image Resize image Insert table Insert audio Insert video Insert SWF Attachment
[unclear] 		Other objects Remarks / other features
AllMyNotes Organizer ? ? Yes Yes Yes ? Yes No No No Yes Alarms, check-boxes, bullets, phones, advanced links
As Noted No Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes No No No Yes ?
BasKet Note Pads ? ? Yes Yes Yes ? No No No No Yes tags (check boxes, etc.) Adding, managing notes by category, autosave
CintaNotes No No Yes Yes No ? No No No No Yes Links to notes Tagging and searching for tags, tag hierarchy
Circus Ponies NoteBook Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes Yes No Yes Alarms, check-boxes, address book links, keywords, numbering, priority, due date, formulas in tables Tagging, automatic indexing, sketching, diagramming, voice annotated notes, screen clipping, link or embed files
ConnectedText No Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes No Yes No Yes Scripting of pages with Python and other scripting languages. LaTex, Scripts, RSS Feeds, Transclusion, Directed Graphs and Flowcharts by GraphViz, many other features.
Day One No No Yes Yes Yes ? Yes No Yes No No tags, bullets, numbering, line, programming code snippets editable note metadata (date/time, location, weather, motion activity, music playing, step count)
DéjàClick ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Annotate live web pages via DéjàNotes and share scripts
Org-mode (Emacs) ? Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes No No No Yes Advanced linking,[clarification needed] bullets, tags, checkboxes, full spreadsheet, embedding of programming code, formulas, markup Major mode of Emacs; uses plain-text; includes ToDos, spreadsheet, deadlines, encryption, reminders, agenda, calendar
Evernote No No Yes Yes Yes Yes (at least Windows version (06/2016)) Yes Yes Yes No Yes Check-box, line, tags Business and personal notes integrated in same client; businesses have control over business notes, but cannot see personal notes
Gnote No No Yes Yes No No No No No No No ? Port of Tomboy to C++; wiki-style linked notes
Google Keep No No Yes Yes Yes ? Partial[Notes 15] Yes ? No No Google Calendar reminders Notes can be shared with other Google Keep users.
IPython Notebook ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Part of IPython shell; allows for programming code, output and annotation to be combined in single interactive environment
Jarnal Yes ? Partial[Notes 16] Yes Yes ? No No No No No PDF as image or background
KeyNote NF No No Yes Yes Yes[Notes 17] ? Yes[Notes 18] No No No Yes OLE objects; "virtual nodes" which integrate and edit the content of external plain-text or rich-text files; internal links; mirror nodes. Text processing; tree numbering and sorting; custom tree icons; node checkboxes; checkbox filtering; search filtering; reminder alarms; compressed or encrypted notebooks; auto-minimize and/or auto-lock when idle; quick access key for fast notes; additional scratchpad; autosave of up to 9 previous file versions; automatic clipboard capturing; read-only notebooks or notes; macros; templates; text shortcuts; plug-ins; bookmarks; custom keyboard shortcuts; program can be made portable through "Options" setting
Memonic ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Microsoft OneNote Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[Notes 19] Yes Yes Yes OLE, bullets, line, flags, formulas No local storage of notebooks on mac
MyInfo ? ? Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes No No Yes OLE, bullets, numbering, page breaks, advanced links Tags; filters; calendar; reminders
MyNotex ? ? Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? Yes ? Activity lists; tags; notes management by subject; encryption with AES or GPG; multilingual
Notational Velocity ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Instant open and searching
Okular ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Open-Sankoré Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes plug-ins, web pages, applications Annotate live desktop applications and web pages; autosave; plug-in system; audio recording
Outline Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes No No No Yes Tags Password protection, insert web pages, local storage, MS OneNote compatibility, text highlighting, bulleted and numbered lists, free placement of notes on a page
PDF Studio ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Personal Knowbase ? ? ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes ? Passwords; portable[clarification needed]
Qiqqa Yes Yes No Yes Yes ? No No No No No PDF, brainstorm, citations
TagSpaces No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No ? Tags, plugins Plugins, you can present your local images, videos and music to your TV via ChromeCast. You can create a personal "wiki" for tracking of your projects, ideas or memories.
TiddlyWiki ? ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? HTML, LaTeX, markdown plugins Plugins; user scripts
Tomboy Partial No Partial Yes No No No No No No No Note Links, highlighting, fixed-width Reminders; to do-lists; formulas in LaTeX
TreeDBNotes ? ? Yes Yes Yes ? Yes No No Yes Yes ?
WikidPad ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? personal wiki software
Windows Journal ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Zim No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No Yes Plugins; Versioning; LaTeX integration (formulas, export); HTML export (including slideshow); GNOME's Zeitgeist integration; Lilypond music sheet integration ASCII diagram drawing; Tags; Tasks; Table of Content navigation; SQLite3 search indexing; Autosaving; Last cursor position memory; Tabbed multi-documents
Name Drawing atop text Text box, flow diagram Text and paragraph formatting Insert hyperlink Insert image Resize image Insert table Insert audio Insert video Insert SWF Attachment Other objects Remarks / other features

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Free users limited to 100 notes.
  2. ^ Depends on platform and version.
  3. ^ Data is synced between devices by Dropbox or iCloud.
  4. ^ Printable via exported pdf files.
  5. ^ Note may be printed and saved as web pages via the Firefox browser.
  6. ^ No support for ink notes in Mac version. Cannot mix ink with text
  7. ^ On android and Chrome OS uses platform's spell checker.
  8. ^ One instance can be begun in server mode or a web server (webdav?) used. See manual page
  9. ^ No pressure sensitivity.
  10. ^ Can sync with OneDrive and SharePoint.
  11. ^ OneNote 2010 and OneNote 2007 Service Pack 2 and beyond have it built in. A Save As PDF add-in is available for earlier versions of OneNote 2007. Can save to PDF with add-in.[1]
  12. ^ Saved in separate file.
  13. ^ Notes can be synced between devices via Box, Dropbox, OneDrive, SharePoint and iCloud.
  14. ^ Handwritten notes are searchable.
  15. ^ Lists only, with check-box facility.
  16. ^ Text only, no concept of paragraphs.
  17. ^ As the RTF format stores pictures internally as bitmaps (.bmp), this leads to large notebook files.
  18. ^ Tables must be created in another program. After pasting the table into Keynote NF, one can edit the cells and add new rows, but changing the size of the columns and adding or removing columns is not possible. These operations can be done by pasting the table into another program (for example, MS Word).
  19. ^ Can also search in audio.

References

  1. ^ "Okular home page". Retrieved 19 June 2013. ... Okular works on multiple platforms, including but not limited to Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, *BSD, etc.
  2. ^ http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd924743(v=office.12).aspx
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