AllApps

The best note-taking apps.

Microsoft OneNote is the top pick for anyone already living in Microsoft 365 who wants a long-term note archive that handles mixed media like PDFs, images, and audio. It's built for years of accumulated notebooks rather than quick jotting. If you don't use Microsoft's other apps and just want something fast and native, the built-in Notes app is the simpler, free option.

The filter. Every app here is rated 4.2 or better, has been updated in the last eighteen months, and has no significant number of reviewers reporting it broken. Price is not the rule on this list — some are free, some are not.
Top pick

Microsoft OneNote

Microsoft Corporation
View on the App Store ›
Free4.7★ (1,069,918)Updated Oct 26, 2026unverified
Verdict
OneNote offers deep organization and import/export flexibility, but a meaningful share of reviewers report syncing failures and crashes across Apple devices.
Best for
Someone already embedded in Microsoft 365 who wants one notebook that spans phone, tablet, and desktop, and can tolerate occasional sync hiccups.
The catch
Recurring sync and stability complaints — notes not appearing across devices, crashes with no warning, and support that reviewers say doesn't respond.
Native app

Notes

Apple
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Free4.8★ (661,301)Updated Oct 26, 2026unverified
Verdict
Notes is a free, no-frills note app that's simple to use and syncs across Apple devices via iCloud, with handy handwriting-to-text conversion. But it has a real crash problem, particularly with drawing and on iPad, and sync between devices isn't always reliable.
Best for
An iPhone or Mac user who wants a free, built-in place for quick text notes, lists, and reminders without installing anything extra.
The catch
Some users report crashes that wipe out in-progress drawings or notes, and iCloud sync between devices can fail or require manual resyncing.
Native app

Notability: AI Notes & Planner

Ginger Labs
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Free4.8★ (458,336)Updated Oct 26, 2026unverified
Verdict
Notability has a clean, well-liked interface, but a large share of recent reviews describe lost notes after sync failures, paywalled features that were previously purchased, and iCloud backup silently breaking. That's a heavy risk for an app whose whole job is storing your notes.
Best for
A student or professional who wants a polished handwriting and PDF markup tool for a single device and keeps separate backups of anything important, rather than relying on Notability's sync to hold their only copy.
The catch
Multiple reviewers report Notability stopped syncing to iCloud without warning and lost their notes, and others say features they'd already paid for were moved behind a new subscription paywall.
Native app

Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDF

Goodnotes Limited
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Free4.7★ (465,083)Updated Oct 25, 2026unverified
Verdict
Goodnotes is a capable handwriting and PDF note app, but a sizable share of recent reviewers describe sync failures, paywall confusion, and unresponsive support alongside the praise for its interface.
Best for
A student who annotates PDFs and handwrites notes with an Apple Pencil on a single device and doesn't rely on cross-device syncing to work flawlessly.
The catch
Sync between iPad, iPhone, and Mac is repeatedly reported as unreliable, with some users saying notes went missing after a reset, and the subscription/paywall system has locked out people who already paid.
Native app

Pages: Create Documents

Apple
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Free4.6★ (578,866)Updated Oct 23, 2026unverified
Verdict
Pages is a document editor, not a note-taking app, though it's easy to use and exports cleanly to Word. Recent updates have pushed some formerly free features like iCloud Drive shared folders and new themes behind an Apple Creator Studio subscription.
Best for
Someone who already writes formatted documents and letters on an iPhone or iPad and wants to hand them off as .doc files to Word users.
The catch
Some features that used to work for free, like updating files in shared iCloud Drive folders and getting new themes, now require a Creator Studio subscription, and a few reviewers report random save locations and slow load times.
Native app

Who should skip this entirely.

If the notes you're taking can't survive being lost, don't trust any single app on this list as your only copy, including the top pick. Every app here has a recurring cluster of reviewers reporting sync failures, crashes, or silently vanished notes across Apple devices. Skip this entire category if you're storing something irreplaceable, like the only draft of a thesis or business records, and instead keep a manual backup: export to PDF regularly, or duplicate critical notes into plain text files stored in more than one place.

Questions.

What's the difference between OneNote and Notes?OneNote is built for long-term archiving with notebooks, tabs, and imported media, aimed at people already using Microsoft 365. Notes is Apple's built-in app, simpler and free, better suited for quick lists and reminders rather than deep organization.
Are Notability and Goodnotes worth it for handwritten notes?Both have clean interfaces well-suited to handwriting and PDF markup with an Apple Pencil. But both have recurring reports of sync problems between devices, so they work best as a single-device tool with a separate backup rather than a cross-device system.
Can I use Pages as a note-taking app?Pages is really a document editor, not a note app. It's good for formatted letters or documents you need to export as Word files, but it lacks the quick-capture and organizational features the other apps on this list offer.
Which app has the fewest sync problems?None of the apps on this list are free of sync complaints. OneNote's organizational depth makes the occasional sync trouble worth it for archiving, but if sync reliability is your top priority, keep manual backups regardless of which app you pick.

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