Best Note Taking Apps · FREE
Best free Note Taking Apps (2026)
11 note taking apps that offer a genuine free plan, ranked by entry price. Every figure links to the public page it was captured from — the vendor's own wherever the vendor publishes the number, otherwise the named public source — with the date we captured it.
Key takeaways
- Cheapest: Amplenote at $0/mo.
- Qualifying: Amplenote, Anytype, Bear, Capacities, Craft, Evernote, Joplin, Notion, Obsidian, Standard Notes, Supernotes.
- Data current through: 2026-09-10.
Comparison
| # | Note Taking App | Entry price | Free | HIPAA | SOC 2 | Best for | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amplenote | $0/mo | Yes | — | — | People who want notes and a real task scheduler in one app | amplenote.com |
| 2 | Anytype | $0/mo | Yes | — | — | Privacy-first users who want local-first storage with optional sync | anytype.io |
| 3 | Bear | $0/mo | Yes | — | — | Writers and minimalists on Apple devices | bear.app |
| 4 | Capacities | $0/mo | Yes | — | — | People who want structure (typed objects) without building a database from scratch | capacities.io |
| 5 | Craft | $0/mo | Yes | No | Yes | Apple-ecosystem power users (Mac, iPhone, iPad) | support.craft.do |
| 6 | Evernote | $0/mo | Yes | — | — | Long-standing Evernote libraries that are too large to migrate | evernote.com |
| 7 | Joplin | $0/mo | Yes | — | — | Open-source purists who want an exit hatch from any vendor | joplinapp.org |
| 8 | Notion | $0/mo | Yes | Yes | Yes | All-in-one workspace teams | notion.com |
| 9 | Obsidian | $0/mo | Yes | — | — | Privacy-focused knowledge workers | obsidian.md |
| 10 | Standard Notes | $0/mo | Yes | — | — | Privacy-first note takers who want encryption as the default, not an add-on | standardnotes.com |
| 11 | Supernotes | $0/mo | Yes | — | — | Students and revisers who want flashcards built into their notes | supernotes.app |