Best Note Taking Writing Apps in 2025

In Outline you can create notebooks for your personal needs of widest range: travel or recipe book, any kind of journal or diary, photo album, daily planner, and so on and so forth. Just everything you could imagine!

Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Mac

Best for: Note-taking and Journal

Website: https://outline.app/

Also rated 4.2 ★ on the App Store

Create beautiful handwritten notes, sketch your ideas, record audio, and organize your notes like never before.

Platforms: Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android

Best for: Note-taking, Journal, Book, Story, Essay, Poetry, and Blog

Website: https://www.noteshelf.net/

Also rated 4.4 ★ on the App Store

Bear is a beautiful, flexible writing app for crafting notes and prose.

Platforms: Mac, iPhone, iPad

Best for: Note-taking, Drafting, Book, Story, Essay, Blog, and Free

Website: https://bear.app/

Also rated 4.3 ★ on the App Store

From boardroom to lecture hall, project plan to daily diary, Nebo makes note-taking smarter, more efficient and more enjoyable.

Platforms: Android, iPhone, iPad

Best for: Note-taking, Journal, Poetry, and Blog

Website: https://www.nebo.app/

Also rated 4.3 ★ on the App Store

Chapters lets you manage multiple notebooks, each fully searchable and with its own settings. Keep a personal journal, a photo diary, notes about that project at work, and a travel journal in a single app.

Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Mac

Best for: Note-taking and Journal

Website: http://slidetorock.com/apps/Chapters-iPad-notebooks.html

Also rated 4.0 ★ on the App Store

Notes are just the beginning. Create and annotate anything, from study guides to storyboards. We've got an intuitive, minimal interface for you to start in seconds.

Platforms: Mac, iPhone, iPad

Best for: Note-taking, Book, Story, Journal, and Free

Website: https://notability.com/

Also rated 4.7 ★ on the App Store

Lists for Writers is a great addition to any writer’s toolbox. Helpful to both novice and expert writers alike, this app delivers list after list of prompts and ideas for your brainstorming sessions: names, character traits, plot lines, occupations, obsessions, action verbs, and much more!

Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Android

Best for: Note-taking, Outlining, Drafting, Book, Story, and Essay

Website: https://thinkamingo.com/lists-for-writers/

Also rated 4.7 ★ on the App Store

Capture what’s on your mind. Add notes, lists, photos, and audio to Keep.

Platforms: Online, iPhone, iPad, Android

Best for: Note-taking, Story, Book, Blog, Journal, Poetry, and Free

Website: https://www.google.com/keep/

Also rated 4.0 ★ on TechRadar

Drafts opens to a new page with the keyboard ready so you can type immediately. Go hands-free with Dictation. Drafts lets you get things down before you forget without fiddling folders, naming, etc.

Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Mac

Best for: Note-taking, Journal, Essay, Blog, and Free

Website: https://getdrafts.com/

Also rated 4.8 ★ on the App Store

Joplin is an open source note-taking app. Capture your thoughts and securely access them from any device.

Platforms: Android, iPhone, iPad

Best for: Note-taking, Journal, Essay, Blog, and Free

Website: https://joplinapp.org/

Also rated 4.3 ★ on the App Store

Capture your thoughts, discoveries, and ideas and simplify overwhelming planning moments in your life with your very own digital notepad. With OneNote, you can plan that big event, seize that moment of inspiration to create something new, and track that list of errands that are too important to forget.

Platforms: Mac, iPhone, iPad, Windows, Android, Chrome, PC

Best for: Note-taking, Journal, Blog, Essay, and Free

Website: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/onenote/dig...

Also rated 4.0 ★ on TechRadar

Unload your thoughts by creating a personal layout with notes, links and media in a second to visualize your creative process and move forward faster.

Platforms: Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad, Android, Online, PC

Best for: Note-taking, Journal, Blog, Essay, Story, Book, and Free

Website: https://xtiles.app/en

Also rated 4.9 ★ on Capterra