Best AI Note-Taking Apps at a Glance

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Platform Availability

• Web: Yes 
• iOS: Yes
• macOS: Yes
• Android: Yes
• Windows: Yes

Benchmark Scores

• AI Accuracy & Smart Summarization: 5/5
• Ease of Use & Integration: 5/5
• Value for Money: 4.5/5

What’s Great About Lindy

• 99%+ transcription accuracy ensures reliable notes
• Auto-extracts action items with deadlines
• Syncs notes with Slack
• Generates summaries instantly after meetings
• Free plan available for basic usage

What’s Not So Great About Lindy

• One of the more premium options on this list
• Extensive customization options come with a learning curve

Overview & First Impressions

At Lindy, we've set our hearts and being a broader automation platform at heart, not just a note-taker. That means Lindy gives you a fully-fledged AI agent builder that comes with a dedicated meeting note-taking assistant.

From the moment you set it up (which takes less than 30 seconds), you'll realize Lindy is built for serious automation. Unlike generic transcription tools, Lindy aims to actively participate in meetings, analyze discussions, and summarize them in a way that actually makes sense.

As a first step, connect it to your Google Calendar and Zoom meetings, which is a pretty smooth process. No unnecessary settings, no complicated API nonsense — just a direct, intuitive connection. The idea that Lindy joins calls, transcribes, and organizes notes without needing constant intervention made me feel like I finally had an assistant who actually understood my workflow.

Standout Features

Lindy isn’t just about recording conversations — it’s designed to understand meetings and extract key takeaways without unnecessary filler. One of the biggest problems with AI note-takers is that they dump everything into a transcript, leaving you with a mess to clean up. Lindy solves this problem by actually synthesizing insights into well-structured summaries and task lists.

Where Lindy really shines is action item extraction. So, instead of forcing you to manually go through notes and highlight follow-ups, Lindy automatically detects tasks, assigns deadlines, and syncs them with your project management tools. It removes the friction of manually sorting through notes and ensures that no action point slips through the cracks.

If you want your entire workflow to stay updated with your notes, Lindy’s AI doesn’t just keep notes locked within its own interface. It pushes updates to Google Docs, Slack, and over 3,000 other tools, keeping teams aligned without needing constant manual input.

Personalization is where Lindy actually takes center stage with its vast customizing features. You can train Lindy to take notes in a specific format, focus on particular details, and even prioritize different types of meetings (like strategy calls vs. daily stand-ups). It’s not your daily AI summarizer, in fact, it adapts to how you work.

And if you ever need to revisit a past discussion without scrolling through pages of text, you can directly ask Lindy specific questions (e.g., “What did Jennie say about the budget update?”), and it will pull relevant responses instantly. I was even able to follow up on those questions with several more — Lindy answered flawlessly each time.

To make Lindy more versatile, download the app on Android or iOS to record real-time conversations and take notes during physical meetings.

Plans & Pricing

Lindy offers a free plan to get started, which includes 400 monthly credits, support for up to 400 tasks, and a 1 million-character knowledge base. This is a decent offering for individuals who want to test the AI meeting assistant without an upfront investment.

For those who need more power, the Pro plan costs $49.99/month and expands the capabilities significantly. It comes with 5,000 credits, allows up to 5,000 tasks/month, increases the knowledge base to 20 million characters, and unlocks premium actions and basic phone call features.

Teams and enterprises can opt for the Business plan, priced at $299.99 per month. This includes 30,000 credits, support for up to 30,000 tasks/ month, the same 20 million-character knowledge base, and premium features like phone call support, priority assistance, and advanced automation.

Alternatives

Fellow is a solid alternative if your focus is on structured team collaboration and meeting accountability. While Lindy shines in automation, Fellow is more about structured workflows. It helps teams build shared agendas, track meeting action items, and integrate feedback loops. 

But, if you need a more flexible, all-in-one workspace for both notes and broader productivity tasks, Evernote remains a strong contender. Evernote AI now offers AI-powered summarization, note organization, and task tracking – but it’s not as automated as Lindy. 

Our Verdict

If you’re someone who spends hours in meetings and struggles to keep track of key discussions, follow-ups, and summaries, Lindy can eliminate that mental load and let you focus on actual conversations. 

Overall, Lindy is a solid tool for teams that need a hands-off, high-accuracy AI meeting assistant. If you’re willing to invest in automation and efficiency, it’s absolutely worth trying out, especially with the free plan to test the waters.

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Platform Availability

• Web: No 
• iOS: No
• macOS: Yes
• Android: No
• Windows: No

Benchmark Scores

• AI Accuracy & Smart Summarization: 5/5
• Ease of Use & Integration: 5/5
• Value for Money: 3/5

What’s Great About Granola

• Works entirely offline for private transcription
• No need to install meeting plugins
• Auto-generates summaries and action points
• Allows external users to access transcripts
• Supports Google Calendar integration for scheduling

What’s Not So Great About Granola

• Higher pricing compared to competitors
• No dedicated mobile app for on-the-go notes

Overview & First Impressions

Generally, most AI note-taking apps are great on paper until they turn into a confusing mess. Some require you to invite bots into every call, others dump generic meeting summaries that miss the point, and most still need you to clean up the notes manually. Granola AI cuts through all that.

It records and transcribes audio locally, directly from your Mac. No awkward pop-ups, no “Hey, is everyone okay with the AI bot joining?” conversations. It just sits in the background, capturing everything while you focus on the discussion.

And because it transcribes internally, it works for any type of meeting — Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, or even an in-person chat at a café.

I also liked that it doesn’t just spit out a transcript — it enhances it. The AI doesn’t rewrite your words into something unrecognizable. Instead, it refines rough notes, fills in gaps using the transcript, and pulls out key action points automatically. If you’ve ever looked at a wall of messy notes post-meeting and thought, "What the hell was I trying to say here?" — this feature is a lifesaver.

Standout Features

Granola AI is straightforward to use. Just press "New Note," and Granola starts recording internally. If you've linked your Google Calendar, it automatically detects upcoming meetings and pre-fills participant details, so you save some time there as well. Once your meeting ends and you stop recording, Granola AI immediately transcribes the entire conversation automatically for further use.

Granola keeps the entire meeting transcripts private. So, if you’re used to cloud-based tools that store data externally, this tool saves everything locally on your device. That makes it a solid option for professionals who handle sensitive discussions and don’t want AI tools sending their notes to external servers.

It can even answer specific questions about your notes. Ask it “What decisions were made?” or “What were the three key takeaways?” and it digs through the transcript to pull out just what you need. This isn’t groundbreaking as there are a few AI note-takers who do exactly this but I found Granola’s responses to be clearer and more direct than most.

To improve your note fixing for clarity, you get multiple built-in meeting templates. When I explored the settings, I found pre-structured templates for different types of meetings like 1:1s, customer discovery calls, hiring interviews, stand-ups, and more. 

Each template comes with predefined sections like Top of Mind, Updates and Wins, Budget, and Next Steps, making it easier to organize discussions. You can further create custom templates and share them across your team.

Plans & Pricing

Granola AI isn’t the cheapest AI note-taking app out there, but it does offer a free trial to get a feel for the tool. The free plan gives you 25 meetings, and AI chat for any session and lets you create your own note templates — enough to see if it fits your workflow, but not nearly enough if you have regular meetings. Once you hit that cap, you’ll need to upgrade.

For solo users, the Individual plan ($18/month) offers unlimited meetings, AI-powered note enhancements, and full access to custom templates. If you’re constantly jumping between calls and need AI to keep your notes structured, this is the plan you’ll likely end up on. 

But if you work in a team, the Business plan ($14 per user/month) makes more sense. It gives you team-wide template sharing, consolidated billing, and organization-wide sharing controls. This helps everyone stay on the same page without manually copying notes.

Lastly, the Enterprise plan starts at $35 per user/month, which is clearly meant for large organizations that need extra control over data privacy. This tier lets companies opt out of AI model training (so your notes don’t get used for AI learning) and enforce messaging that lets everyone know Granola AI is being used. It’s a niche upgrade, but for teams that care about security, it’s a crucial one.

Alternatives

Unlike Granola, which only records audio locally on your device, tl;dv directly joins Zoom and Google Meet calls, transcribes conversations in real-time, and even highlights key moments based on voice triggers — eliminating the need for manual recordings. It’s designed more for remote teams that want to revisit discussions with accurate time-stamped recordings rather than just summarizing them. Plus, its free plan offers unlimited transcriptions compared to Granola’s cap of 25 meetings.

Similarly, if post-meeting analysis and insights are your priority, Avoma takes things a step further. It analyzes conversation patterns, tracks speaker talk time, and auto-tags key discussion points to give you deeper insights into your team’s communication. It’s more of a sales and customer success-focused tool. 

Our Verdict

Granola Notes AI is designed for professionals who want privacy, simplicity, and offline storage over flashy integrations and team-wide collaboration.

If you’re a solo entrepreneur, consultant, or executive handling sensitive discussions, Granola’s local recording and AI-powered summarization make it a strong choice. But if real-time integrations, workflow automation, or lower pricing matter more, you’ll find better alternates in this guide

At the end of the day, Granola trades affordability for privacy and control — a trade-off worth considering depending on your workflow.

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Platform Availability

• Web: No 
• iOS: No
• macOS: Yes
• Android: No
• Windows: Yes

Benchmark Scores

• AI Accuracy & Smart Summarization: 4/5
• Ease of Use & Integration: 4.5/5
• Value for Money: 4.5/5

What’s Great About Krisp

• Light desktop app
• Neat and easy user interface
• Automatically records all your meetings
• Instantly generates meeting summary, key points, and action tasks
• Add up to 750 custom industry-specific vocabulary terms to improve Transcription

What’s Not So Great About Krisp

• Meeting transcription is not very accurate
• Can’t record meetings without installing the Desktop app

Overview & First Impressions

Krisp can automatically record any meeting on your PC, generating instant transcriptions, AI-powered summaries, and key insights once the session ends. Setting it up is very smooth, just sign up, grant the necessary mic and camera permissions, and you're good to go.

But there’s a bummer.

Krisp doesn’t offer a browser extension or web-based option and you must download the Krisp Desktop app to use it. That’s a bit of a drawback, especially when most SaaS tools are shifting towards more web-based solutions instead of relying on dedicated desktop apps.

Standout Features

Krisp tries to solve the problem of background noise in virtual meetings with its Noise Cancellation feature which makes sure that only actual conversations are recorded and transcribed. However, even with Noise Cancellation turned on, Krisp didn’t capture my words exactly as I said them. 

I was in a quiet café with no background music or chatter, yet the transcription still missed a few things. That’s a bit of a letdown, considering this feature is one of Krisp’s main selling points.

Moving on, it also comes with a floating control panel that sits right on your meeting window. You can toggle recordings, switch between audio and screen capture, or even enable transcription-only mode without breaking focus.

Once the meeting is over, you can head to Krisp’s desktop app to generate summaries, extract key points, or ask the AI anything about the meeting. 

It did a solid job at pulling out summaries, action items, and key points all of which are super useful if you don’t want to go through the full transcript.

Once the AI compiles all the important details, the Action Items section lays out all your follow-ups. However, remember that Krisp AI doesn’t automatically detect participant languages. This means you’ll need to manually set both the meeting and summary language to get the best results. It currently supports 16 languages, including English, French, German, Italian, and Dutch.

For integrations, Krisp connects with Slack, Zapier, HubSpot (Business Plan), and Salesforce (Business Plan). It’s not packed with integrations, but it covers the essentials for pushing meeting insights where they need to go.

Plans & Pricing

Krisp offers a free plan which includes:

• Unlimited transcript and audio recording
• 60 minutes of noise cancellation per day
• 2 AI-generated notes & action items per day
• 7-day meeting history 

However, transcripts and summaries are only available in English, and key features like in-person meeting support, a mobile app, and a Chrome extension are yet to launch.

​​Pro Plan – $8/user/month (billed annually):

• Transcripts & summaries in 10+ languages
• Video recording and AI-generated outlines
• Record with a bot
• Bulk actions and access to Krisp's AI Co-Pilot
• Integrations: Slack & Zapier
• Storage limit: 3GB

Business Plan – $15/user/month (billed annually):

• Everything in Pro, plus:
• SSO/SCIM & SOC2 report access
• Admin controls and manager view
• Company deal grouping and usage analytics
• Dedicated account manager
• Expanded integrations: Works with any CRM & ATS, including HubSpot, Salesforce, and Affinity
• Increased storage: 30GB

Alternatives

If your primary need is AI-driven meeting transcription and you don’t want to install a desktop app, Otter.AI is a strong alternative.

Unlike Krisp, Otter works through a browser-based platform and offers real-time transcription during meetings, so you don’t have to wait until the call ends to see a summary.

If you need deep integrations and workflow automation, Fireflies.AI is the better pick.

It connects with tools like Notion, Asana, and Trello and automatically logs notes and action items where you need them. Fireflies also have a powerful AI search, so you can find specific discussion points across multiple meetings. 

Our Verdict

Krisp brings solid AI-powered transcription and noise cancellation to the table, something super handy for professionals drowning in back-to-back meetings. It can record, transcribe, and summarize meetings in one place.

However, it’s not without its flaws. Requiring a desktop app instead of a browser extension feels outdated, and the transcription accuracy isn’t always reliable, even with noise cancellation enabled. The lack of automatic speaker language detection is another pain point, forcing manual setup before each meeting.

That said, if you can look past these limitations, Krisp is still one of the better meeting assistants out there, especially for those who want AI-powered summaries, industry-specific vocabulary support, and integrations with Slack, Zapier, and CRMs. 

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Platform Availability

• Web: Yes 
• iOS: Yes
• macOS: Yes
• Android: No
• Windows: No

Benchmark Scores

• AI Accuracy & Smart Summarization: 4.5/5
• Ease of Use & Integration: 4/5
• Value for Money: 5/5

What’s Great About Apple Notes

• Native integration across Apple devices
• Smart summarization extracts key takeaways instantly
• Live transcription with real-time captions
• Proofreading and rewriting tools enhance clarity

What’s Not So Great About Apple Notes

• Lacks deep third-party app integrations
• Limited AI customization options

Overview & First Impressions

We’ve all been there — dumping notes into an app or even the previous Apple Notes only to never revisit them. Ideas get buried, meeting summaries become clutter, and voice memos? Well, they’re just forgotten.

Apple Notes AI finally solves this by automating the way you process information rather than just storing it.

There’s no extra setup — no new accounts, subscriptions, or syncing issues. If you're already in the Apple ecosystem, everything works out of the box.

The AI features help with refining, summarizing, and organizing notes, making it more useful for structured writing or meeting notes. That said, we can’t ignore that, it’s still an Apple-only experience, and while this AI tool adds value, it doesn’t quite match the flexibility of Notion AI or Google Notebook LM.

Standout Features

Ever finished a long meeting only to realize you’ve forgotten half the key points? Apple Notes now offers AI-generated summaries to help with that. After recording a meeting within the app, you can transcribe the audio and hit Summarize — Apple’s AI will pull out the key points and format them into bullet points or paragraphs.

It’s a useful addition, but nothing groundbreaking — plenty of other apps, like Otter and Notion AI, have done this for years. 

Another feature that stood out is live transcription with real-time captions. While recording, Apple Notes transcribes everything in the background, making it incredibly easy to follow along. And if you need to clean up your notes afterward? 

The built-in proofreading and rewriting tools let you reformat, simplify, or even change the tone of your writing in a single click.

And let’s not forget PDF handling. Apple Notes AI now lets you edit, annotate, and convert notes into PDFs with live markup tools. This means you can sign documents, highlight important sections, and even export formatted reports without needing a separate app.

Plans & Pricing

For now, Apple Notes AI is completely free, bundled with iOS, iPadOS, and macOS updates. 

However, Apple Intelligence is currently limited to newer Apple devices. This means if you’re using an older MacBook, iPhone, or iPad, you might miss out on some AI-powered features unless Apple expands compatibility in future updates.

Alternatives

If you prefer a lightweight, AI-enhanced note-taking app that works across multiple platforms, Google Keep AI is a solid alternative. Unlike Apple Notes AI, which is deeply integrated into the Apple ecosystem, Google Keep offers real-time syncing across iOS, Android, and the web.

If you need more advanced AI features with deep organizational capabilities, Microsoft OneNote with Copilot is a stronger option. Unlike Apple Notes AI, OneNote integrates seamlessly with Microsoft 365, letting Copilot help with note structuring, content summarization, and meeting transcription — all while automatically linking notes to related emails, calendars, and tasks.

Final Thoughts

Apple Notes AI isn’t trying to be the next Notion or Evernote — it’s sticking to what it does best: offering seamless, AI-assisted note-taking that feels effortless within the Apple ecosystem. The real-time transcription, AI-powered summaries, and built-in proofreading tools make it an ideal AI note-taking app for students, professionals, and anyone who wants smarter notes without extra complexity.

That said, if you’re outside the Apple world, this isn’t for you. There’s no Android or Windows support, and while Apple Intelligence adds impressive AI features, it doesn’t match the deep customizability of tools like ClickUp AI or Asana AI.

But if you’re already an iPhone, iPad, or Mac user, Apple Notes AI is easily one of the most powerful free note-taking tools available right now.

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Platform Availability

• Web: Yes 
• iOS: Yes
• macOS: Yes
• Android: Yes
• Windows: Yes

Benchmark Scores

• AI Accuracy & Smart Summarization: 4.5/5
• Ease of Use & Integration: 5/5
• Value for Money: 4/5

What’s Great About Notion

• AI-assisted writing, summarizing, and brainstorming
• Can generate action items from messy notes
• Offers tone adjustment and language translation
• Fully integrated into Notion’s ecosystem

What’s Not So Great About Notion

• AI features cost extra on top of Notion’s plan
• No deep automation for complex workflows

Overview & First Impressions

I’ve used many productivity tools, but Notion is one of the few that does it all. Whether you need a place for notes, project management, or full-fledged documentation, it can help you.

But now, with Notion AI, it’s adding a layer of intelligence to help generate, refine, and summarize content inside your workspace. And what makes this even better is you don’t have to learn anything new here. Yes, there’s no separate app, no complicated setup — just hit the spacebar on any page and Notion AI is ready to roll. 

Whether drafting an email, extracting key points from an article, or turning scattered thoughts into structured notes, it’s all just a few keystrokes away with Notion AI. But here’s where things stop getting so good — it’s not free. 

Unlike some AI-powered tools that offer built-in intelligence, Notion AI is an add-on that costs $10 per user/month. This means if Notion is already your go-to workspace, the AI integration makes sense. If not, you might wonder if it’s worth the extra cost when standalone AI tools exist at a much cheaper price.

Standout Features

Notion AI makes organizing thoughts ridiculously easy. Let’s say you dump a brainstorming session into Notion — messy, unstructured, and all over the place. Instead of manually reformatting everything, just highlight the text, hit “Ask AI,” and choose a format. It can break it into bullet points, create custom flow charts, or even complete your pending text.

Then there’s meeting recaps. If your team meeting notes look like a stream of consciousness, Notion AI’s /summarize block can generate a clean, digestible summary in seconds. I tried doing this by giving it a transcript of an hour-long meeting, and it summarized it pretty well in just a few seconds.

On a different note, imagine drafting an email that sounded too robotic or writing a message that felt too casual. This is where Notion’s tone adjustment feature steps in. It can instantly switch between professional, casual, or straightforward tones.

It even doubles as a built-in translator, which is super handy if you work with international teams. Type something in English, and with a quick command, it translates your notes into multiple languages — without needing any external tools.

Plans & Pricing

Unlike other tools that bundle AI features into their free or paid plans, Notion AI is a separate add-on. It costs $10 per user/month when billed annually or $12 per user/month when billed monthly, which can add up quickly for teams.

Alternatives

Asana is Notion’s closest competitor in project and task management for teams. While Notion AI is great for content creation, summarization, and brainstorming, Asana AI focuses on turning notes into actionable tasks. It automatically extracts key action points from meetings, assigns priority levels, and integrates with team calendars to suggest deadlines. 

For a second option, ClickUp takes a more automation-driven approach. Unlike Notion AI, which primarily assists with content refinement, ClickUp AI enhances project documentation by auto-generating reports, summarizing discussions, and recommending task dependencies. 

Our Verdict

Notion AI isn’t trying to be a standalone AI assistant but a natural extension of Notion’s workspace, built to speed up writing, summarizing, and content structuring.

If you’re already using Notion for managing projects, documentation, or daily notes, the AI features can significantly boost your efficiency. But if you’re hoping for a fully automated AI workspace, you’ll still need to put in some manual effort.

At an additional $10 per user/month on top of their paid plan, it’s not the cheapest AI upgrade. But if you live inside Notion, it’s one of the smartest ways to make your work feel less like work.

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Platform Availability

• Web: Yes 
• iOS: No
• macOS: No
• Android: No
• Windows: No

Benchmark Scores

• AI Accuracy & Smart Summarization: 4/5
• Ease of Use & Integration: 4/5
• Value for Money: 3/5

What’s Great About NoteBook LM

• Customizable chat response styles and length
• Audio Overview creates human-like AI podcasts
• Notebook analytics track user interactions
• Chat-only sharing for controlled collaboration
• Fast AI processing with Notebook LM+ upgrade

What’s Not So Great About NoteBook LM

• No mobile app, only accessible via web
• Requires Google Gemini for premium features
• No real-time collaboration like Google Docs

Overview & First Impressions

I’ve used many AI note-taking apps that simply scrape information, mix in outdated web data, and throw it back at me. Even Google has been experimenting with AI-powered note-taking for years, but Notebook LM feels like its first real attempt at something practical — at least for now.

Notebook LM actively processes your notes rather than just storing them. Instead of scrolling through endless pages, its AI extracts key points, creates summaries and even generates interactive Q&A sessions.

That said, it’s far from a universal solution. Unlike Notion or Evernote, Notebook LM lacks team collaboration tools — no real-time co-editing, no deep project management features. If you need a shared workspace, this isn’t it. Instead, it works best as a personal knowledge tool for students, researchers, and deep thinkers who deal with a lot of information.

Of course, there’s always the Google Graveyard factor — Google has a habit of launching promising tools, only to shut them down later. Whether Notebook LM sticks around for the long haul is anyone’s guess.

Standout Features

One of the biggest challenges with note-taking apps is turning raw information into something constructive. Honestly, it’s easy to dump PDFs, research papers, and meeting notes into a folder, but when it's about extracting insights from them, it’s a whole different ball game. This is exactly where Notebook LM feels different.

I tested it on different aspects like attaching a PDF resume and a YouTube video on career growth. Notebook LM quickly gave me a career breakdown, focusing on the strengths and potential opportunities based on my experience. It wasn’t just summarizing the sources but connecting the dots I never considered.

You’ve probably heard AI-generated voices before — many sound flat, robotic, and painfully artificial. But Notebook LM’s Audio Overview feature aims to change that.

The two AI hosts (a male and a female) don’t just read from a script — they interact naturally, pause between words, and even repeat phrases like real people, making the conversation feel more lifelike. (Except for Lindy's AI voice, of course, which already sets a high standard! Check out our phone agent here)

What makes this feature even better is how easy it makes learning. Instead of staring at walls of text, I could now just listen to my notes while working, driving, or even taking a walk.

If you’re someone who processes information better through audio, this might be among the most underrated AI-powered features out there.

Plans & Pricing

​Notebook LM is free to start, and you can upload up to 50 sources per notebook, including PDFs, Google Docs, and pasted text. If you need more, Google offers Notebook LM Plus through the Google One AI Premium plan, with a 30-day free trial, later priced at $19.99 /month. 

This subscription offers higher usage limits, including up to 500 notebooks and 300 sources per notebook, with premium features like Chat-only notebook sharing, advanced chat settings for customizing response styles and output length, and notebook analytics to track user interactions and queries. 

Google also offers a 50% student discount on its Google One AI Premium plan, slashing the monthly cost to $9.99 for up to 12 months. Keep in mind, that this discount is exclusively available to U.S. students aged 18 and older.

Alternatives

Unlike Notebook LM, which relies on uploaded sources, Personal AI learns directly from your interactions and past conversations, creating a truly customized assistant. It can recall past discussions, summarize insights based on your writing style, and generate responses in a way that mimics your thought process. 

Second, Microsoft OneNote with Copilot is a stronger choice if you’re already a part of the Microsoft ecosystem. Copilot integrates directly into OneNote, helping you generate outlines, summarize key points, and structure your notes using AI. 

Final Thoughts

If your workflow revolves around large PDFs, Google Docs, and online research, Notebook LM is one of the smartest ways to process information quickly. The AI-generated summaries, interactive study guides, and podcast-style discussions make it incredibly powerful for solo knowledge work.

That being said, there aren’t enough automation capabilities here. You must feed your data manually to this tool to generate anything valuable which is a bit of a shortcoming. 

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Platform Availability

• Web: Yes 
• iOS: Yes
• macOS: Yes
• Android: Yes
• Windows: Yes 

Benchmark Scores

• AI Accuracy & Smart Summarization: 4/5
• Ease of Use & Integration: 3/5
• Value for Money: 3/5

What’s Great About Evernote

• Calendar sync helps track meetings and deadlines
• AI editing improves readability and formatting
• Supports large file uploads for document storage
• Works across multiple devices with seamless sync

What’s Not So Great About Evernote

• Free plan is too limited for real use
• AI doesn’t auto-summarize or extract key points

Overview & First Impressions

Evernote is one of the oldest names in the note-taking game, but let’s be honest, it’s had a rough few years. After endless stagnation, new owners Bending Spoons took over in 2023, completely reworking the app’s foundation. Now, in 2025, Evernote isn’t just a note-taking app—it’s trying to be a full productivity hub with tasks, calendar integration, and AI-powered features.

The setup is pretty smooth, and the redesigned interface feels cleaner than previous versions. But the biggest thing I noticed? The free plan is nearly useless. You're limited to 50 notes and one notebook, which isn’t even enough to test the app properly. 

That said, once I started using it, Evernote did feel more polished. The note editor is spacious, easy to navigate, and now has a proper slash command system, similar to Notion. Features like linked notes, AI editing, and improved search make Evernote feel more modern. 

Standout Features

Evernote’s new update tries to fix my cluttered meeting notes by connecting notes to tasks, calendar events, and AI-powered editing.

In fact, it finally feels structured in a way that makes organizing ideas effortless. The linked notes feature creates connections between different pieces of information without having to dig through folders. 

While testing it, I drafted a meeting summary and used the "New linked note" option to instantly connect it to a relevant onboarding document. So, instead of manually searching for past notes, I could click the link within my notes and instantly pull up related discussions, tasks, and plans.

Its task management also makes note-taking more actionable as it now attaches tasks directly to notes, so instead of just writing “Follow up with the client,” you can set a reminder, add a due date, and even link it to a calendar event. 

For better team collaboration, Evernote further lets you share notes with team members, create separate Spaces with the same account for better allocation, and form custom tags to sort your workflow. With these updates live and many more to come, I think Evernote is trying to enter the project management industry and rebuild itself as an all-in-one solution.  

Plans & Pricing

Evernote isn’t shy about pushing users toward its paid plans, and if you actually want to use it long-term, you’ll need to subscribe. The Personal plan costs $10.83/month ($129.99/year) and gives you up to 150,000 notes, 2,000 notebooks, unlimited device sync, and 10GB of monthly uploads. 

That’s plenty for personal note-taking, but if you need more power, the Professional plan at $14.16/month ($169.99/year) unlocks AI-powered editing, 20GB of monthly uploads, and even Adobe Acrobat Standard for PDFs.

If you’re using Evernote for work, the Teams plan jumps to $20.83 per user/month ($249.99/year), adding shared team spaces, centralized account management, and 10,000 notebooks. 

Alternatives

If you’re looking for something with a stronger AI-first approach, Mem is a better pick.

It automatically organizes notes, resurfaces important ideas, and connects related information without manual effort. If you find yourself constantly losing track of old notes, Mem does the work for you.

And if meeting notes and voice transcription are your top priority, Otter.ai is built specifically for that.

It records, transcribes, and even summarizes conversations automatically, making it a better option than Evernote if you’re drowning in Zoom meetings and want ready-made notes.

Final Thoughts

Evernote has finally started transforming, but whether it’s worth the price depends on how much value you place on its ecosystem. The new features — like AI-powered editing (summarizing, changing tone, fixing typos, translating text), calendar integration with Google and Outlook, and creating manual shortcuts make Evernote more than just a note-taking app.

I personally find Evernote sitting somewhere in between a reliable, polished tool that does many things well but doesn’t necessarily lead the category in any of them. However, if you already use Evernote and like its workflow, the latest updates make it a more refined and structured experience.

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Platform Availability

• Web: Yes (Chrome, Safari)
• iOS: Yes
• macOS: Yes
• Android: No
• Windows: No

Benchmark Scores

• AI Accuracy & Smart Summarization: 3.5/5
• Ease of Use & Integration: 4/5
• Value for Money: 3/5

What’s Great About Reflect

• Minimalist, distraction-free interface enhances focus
• Fast, seamless sync across Apple devices
• AI summaries help organize unstructured thoughts
• Lightweight and responsive, with no performance lag

What’s Not So Great About Reflect

• Voice-to-text struggles with multi-speaker audio
• Lacks a free version beyond the trial period

Overview & First Impressions

Reflect markets itself as an AI note-taking app, but it functions more like a versatile AI assistant that goes beyond just note-taking.
For your notes, it can generate outlines, proofread texts, and rephrase your write-ups, whereas for productivity, it can generate emails, set up daily tasks, create backlinks (we’ll talk about this in detail below), and gather notes from a virtual meeting. 

The setup is pretty easy and you do get a free trial that starts instantly without banging you on the paywall multiple times. 

AI-generated summaries and voice-to-text transcription give Reflect an edge, making note-taking more efficient. Still, these tools aren’t flawless. Although, they do increase your productivity, they don’t completely replace the need for manual organization and review. 

Standout Features

The first thing that stood out with Reflect? It doesn’t try too hard. It’s not stuffing AI everywhere just for the sake of it. It’s built around simplicity, focus, and privacy, and you feel that the moment you start using it.

The AI-powered smart notes are useful but not game-changing. I threw a few long, messy thoughts into it, and while it did a solid job extracting key ideas, it didn’t blow me away with deep contextual understanding. If you’re expecting ChatGPT-level insights, you won’t get them. But if you just want a quick way to clean up your thoughts, it works.

Reflect also automatically connects related notes with its Backlink feature, so you don’t have to manually organize everything. It makes it easy to stumble upon old ideas or even remember someone you met months ago. 

Just type [[ followed by a name—like [[Jeremy Phillip—when making a note. Reflect will automatically create a connection to all previous notes where that name appears.

For example, if you jot down ‘Met [[Jeremy Phillip in the gym,’ that note gets linked to every past interaction with Jeremy. Later, you can tap on his name to instantly see all related notes, whether it’s a meeting you had weeks ago or a scheduled task involving him. It’s like having a memory assistant that resurfaces important connections exactly when you need them.

It seems like a lightweight version of Obsidian — without the plugins or overwhelming customization.

The voice transcription, powered by OpenAI’s Whisper, is solid for solo notes but struggles with group conversations. It nailed casual voice memos with almost perfect accuracy, but when I tested it on a Zoom meeting, it missed context when people talked over each other. 

What surprised me the most, though, was how natural daily note-taking feels. Unlike Notion, where you create separate pages, Reflect lets you scroll through a continuous stream of past notes. I didn’t think I’d care about this — until I caught myself scrolling back, revisiting past ideas effortlessly. No need to search, no need to dig through folders. It just works.

Plans & Pricing

Reflect offers a 14-day free trial, but after that, it’s $10/month (annually). With the paid plan, you get GPT 4 access (with usage limits), Whisper audio transcription, end-to-end encryption, offline sync, Kindle highlight sync, and more. 

Alternatives 

If you need a highly structured, all-in-one workspace, Notion AI is the obvious choice.

 It doesn’t just handle note-taking — it lets you create databases, to-do lists, project boards, and collaborative workspaces. That’s where it outshines Reflect. While Reflect is great for personal, private note-taking, Notion AI is better for team collaboration and organizing complex projects. 

If privacy is your top priority, Obsidian is the stronger choice.

 Unlike Reflect and Notion AI, Obsidian stores everything locally — nothing is uploaded to the cloud, and you have full control over your data. It’s also far more customizable than Reflect, with plug-ins, custom themes, and the ability to turn your notes into an interactive knowledge graph. 

Final Thoughts

Reflect is one of the cleanest, most privacy-focused AI note-taking apps I’ve used. It’s just a fast, distraction-free note-taking app with smart, subtle AI.

The problem? It’s not for everyone.

If you’re outside the Apple ecosystem, you’re out of luck — there’s no Android or Windows support. If you’re looking for mind-blowing AI capabilities, Reflect’s summarization and transcription are good but not groundbreaking. 

Overall, Reflect nails minimalism, privacy, and intelligent organization. But if you need heavy AI features, deep integrations, or a cross-platform solution, there are better choices.

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