TL;DR: The best free note-taking apps in 2026 are OneNote for most people, Notion for organised projects, Obsidian for owning your files, and Google Keep, Apple Notes or Simplenote for fast, simple notes. Every one is genuinely usable free. The limits that matter are hidden ones: file size caps, short page history, paid sync, and small free cloud storage.
Last checked: 13 October 2026. Every free tier limit below was verified against the vendor’s own pricing or help pages (Notion, Obsidian, Microsoft Support, Google One, Apple Support, Joplin, Simplenote and Evernote Help) on this date.
Free tiers move. Apps that were generous two years ago have quietly cut note counts, shrunk storage and moved sync behind paywalls, and most roundups never mention it. This guide checks the current free tier of each app on the vendor’s own pages, names the first limit you will actually hit, and shows what upgrading would really cost you over a year.
What is the best free note-taking app overall?
For most people, Microsoft OneNote. It is free with a Microsoft account, handles typed notes, handwriting, images and scanned pages on one freeform canvas, and syncs across Windows, Mac, phones and the web. Its real free limit is storage, not features: Microsoft Support lists 5 GB of free OneDrive cloud storage, and your notebooks live inside that allowance alongside your other files.
That verdict comes with a condition. OneNote suits people whose notes are messy and mixed. If your notes are mostly short text, OneNote is heavier than you need, and Keep, Apple Notes or Simplenote will feel faster every single day. Pick by the job, not by feature lists.
How do the free tiers compare side by side?
The headline price, free, hides very different deals. Notion caps each uploaded file and keeps only a week of page history. Obsidian gives you the whole app free but charges for its own sync. OneNote and Apple Notes tie you to 5 GB of free cloud storage. Joplin is free software with an optional paid cloud. The table below is the whole decision on one screen.
| App | Free tier limit that bites first | Sync on the free tier | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notion | File uploads up to 5 MB each; page history only 7 days, on Notion’s pricing page | Yes, Notion cloud, all devices | Projects, databases, organised study notes |
| Obsidian | Core app free without limits; official Sync is a paid add-on at $4 a month billed yearly or $5 billed monthly | Not included; use your own folder sync or pay for Sync | Markdown fans, linked notes, owning your files |
| Microsoft OneNote | 5 GB free OneDrive storage, per Microsoft Support storage quotas | Yes, via OneDrive | Students, mixed notes, handwriting and Office users |
| Google Keep | No note cap stated; your Google account includes 15 GB shared across Drive, Gmail and Photos, per Google One | Yes, instant, all devices | Quick capture, lists and reminders |
| Apple Notes | 5 GB free iCloud storage, per Apple Support; Apple devices only | Yes, via iCloud, Apple devices only | iPhone, iPad and Mac users |
| Joplin | App itself free and open source; optional Joplin Cloud starts at 2.99 euros a month for 2 GB and 10 MB per note or attachment | Free via your own cloud storage; Joplin Cloud is paid | Privacy, open source, encrypted notes |
| Simplenote | None stated; Simplenote’s own site says apps, backups, syncing and sharing are all completely free | Yes, all devices, included free | Plain text notes with zero friction |
| Evernote (excluded) | 50 notes, 1 notebook and 1 connected device on Free, per Evernote Help | One device only on Free | Testing the app only; no longer a free daily driver |
Two practical consequences follow. First, a 5 MB per file cap, like Notion’s, bites sooner than any note count: one scanned chapter can exceed it, so shrink scans first with our free image compressor. Second, short page history matters the first time you delete something by accident, which is exactly when 7 days feels very short.
Which free app is best for students?
OneNote for handwritten and mixed class notes, Notion for organising courses and projects. OneNote’s freeform pages accept typed notes, ink, pasted slides and audio in one place, and it costs nothing beyond the 5 GB OneDrive allowance. Notion’s databases suit reading lists, deadlines and group projects, provided your uploads stay small and you can live with 7 days of page history on the free plan.
Obsidian earns a mention for research heavy courses, where linking one concept to another matters more than sharing. Its notes are plain Markdown files on your device, so your study archive survives even if you stop paying for anything, because there is nothing to stop paying for in the core app.
Which free app is best if you want to own your files?
Obsidian first, Joplin second. Obsidian stores notes as ordinary Markdown files in a folder you control, readable in any text editor, with no account needed to start. Joplin is open source, stores notes in an open format, and offers optional end to end encryption. Both keep working offline, and both let you leave without an export fight, which cloud only apps rarely promise.
The trade off is sync. Obsidian’s official Sync, with end to end encryption and version history, costs $4 a month billed yearly on Obsidian’s pricing page. Free alternatives exist, such as keeping the vault in a cloud folder you already use, but they are your responsibility to set up and test. Joplin takes the same approach: sync free through storage you provide, or pay for Joplin Cloud, priced on Joplin’s plans page.
Which free app is fastest for quick notes?
Google Keep on Android and mixed devices, Apple Notes if everything you own is Apple, and Simplenote if you want the same speed everywhere with nothing else attached. All three open fast, sync without setup, and charge nothing. Keep adds reminders and shared lists, Apple Notes adds scanning and Apple Pencil support, and Simplenote adds nothing at all, which is precisely its appeal for writers who only need words.
Do not build a long term archive in Keep. Labels and search cope with hundreds of short notes, but there is no folder structure for years of study or project material. Treat Keep as an inbox: capture there, then move what matters into OneNote, Notion or Obsidian during a weekly tidy. Our free tools hub has companions for that tidy up, including a paraphrasing tool for rewriting rough notes into clean summaries.
Why is Evernote no longer on the best free list?
Because its free plan is now a sample, not a service. Evernote Help states that Free accounts are limited to 50 notes and 1 notebook, and a separate Evernote Help page confirms Free users can connect only one device at a time. Fifty notes is a few weeks of ordinary use. Once you hit the cap you cannot create new notes until you delete old ones or pay, which is why Evernote appears in the table as a warning, not a recommendation.
The wider lesson matters more than one app. Free tiers shrink, usually with little notice, so the safest free apps are the ones you can leave easily. Plain files (Obsidian, Joplin) leave with you. Before you commit years of notes anywhere, check the vendor’s own plan page, such as Notion’s pricing page, Microsoft’s storage quotas and Evernote Help’s plan limits, rather than trusting a roundup, including this one, a year from now.
What it means for your money
Staying on free tiers saves real money, because note app subscriptions stack quietly. Worked example, using prices checked on the vendors’ own pages on 13 October 2026: Notion Plus is $10 per member per month billed yearly, which is 10 x 12 = $120 a year. Obsidian Sync is $4 per month billed yearly, which is 4 x 12 = $48 a year. Together that is 120 + 48 = $168 a year.
At roughly Rs 95 to one US dollar, the market rate checked on 13 October 2026, $168 x 95 = Rs 15,960 a year, or about Rs 1,330 a month. That is the amount a student keeps by using Notion Free and a self managed Obsidian vault instead of paying for both upgrades. Pay for an upgrade only when a named limit is hurting you weekly, such as Notion’s 5 MB file cap or the need for encrypted sync, not because a settings screen suggested it.
How do you choose in five minutes, and switch later if you must?
Answer three questions. Which devices do you use daily: all Apple points to Apple Notes, mixed devices rule it out. What do your notes look like: lists point to Keep or Simplenote, projects to Notion or OneNote, linked research to Obsidian or Joplin. Do you need your files to outlive the app: if yes, choose Markdown storage. Then use the winner for one real week before moving old notes across.
Switching is easiest from Obsidian, Joplin and Simplenote, whose notes are plain files or export cleanly, and hardest from Notion and OneNote, where databases and freeform pages need tidying after export. Whatever you choose, export a backup copy once a year. If you draft long notes and need to check their length against course or work limits, our free word counter helps, and study prompts in the AI Prompt Library can turn a week of notes into revision questions.
Frequently asked questions
Is Notion really free for personal use?
Yes. For one person, Notion Free gives you pages and blocks without a note count cap. The limits that matter are uploads of up to 5 MB per file and page history of only 7 days, both listed on Notion’s pricing page. Heavy file use or team workspaces are what push people to paid plans.
Is Obsidian Sync free?
No. The Obsidian app is free without limits and needs no sign-up, but Obsidian Sync is a paid add-on at $4 per user per month billed yearly or $5 billed monthly, per Obsidian’s pricing page. You can sync free through a cloud folder you set up yourself, at the cost of your own setup time.
How much free storage does OneNote give you?
Your notebooks use your OneDrive storage. Microsoft Support lists the free Microsoft account quota as 5 GB of cloud storage. Text notes use very little of that; scanned pages, audio and file attachments are what fill it, so check your OneDrive usage if sync starts failing.
Can I use Apple Notes on Windows or Android?
There is no native Apple Notes app for Windows or Android. You can view notes in a browser through iCloud, but it is a fallback, not a full app. If your devices are mixed, pick Keep, OneNote, Notion, Joplin or Simplenote instead, so every device gets a proper app.
Which free note-taking app is best for privacy?
Joplin and Obsidian give you the most control. Obsidian keeps notes as local files on your device, so nothing is uploaded unless you set up sync. Joplin is open source and offers optional end to end encryption, so even synced notes cannot be read by the sync provider. Enable the encryption and keep its password safe, because losing it can lock you out.
