8 alternativesNote Essence: Free
The best Note Essence alternatives
For most people the best alternative to Note Essence is Bear, and the best free one is Obsidian.
BearPick this if you want good-looking private notes that sort themselves with hashtags and need no account.Free to startCompare at a glance
Note Essence is highlighted, so you can see what you give up and what you gain.
| App | Price | How you pay | Mac | iPhone | iPad | Watch | App Store | Developer | Setapp | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Note Essence | Free | Free | Too few ratings | |||||||
| Bear | Free to start | Free, with paid upgrades | 4.7 | |||||||
 Obsidian | Free to start | Free, with paid upgrades | 4.5 | |||||||
 Goodnotes | Free to start | Free, with paid upgrades | 4.7 | |||||||
 Notion | Free to start | Free, with paid upgrades | 4.8 | |||||||
 Drafts | Free to start | Free, with paid upgrades | 4.8 | |||||||
 Craft | Free to start | Free, with paid upgrades | 4.8 | |||||||
 Notability | Free to start | Free, with paid upgrades | 4.8 | |||||||
 MindNode | Free to start | Free, with paid upgrades | 4.6 |
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The alternatives, in order
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Pick this if you want good-looking private notes that sort themselves with hashtags and need no account.
Markdown notes that organize themselves with hashtags, no account needed, with sync for $29.99 a year.
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Pick it if you want your notes as plain files you own, with links and plugins to shape your own system.
Free linked notes saved as plain Markdown files on your own device, so your writing outlives any app.
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Pick this if you write with an Apple Pencil in class or meetings and mark up lots of PDFs and slides.
Paper-style notebooks for Apple Pencil, PDF markup and lecture recordings that turn into summaries.
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Pick it if your notes double as trackers and project boards, like a reading list or content calendar.
A single workspace for notes, docs, tasks and databases, free for personal use and full of templates.
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Pick this if you capture quick ideas all day and send each one on to another app.
A blank page the instant you open it, plus 1-tap actions that send your text to whichever app it belongs in.
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Pick it if your notes turn into client-facing docs you share as a polished web page.
Notes and docs that look good enough to share as a web page, with tasks and AI built in.
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Pick it if you handwrite lecture notes and want the recorded audio tied to what you wrote.
Handwritten notes with the lecture audio synced to what you wrote, plus PDF markup, on iPad, iPhone and Mac.
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Pick it if you think visually and want a mind map that turns into an outline.
Mind maps that fold into outlines and stay in your own iCloud, free for basic maps on every Apple device.
When Note Essence is still the right pick
You want a free notes app with tags and quick summaries, and don't mind making an account.