What is the best way to take notes on Mac? We all have different needs, but there are a few things that are common to most of us. We want an app that syncs across different devices, lets us organize notes using (at the very least, with tags) and share notes, and add links, images, and other content. With all that in mind, we set out to find the best notes app for Mac. Here’s what we came up with.
Top 7 note taking apps for Mac
1. Apple Notes
Where else to start but with the note taking app that comes preinstalled with macOS? Notes is a very capable note taking app. You can collaborate on notes with others, sync them with all your Apple devices, and easily add web pages to notes.
The Quick Notes feature makes it easy to create a new note or add to an existing note wherever you are in macOS, and notes can be organized in folders — or smart folders using tags — and formatted as checklists. It’s indeed the best free note taking app for Mac.
Price: Free
2. Agenda
Agenda is a date-focused note taking app. It automatically adds the date when you start a new note, and you can also view your calendar in the app. Notes can be attached to calendar entries, too. Agenda gets its name from the ‘On the Agenda’ feature, which allows you to assign notes to a special category that puts them front and center.
Notes can be styled with headings, lists, tables, indented blocks, and preformatted text. They can also be assigned to categories. Agenda syncs with the iOS versions and allows you to collaborate notes with others.
Price: Free; $34.99/year for premium features
3. Bear
Bear might be a little simple for some but that’s exactly what makes it one of our favorite note taking apps. It has excellent support for Markdown, so if you are used to formatting text that way, it will work brilliantly for you.
There are no folders or collaborative features, but the tagging support is great. Tags appear in a sidebar (that can be hidden if you prefer), and you can apply icons to them. Click a tag, and you’ll see all the notes associated with it. Bear also has lots of themes to choose from, all of which look lovely and make using it fun. And you can sync it with its iOS versions.
Price: $29.99/year
Once you find a note taking app you love, it can be difficult to stop using it. That means you’ll create lots of notes. So, it’s a good idea to get your Mac ready by clearing out the clutter, removing duplicate files, updating applications, checking for malware, and optimizing performance. If all that sounds like a lot of work, don’t worry. CleanMyMac’s Smart Care feature has you covered. With one click, it does all of the above and makes your Mac run as smoothly as possible. Get started with a free CleanMyMac trial.
4. Day One
Day One differs from the other apps here in that it is focused on journaling. To that end, you can add text, images, and videos to journal entries.
Journal Entries are organized by date, and the On This Day feature allows you to quickly remind yourself of what you were doing on the current day in years gone by. You can have multiple journals, and Day One supports Markdown, making it easy to format text. Notes are encrypted, and you can sync them with all your Apple devices.
Price: Free (basic); $34.99/year for premium version
5. Notability
Notability is a great note taking app for students, thanks to the ability to record lectures and meetings in audio as you make notes and then sync the audio with the written note, so you can click a word and hear the audio at point.
It also allows you to present notes and view one note while presenting another. Notes can be linked, and you can draw in notes using its drawing tools. It will even convert handwritten equations to hi-res images.
Price: Free (basic); $24.99/year for Notability Plus
6. Obsidian
Obsidian is one of those apps that inspires huge enthusiasm among its users but takes a bit of time to get used to. It uses open file formats for notes, so it’s easy to share them or move them elsewhere, and it stores notes privately on your Mac. If you want to sync with other devices, you can, and notes will be encrypted.
Notes can be organized in folders, and you can create links between notes. Perhaps Obsidian’s most powerful feature is that it creates an interactive graph showing the relationship between notes. There are also thousands of themes and plug-ins you can use to customize it.
Price: $48/year for Sync; $96/year for Publish
7. OneNote
If you use Outlook or other Microsoft apps, OneNote is a great choice, thanks to its integration with those apps. But it has useful features in its own right. You can create notes with text or drawings and add images to them. It supports to-do lists, and you can organize notes using tags, labels, and color coding.
Notes can be secured with a password and synced with OneDrive. Its type anywhere freeform canvas approach may not suit everyone, but if you like working that way, it’s excellent.
Price: Part of Microsoft 365 subscription
Choosing the best note taking app for your Mac isn’t easy. There are so many of them. Those we listed above are the ones that we believe are the best for each use type — from journaling to taking notes at lectures and collaborating on large projects at work. Start with a free version and choose which app works best for you.
