10 Best Note-Taking Apps for Students in 2025

My campus bag used to be weighed down by A4 pads and half-finished biro pens. This past academic year I decided to go paper-lite and test every popular note-taking app I could find. After more than 200 lectures, 30 group projects and one too many late-night cram sessions, here are the ten apps that actually helped me stay organised, remember more, and finish assignments faster.

How we picked

• Cross-platform support – Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and the web.
• Reliable sync and offline access for lecture halls with flaky Wi-Fi.
• Tools for handwriting or stylus input (because maths is no fun on a keyboard).
• Search, tagging or backlinking so revision feels less like hunting for buried treasure.
• Fair student pricing or generous free tiers.

1. Notion

Notion has gone from a clever wiki to a full study operating system. The May 2025 update added AI Meeting Notes that automatically summarise lectures recorded with Notion Calendar plus a new unified search that pokes through PDFs as well as your workspace. Power features like databases still hide under the hood, but the default templates make it easier than ever to spin up a class dashboard in minutes.

• Perfect for: project-based courses, group work, research logs.
• Platform: Windows, macOS, Web, iOS, Android.
• Price: Generous free plan; student discount on Plus tier.

2. Microsoft OneNote

OneNote remains the most forgiving free-form notebook. You can drop text, audio, equations and doodles anywhere on the infinite canvas and it just works. Unlike most freemium rivals, every core feature is completely free and cross-platform. Many students stay for the deep stylus support and automatic OCR that makes handwritten notes searchable.

• Perfect for: STEM diagrams, mixed-media lecture notes.
• Platform: Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Web.
• Price: Free (extra OneDrive storage included with Microsoft 365).

3. GoodNotes 6

GoodNotes finally broke out of the Apple garden and now runs on Windows, Android and the web. The handwriting feels natural, the maths notebook template saves hours, and cross-platform sync means you can start scribbling on an iPad and continue on a Surface. At £5.99 a year the Windows version is cheaper than a single refill pack of printer paper.

• Perfect for: handwritten maths, digital planners, PDF annotation.
• Platform: iPad/iPhone, macOS, Windows, Android, Web.
• Price: Free trial then annual subscription.

4. Obsidian

Obsidian stores your notes as local Markdown files and visualises the links between them with a clickable graph. The built-in Canvas feature gives you an infinite whiteboard for mind maps and research plans. If you are revising essay topics that sprawl across modules, the bidirectional links will save your sanity.

• Perfect for: literature reviews, personal knowledge management.
• Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android.
• Price: Free for personal use; optional sync and publish add-ons.

5. Google Keep

Keep looks deceptively basic but the sticky-note grid is brilliant for quick lists, lab results or parking a voice reminder while cycling to class. It syncs instantly with Google Workspace, you can share a note with lab partners in two taps, and the location-based reminders are handy for returning library books.

• Perfect for: to-do lists, voice memos, collaborative shopping lists.
• Platform: Web, Android, iOS, Chrome extension.
• Price: Free.

6. Apple Notes

If you own an iPad or Mac, Apple Notes is probably already your default. The 2024 update added Quick Note pop-ups and smooth Apple Pencil handwriting, while shared folders make group revision almost effortless. Everything syncs through iCloud so you can scan a handout with your iPhone and it appears on your MacBook seconds later.

• Perfect for: Apple-only workflows, audio-backed lecture notes.
• Platform: iOS, iPadOS, macOS, Web (iCloud.com).
• Price: Free; storage counts toward iCloud quota.

7. Joplin

For students who value privacy, Joplin keeps everything in open-source Markdown files with end-to-end encryption. The 2025 releases focused on accessibility tweaks and bigger scrollbar options, but the core appeal remains: unlimited notebooks, robust tagging and the freedom to host your own sync server.

• Perfect for: privacy-conscious note takers, self-hosters.
• Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android.
• Price: Free; optional Joplin Cloud from €1.99 a month.

8. Evernote (Legacy) and Modern Alternatives

Evernote still has some of the best web clipping around, but the free plan is now capped at two devices and pushes you toward a pricey subscription. Many students are moving to Notion or Joplin instead, but if you already have years of notebooks inside Evernote the revamped Home dashboard and tasks view may justify sticking around.

• Perfect for: heavy web clippers who live inside browsers.
• Platform: Windows, macOS, Web, iOS, Android.
• Price: Free plan limited; Personal tier approx £10 per month.

9. Simplenote

Simplenote is the digital equivalent of a ruled pocket notebook. You get plain text, Markdown support and instant sync across everything. That minimalism lets you open the app and start typing faster than any other option. If you just need quick throw-away revision cards or a research log, keep it simple.

• Perfect for: distraction-free writing, coding snippets.
• Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web.
• Price: Free.

10. Zoho Notebook

Zoho Notebook feels like a digital Moleskine with colour-coded covers and drag-and-drop multimedia cards. The April 2025 update introduced custom sorting of notes and the new Pro Lite plan costs less than a coffee yet gives you 100 GB of storage – ideal for lecture recordings.

• Perfect for: multimedia projects, team collaboration without Google.
• Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web, watchOS.
• Price: Free plan; Pro Lite from £1.79 per month.

Honourable mentions

• Capacities – network-based note graphs but still early access.
• Notesnook – privacy-first alternative with zero-knowledge encryption.
• UpNote – beautiful editor and lifetime licence available.

Choosing the right app

If your course is heavy on equations and diagrams, start with GoodNotes or OneNote and add Notion as a second brain. If you are more of a liberal-arts student juggling readings, Obsidian’s backlinks or Notion’s databases will pay dividends. For pure speed on any device, Google Keep or Simplenote win. Remember, your goal is to capture ideas quickly so you can get back to thinking. Pick one, commit for a week and see whether it gets out of your way. The best note-taking app is the one you will actually open.

Happy studying! 😊