Best Note Taking App for Windows (2026): 5 Picks Compared

The best note taking app for Windows depends on how you take notes. OneNote is the best free all-rounder if you want notebooks that sync to your phone. Obsidian suits a Markdown knowledge base kept in local vaults, and Notion suits teams that share a workspace. For short notes, Microsoft Sticky Notes is free. Gubb is for people who want one window for jotting things down, checklists, small boards and clipboard history.

The best note taking apps for Windows at a glance

• OneNote: best free notebook for mixed content (typing, handwriting, clipped media) that syncs across Windows, Mac, mobile and web.
• Obsidian: best for a personal Markdown knowledge base. The app is free, and sync is a paid add-on.
• Notion: best for shared team workspaces. It has a free plan, and paid plans are priced per member.
• Microsoft Sticky Notes: best free option for short notes you want to see on the desktop.
• Gubb: best for a single scratchpad window with checklists, Kanban boards, clipboard history and voice-to-text. Notes stay on your PC, and there's no account.

We make Gubb, so weigh our view accordingly. We've tried to be fair to every app here, and for many readers one of the free options is the right answer.

What kind of note taker are you?

Notes apps split into two groups because people take notes for two different reasons.

You keep notes so you can find them later. Class notes, research, meeting history, project docs. You need structure and search, and usually your notes on your phone too. OneNote, Obsidian and Notion are built for this. The trade-off: every note belongs somewhere, which helps you later and slows you down in the moment.

You capture notes so you can act on them soon. A phone number from a call, today's to-do list, a paragraph you'll paste into an email, a sum you need once. You need something already open that takes text right away without asking where it should go. Sticky Notes and Gubb belong here.

Plenty of people use one of each: a knowledge base for what they keep and a scratchpad for what they don't. If quick capture is your main need, our guide to quick notes apps for Windows goes further.

How we chose

These decide whether a notes app still works for you after a few months:

• Where your notes live. On your PC, in the app's cloud, or both, and whether you can work offline.
• Other devices. Whether notes reach your phone and other computers, and whether sync costs extra.
• Price model. Free, a per-user subscription or a one-time purchase.
• What a note can hold. Text only, or also handwriting, images and attachments.
• Getting your notes out. Whether you can export and leave without losing work.
• What we could confirm. We list only prices and features from official pages or consistent third-party sources, and we say where sources disagree.

Comparison table: price, devices and main limits

OneNote: best free notebook

OneNote is Microsoft's digital notebook for thoughts, ideas and to-dos, synced across your devices. As of November 2026 it runs on Windows, Mac, iPad, iPhone, Android and the web, and the core app is free.

What it's good at:

• Mixed content. You can type, handwrite and clip media into the same notebook, which suits lectures, research and meetings.
• Coverage. A note written on your Windows laptop shows up on your phone later.
• The newer Sticky Notes opens from inside OneNote for Windows, so quick notes start from the same app.

What it lacks:

• Some features need a paid Microsoft 365 subscription. We couldn't confirm which features or the prices on an official page.
• It's a notebook, not a scratchpad. We found no clipboard history or timer tools in it.

Who should pick it: students taking class notes, anyone already on Microsoft 365, and anyone who writes with a pen on a touchscreen. If you want one free app and aren't sure what you need, start with OneNote.

Obsidian: best local knowledge base

Obsidian is a Markdown note-taking app that keeps notes in local "vaults". It suits people who want to build up a personal knowledge base in plain Markdown. If Markdown is new to you, our plain-English guide to Markdown explains it in a few minutes.

What it's good at:

• Markdown notes kept locally. Version 1.14 added opening individual Markdown files, a kanban view for Bases, and highlight colors.
• Optional Obsidian Sync adds sync across devices, end-to-end encryption, version history and shared vaults.
• Frequent updates. Desktop 1.14.4 shipped on October 5, 2026, and Mobile 1.15.1 on November 12, 2026.

What it lacks:

• Syncing between devices with Obsidian Sync is a paid subscription.
• Publishing notes as a website is a separate paid subscription.
• A knowledge base is more than you need for a throwaway to-do list.

Price (as of November 2026, third-party sources only): the app is free. Sync is $4 per user per month billed yearly, or $5 monthly. Publish is $8 per site per month billed yearly, or $10 monthly. Catalyst (early access) is a $25 one-time payment. Sources disagree on whether an optional commercial license is still sold, but they agree you don't need one to use Obsidian for work.

Who should pick it: writers, researchers and students who want their notes in Markdown, stored locally, and are happy to set up their own structure.

Notion: best for teams and shared workspaces

Notion is a workspace app for pages, notes and team work, with desktop and mobile apps. It's at its best when several people work on the same pages.

What it's good at:

• A free plan to start with.
• Offline mode since August 2025. You can open pages and capture ideas in the desktop and mobile apps without a connection.
• Team features. The Business plan adds Notion Agent, AI Meeting Notes, Enterprise Search, SAML SSO, private teamspaces and more advanced permissions.

What it lacks:

• Offline access isn't automatic. You mark individual pages as "Available offline" in the ··· menu.
• AI and admin features are on paid plans, charged per member.
• For one person who only needs quick notes, a shared workspace adds steps you won't use.

Price (as of November 2026, third-party sources only): Free; Plus at $10 per member per month billed yearly; Business at $20 billed yearly or $24 monthly; Enterprise quoted by sales. We couldn't find Plus's monthly price.

Who should pick it: teams that keep shared pages and meeting notes in one workspace, and solo users who already use Notion at work.

Microsoft Sticky Notes: best built-in quick notes

Microsoft Sticky Notes is Microsoft's free app for quick notes you stick on the Windows desktop. You can type, ink or add a picture, use text formatting and move notes anywhere on the desktop. Closing a note sends it to the Notes list.

What it's good at:

• It's free, from Microsoft, and you get it from the Microsoft Store.
• Notes sync to OneNote Mobile, Microsoft Launcher for Android and Outlook for Windows.
• The newer version lives in OneNote: open the OneNote app on Windows and select the Sticky Notes button.

What it lacks:

• There are two versions right now: the older desktop app and the newer one inside OneNote. A Microsoft support blog from October 2026 says some people can't find notes they made in the old one.
• The sources we checked, including Microsoft's listing, don't mention to-do lists, boards, clipboard history, timers or voice input.

Who should pick it: anyone who wants a few reminders visible on screen. If that's all you need, Sticky Notes is enough and you don't need to buy anything. If you've outgrown it, see our list of Windows Sticky Notes alternatives.

Gubb: best scratchpad with checklists and clipboard history

Gubb is our app. It's a small, single-window scratchpad that also includes tools people usually install separately: to-do lists, Kanban boards, clipboard history, voice-to-text, a timer and break reminders. On Windows it's available from the Microsoft Store.

What it's good at:

• Typing right away. Click into the window and type. Notes save automatically and take their title from the first 30 characters of the first line.
• Markdown-style typing. At the start of a line, type # then Space for a heading, - then Space for a bullet, or [ ] then Space for a checklist item you can tick.
• Lists and boards inside notes. A line containing only gubb@todo becomes a to-do list with due dates, priorities and subtasks (due dates sort tasks; there are no reminders). A line containing only gubb@board becomes a Kanban board with "To Do", "In Progress" and "Done" columns and cards you drag between them. Our explainer on what a Kanban board is covers the basics.
• Clipboard history. Gubb keeps the text you copy, lets you search it, pin favorites and paste an item into a note.
• Voice-to-text into notes. You can download a Whisper model inside the app and transcribe on your own computer, so Gubb charges no per-minute fee.
• Quick math while you write. gubb@math evaluates basic arithmetic on lines ending in =, gubb@conversions converts units, and gubb@currency converts currencies (this one needs internet).
• Local storage, no account. Notes are stored in a database on your computer, not in a cloud service.

What it lacks:

• No sync and no phone app. Your notes stay on one computer.
• Notes hold text, lists and boards only. No images, attachments, tables, folders or tags.
• Clipboard history has limits. It saves text only, not images or files. It starts recording once you open the Clipboard History panel in a session. It stores everything as plain text, including anything copied from a password manager, and you can't exclude apps. If clipboard history is all you want, the built-in Windows clipboard history (Win+V) is free, holds text and images, and opens over whatever app you're typing in. It's off until you turn it on.
• Voice-to-text only writes into Gubb. Transcripts go into the open Gubb note, not into other apps. Local transcription is English-only and covers the first 30 seconds of each recording. To dictate into any app, use Windows voice typing (Win+H).
• Not a good archive. Markdown and plain-text exports currently contain the editor's raw data rather than readable text. Note search looks at titles and the first 50 characters of each note, and checks full text only when nothing there matches. Deleting a note has no confirmation and no trash.

Price (as of November 2026): on gubb.net, Gubb is $59 one-time (lifetime), with no subscription. Check the Microsoft Store listing for the current Windows price. There's no free tier.

Who should pick it: people who want a scratchpad open beside their main notes app, and people tired of running a separate list app, clipboard tool and timer. Skip it if you need notes on your phone or a long-term archive; OneNote or Obsidian will serve you better there. Our how it works page walks through each feature.

How to choose the best note taking app for Windows

• If you want one free app with notes on your phone: OneNote.
• If you want Markdown notes kept in a local vault: Obsidian.
• If you share notes with a team: Notion.
• If you only need a few reminders on screen: Sticky Notes.
• If you want quick capture plus checklists, boards and clipboard history in one window, with no account: Gubb, alongside one of the apps above for anything you keep long term.
• If your real need is clipboard history or dictation: try the free Windows tools first (Win+V and Win+H) and add an app only if they fall short.

For tools beyond notes, see our list of productivity apps for Windows 11.

FAQ

What is the best free note taking app for Windows?

For most people, OneNote. It's free, handles typing, handwriting and clipped content, and syncs to your other devices. Obsidian is also free if you don't need paid sync, and Sticky Notes is free for short notes.

Which note taking app works offline on Windows?

Gubb stores notes on your PC, so writing notes doesn't need internet; currency rates and Whisper model downloads do. Obsidian keeps notes in local vaults. Notion works offline only for pages you mark as "Available offline". Our guide to offline note taking apps for Windows goes into more detail.

Can I use Apple Notes on Windows?

Apple Notes runs only on Apple's own devices. If you use an iPhone and a Windows PC, our guide to Apple Notes on Windows covers ways to reach your notes and alternatives that run on both.

Does Gubb sync between my PC and my phone?

No. Gubb has no sync, no account and no phone app, so notes stay on the computer where you wrote them. If you need notes on your phone, OneNote and Sticky Notes both sync.