The Best AI Note-Taking Apps (2026)

Quick answer: Notion is the best overall pick because its AI works across your entire workspace, though full access requires the Business plan at $20 per user per month billed annually. For research without spending anything, Gemini Notebook offers a generous free tier with 100 notebooks and 50 sources each. If you want meeting assistance without an intrusive bot, Granola runs locally on Mac and Windows, starting with a free 30-day history plan.

The real divide in AI note-taking comes down to storage and setup. Some apps lock your notes into cloud databases, while others save plain text directly to your drive. Some tools ship with native AI ready to go, whereas others require you to install community plugins and supply your own API keys. Before choosing, decide whether you want an all-in-one team workspace, an automated meeting transcriber, or a private offline vault.

How they compare

1. Notion: Best overall

• Developer: Notion Labs, Incorporated
• Platforms: Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, iPadOS, Android
• App Store: 4.8/5 (90,182 ratings)
• iOS app released: 2017
• Current iOS version: 1.7.339 (released 2026-09-17)

Notion houses your notes, databases, project boards, and team wikis in one shared workspace. It runs on the web, Mac, Windows, iOS, iPadOS, and Android, and holds a 4.8-star App Store rating across more than 90,000 reviews. Zapier named Notion the best option for building an AI assistant in August 2026, and the best pick for collaboration in December 2025. Notion Agent handles multi-step work inside your pages, while Enterprise Search pulls answers directly from connected tools like Slack, Google Drive, and GitHub.

The catch is where the AI features live. The standalone AI add-on is gone, and full Notion AI now requires the Business plan, which costs $20 per user per month billed annually, or $24 monthly. The free tier and the $10 Plus plan offer only a trial. In addition, autonomous Custom Agents consume credits that cost $10 per 1,000 runs, and Notion notes that AI access can be reduced under heavy usage. Your notes also remain stored in Notion cloud rather than as local files.

Video review: Notion Custom Agents 2026: Real Tests, Honest Results and Who Should Use Them by George Vlasyev

2. Granola: Best for meeting notes

• Developer: Granola inc
• Platforms: macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Apple Watch
• App Store: 5.0/5 (13,441 ratings)
• iOS app released: 2025
• Current iOS version: 1.15.7 (released 2026-09-14)

Granola is a meeting notetaker for people who prefer typing their own notes rather than reading bot transcripts. It holds a 5.0 rating on the App Store from over 13,000 reviews. Metaview named Granola the pick for minimalists in 2026, highlighting that it records computer audio on Mac without sending a participant bot into calls. Instead of generating a generic summary, it enriches the rough bullets you typed during the meeting. Granola Chat lets you query past discussions, and raw audio is deleted right after transcription.

The free Basic tier provides AI meeting notes, but it limits your saved meeting history to 30 days. To keep unlimited history, you need the Business tier, which costs $14 per user per month. The desktop app shines during virtual calls, but mobile versions on iOS and Android cannot capture audio from virtual call apps. They only handle in-person meetings and phone calls. Granola also relies on your input: if you type nothing during a meeting, the tool gives you very little back.

Video review: My New FAVORITE AI Tool for Meetings | Granola AI Review + Tutorial 2026 by Danie Jay

3. Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM): Best free

• Developer: Google LLC
• Platforms: Web, iOS, iPadOS, Android
• App Store: 4.9/5 (60,756 ratings)
• iOS app released: 2025
• Current iOS version: 1.59.1 (released 2026-09-18)

Gemini Notebook, formerly known as NotebookLM, is a research assistant designed to synthesize complex source material. Metaview named it a top 2026 pick for researchers and students handling documents, transcripts, and PDFs, and Google reports more than 30 million people use the platform. The iOS app holds a 4.9-star rating across over 60,000 reviews. You upload reference files, and the tool returns answers with grounded citations. It can also turn collections of PDFs into an audio overview you can listen to on the go.

The free tier is generous, offering 100 notebooks per user and 50 sources per notebook. However, Google caps free accounts at 50 chats and three audio overviews per day. Removing those limits requires Google AI Plus at $9.99 a month, or Google AI Pro at $19.99 a month, which provides 500 notebooks and 20 daily audio overviews. Gemini Notebook is also not an everyday drafting notebook. It is strictly a synthesis environment for querying and summarizing documents you have already imported.

Video review: NotebookLM Changed Completely: Here's What Matters (in 2026) by Jeff Su

4. Obsidian: Best for a private, local-first second brain

• Developer: Dynalist Inc.
• Platforms: macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, iPadOS, Android
• App Store: 4.5/5 (2,719 ratings)
• iOS app released: 2021
• Current iOS version: 1.13.7 (released 2026-08-15)

Obsidian keeps your notes as plain Markdown files stored directly on your own hard drive. Zapier named it the best pick for power note-takers, and its iOS app carries a 4.5 out of 5 rating across 2,719 reviews. The software does not include native AI out of the box, but community add-ons fill that gap completely. The Copilot plugin counts over two million downloads and connects your notes to hosted models or local tools like Ollama, while Smart Connections has 1.2 million downloads for on-device semantic search without an API key.

The app is free for personal use with no limits or required sign-up, though Dynalist Inc. charges a commercial licence fee of $50 per user each year. If you want official multi-device sync, Obsidian Sync runs $4 per user per month billed annually or $5 monthly, while Obsidian Publish starts at $8 per site monthly billed annually. AI costs depend entirely on your setup. Local models run for zero dollars, but hosted providers bill you directly. The main catch is setup friction, since Obsidian requires far more configuration than traditional note apps.

Video review: Build a 100% Private AI Second Brain: Local LLM + Obsidian (2026 Guide) by Top Tech Reviews

5. Apple Notes: Best built-in for iPhone and Mac

• Developer: Apple Inc.
• Platforms: iOS, iPadOS, macOS, visionOS, web (iCloud.com)
• App Store: 4.8/5 (644,356 ratings)
• Current version: 2.6 (released 2026-09-14)

Apple Notes comes preinstalled on Apple devices, carrying a 4.8 out of 5 App Store rating across more than 644,000 reviews. Zapier ranks it the top option for Apple users, and it remains the fastest way to jot down an idea on a Mac or iPhone. The app records audio and generates live text transcripts, which Apple Intelligence can summarise into concise takeaways. The built-in Writing Tools handle proofreading and text formatting, while the iOS 27 update introduced native Markdown export and import, simple divider lines, and a Write with Siri shortcut.

The app itself is free, though your notebooks count against the standard 5GB iCloud allowance unless you upgrade to iCloud+, which starts at $0.99 per month for 50GB. Apple Intelligence is free on supported hardware, but server-backed requests have daily caps, and Apple notes that expanded feature access will eventually carry a fee. The main limitation is platform lock-in. Apple Notes offers no dedicated Android or Windows client, and Apple Intelligence requires an iPhone 15 Pro, a newer iPhone model, or an Apple silicon Mac or iPad.

Video review: iOS 27 Makes Apple Notes SO Much Better by 9to5Mac

6. Microsoft OneNote: Best for Windows and Microsoft 365

• Developer: Microsoft Corporation
• Platforms: Windows, macOS, iOS, iPadOS, Android, web
• App Store: 4.7/5 (1,064,336 ratings)
• iOS app released: 2011
• Current iOS version: 16.114.1 (released 2026-09-21)

Microsoft OneNote is a flexible digital binder that pairs free-form typing, handwriting, and sketching on an unbounded canvas. The iOS client holds a 4.7 out of 5 rating across more than one million reviews, and Zapier named it the best free note-taking tool. Copilot in OneNote helps pull action items out of messy meeting scribbles, generate outlines, and draft quick summaries directly inside your notebooks. It remains a practical companion for anyone who spends their workdays drafting documents in Word, building decks in PowerPoint, or sending emails through Outlook.

OneNote is free to download on Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and the web, using your standard 5GB OneDrive storage allotment. The big catch is that Copilot requires a paid Microsoft 365 consumer subscription, starting at $9.99 monthly or $99.99 annually for Personal, or $12.99 monthly for Family. Even on a Family plan, Copilot features are strictly restricted to the primary subscription owner. Reviewers also point out that OneNote search feels noticeably slower than Obsidian or Notion once your notebooks collect years of dense, multi-section content.

Video review: 7 new features in Microsoft OneNote for 2026 by Mike Tholfsen

7. Goodnotes: Best for handwritten notes

• Developer: Goodnotes Limited
• Platforms: iPad, iPhone, Mac, Android, web
• App Store: 4.7/5 (454,939 ratings)
• iOS app released: 2019
• Current iOS version: 7.1.24 (released 2026-09-21)

Goodnotes is built for people who think with a stylus. The app pairs digital ink with artificial intelligence that reads your handwriting, offering spellcheck on written script and a Math tool that solves handwritten equations. Over 450,000 App Store ratings give it an average of 4.7 out of 5, matching its score on G2. Recent roundups single it out as the top handwriting pick for iPad users studying or marking up PDFs, especially now that it combines sketch whiteboards, typed documents, and audio recordings in one workspace.

The free plan is essentially a trial, since it caps you at three files and 20 minutes of audio. Upgrading to Essential costs $11.99 per year for unlimited storage and on-device meeting summaries. Advanced tools like Create Mode, real-time collaboration, and cross-platform sync require the Pro tier at $35.99 per year. If you exhaust your AI credits, the AI Pass costs an extra $9.99 a month. The platform supports Mac, Android, and web, but there is no native Windows app.

Video review: This Changes iPad Note-Taking (GoodNotes' Biggest Update Yet) by Samuel Suresh

8. Mem: Best for hands-free capture

• Developer: Mem Labs, Inc.
• Platforms: Web, macOS, Windows, iOS
• App Store: 4.4/5 (125 ratings)
• iOS app released: 2022
• Current iOS version: 2.6.33 (released 2026-09-13)

Mem is designed for people who want to save ideas without manually filing them. Zapier named it the best tool for creating a second brain in its August 2026 roundup, pointing to how the platform organizes information automatically. Instead of forcing you to build folder systems, Mem relies on an automated agent that scans your edits, detects action items, and flags projects that need attention. It is built to grab thoughts quickly through a floating desktop chat, email, WhatsApp, or the mobile voice recorder.

The pricing structure is strictly metered on volume. The free tier gives you 25 messages, 25 notes a month, and three hours of Voice Mode. Mem Plus runs $9 monthly for 50 notes, while Mem Pro costs $29 each month for 100 notes and 25 Voice Mode hours. Heavy users face higher tiers climbing to $199 per month. Its mobile presence remains small, with an App Store rating of 4.4 across 125 reviews, and there is no Android client.

Video review: My Honest Review of Mem 2.0 by MacAutomationTips

How we picked

We chose these tools by analyzing reviews from named outlets like Zapier and Metaview, tracking App Store ratings, and checking details directly on live vendor pricing pages as of September 22, 2026. We did not run this software ourselves. We compared actual limitations, verified platform availability, and documented what each subscription tier costs when the introductory terms end.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free AI note-taking app?

Gemini Notebook offers the most capable free option, giving you 100 notebooks, 50 sources per notebook, 50 daily chats, and 3 audio overviews every day on its Standard tier. Obsidian is entirely free for personal use with no limits, letting you add AI through community plugins like Copilot and Smart Connections that can run against local Ollama models at zero cost. Apple Notes includes free Apple Intelligence tools if you have compatible hardware, while Microsoft OneNote is free to download but locks its Copilot features behind a Microsoft 365 subscription starting at $99.99 a year.

Is there an open-source AI note-taking app?

Obsidian is free for personal use, but the core application is not open source. However, its Copilot AI plugin created by Logan Yang is open source and works without a paid license when connected to your own provider key or a local model. Joplin is an entirely open-source, free note-taking alternative with an optional Joplin Cloud tier starting at 2.99 euros a month.

Do AI note takers have to join my meeting as a bot?

No, they do not. Granola captures your computer's system audio directly instead of sending an automated bot into your meeting room. Its free Basic plan stores 30 days of meeting history, deletes raw audio after transcription, and carries SOC 2 Type II certification. Keep in mind that Granola's mobile apps cannot transcribe virtual calls because mobile operating systems block apps from capturing audio playing inside other apps.

Does Apple Notes have AI?

Yes, Apple Notes includes AI through Apple Intelligence. The app records audio with live transcription and can generate summaries, while Writing Tools can proofread text, adjust tone, or convert selections into lists and tables. These features require an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 16, iPhone 17, an Apple silicon Mac or iPad, or an A17 Pro iPad mini. The tools are free on supported devices, but server-based models have daily caps, and Apple notes that iCloud+ subscribers receive higher usage limits in iOS 27.

Do I have to pay for Notion AI?

Yes, you must pay if you want more than a trial. Notion AI is bundled directly into the Business plan at $20 per user per month billed annually ($24 monthly) and the Enterprise tier, while Free and Plus plans only include trial access. Autonomous Custom Agents use an additional credit system priced at $10 for every 1,000 credits.

Which AI note apps work on Windows and Android?

Notion, Obsidian, Microsoft OneNote, and Granola all offer apps that work across both Windows and Android. Gemini Notebook supports Android alongside iOS and the web, but lacks a native Windows desktop app. Goodnotes runs on Android and the web but skips Windows, Mem supports Windows but lacks an Android client, and Apple Notes remains exclusive to the Apple ecosystem.

What is Gemini Notebook and what happened to NotebookLM?

On July 16, 2026, Google officially rebranded NotebookLM as Gemini Notebook. It is the exact same product, meaning your existing notebooks remain intact and old links automatically redirect. The update introduced cross-app syncing with the Gemini application, a secure cloud environment that runs code, and planned integration with AI Mode in Google Search.

A Walking City has no affiliate relationship with any software in this post, and nobody paid to appear here. Prices are what each vendor’s pricing page listed on September 22, 2026, and they change.