Best Notes App for Mac

Notes App for Mac

When it comes to managing your thoughts, ideas, and tasks efficiently on a Mac, having the right note-taking app can be a game-changer. In 2025, the landscape of note-taking apps for Mac is more diverse and feature-rich than ever, catering to various needs and preferences.

Whether you are a student looking to organize your lecture notes, a professional aiming to streamline your work, or simply someone who wants to jot down quick reminders, there is a notes app for Mac that can fit your requirements perfectly.

The search for the best notes app can be overwhelming, given the numerous options available. You might be looking for an app that offers advanced features like PDF annotation, real-time collaboration, or perhaps something as simple as a clean interface for taking plain text notes. This article aims to guide you through the top choices, highlighting their key features, pricing, and the unique benefits each one brings to the table.

From free and open-source solutions like Joplin and Microsoft OneNote, to integrated Apple ecosystem apps such as Apple Notes, and powerful tools like Bear and Obsidian, we will explore what makes each app stand out. Whether you are a fan of Markdown, prefer the flexibility of annotating PDF files, or need an app that seamlessly syncs across all your Apple devices, this guide will help you choose the best notes app for your Mac in 2025.

Mac Notes Apps vs. Windows

When delving into the realm of note-taking applications, the distinction between those crafted exclusively for Mac and their cross-platform counterparts, including Windows, unveils significant differences that can profoundly affect your user experience. Native Mac applications, such as Apple Notes and Craft, are meticulously optimized to harness the full potential of the Mac ecosystem, resulting in a more cohesive and efficient user experience.

One of the foremost benefits of native Mac applications lies in their seamless integration with the operating system. Take Apple Notes, for instance, a pre-installed application that synchronizes effortlessly across all Apple devices, requiring no additional setup. This ensures that your notes are consistently up-to-date and accessible, no matter where you are. Achieving this level of integration can be more challenging for cross-platform applications, which might necessitate extra configuration and may sometimes appear less refined on the Mac platform.

In the realm of performance, native Mac apps are generally more responsive and efficient. Apple Notes, to highlight, launches instantly and facilitates the swift creation and editing of notes. It allows users to easily drag and drop images and attach various types of files. This agility and ease of use stem from its native design, which capitalizes on macOS capabilities to ensure a fluid user experience.

Moreover, applications like Craft and iA Writer, designed with the Mac user in mind, conform to Apple's design guidelines, making them feel inherently more suited to the Mac. These applications often incorporate thoughtful details that elevate the user experience, including intuitive interfaces, keyboard shortcuts, and features finely tuned for the Mac environment.

Conversely, while cross-platform apps such as Microsoft OneNote and Joplin provide a broad spectrum of features and syncing capabilities across multiple devices, they may not always deliver a native feel or perform as optimally on the Mac. For instance, OneNote, despite its comprehensive feature set, does not offer a local-only storage option and has limited export capabilities, which could be seen as limitations by some users.

In conclusion, if your workflow is deeply rooted in the Apple ecosystem and you prioritize a seamless, high-performance note-taking experience, selecting a native Mac app is likely your optimal choice. These apps are specifically designed to meet the unique needs and leverage the capabilities of Mac users, offering a more streamlined and effective way to manage your notes.

Different Kinds of Notes Apps for Mac

The landscape of note-taking apps for Mac is diverse, catering to various needs and use cases. Here are some of the different categories of notes apps you might find useful.

Personal Note Taking Apps

For everyday note-taking, apps like Apple Notes, Craft, and Joplin are highly popular. Apple Notes, for instance, offers a simple and intuitive interface, allowing you to quickly jot down thoughts, add images and documents, and even password-protect sensitive notes. Craft, on the other hand, focuses on creating visually appealing notes using templates, and it includes features like drop-down text, lists, and calendar events.

It also integrates an AI assistant to enhance productivity. Joplin, a free and open-source option, stores notes locally and supports syncing with various cloud services, ensuring your data remains under your control.

Meeting Note Takers

For those who frequently attend meetings, automated meeting note-taking apps can be a significant time-saver. Apps like Otter.ai, Fellow, and Notta use AI to transcribe meetings in real-time, generating detailed notes and summaries. Otter.ai, for example, records audio, captures slides, and generates summaries, making it easier to focus on the discussion rather than taking notes manually.

Fellow goes a step further by centralizing the entire meeting workflow, from preparation to follow-up, into one functional hub.

Writing and Content Creation Apps

If you are a writer or content creator, you might prefer apps that are more geared towards writing and organizing larger bodies of text. Ulysses and Bike are excellent choices in this category. Ulysses is a writing tool that allows you to create separate fragments of your work, organize them, and export them as properly formatted PDFs.

It also includes a built-in proofreader and editing assistant. Bike, known for its structured and focused writing environment, offers features like full-screen mode, typewriter mode, and focus mode, helping you stay concentrated on your work.

Quick Note Apps

Sometimes, you just need a quick and simple way to take notes without the bells and whistles. SideNotes is an excellent option for this, providing a discreet strip on the side of your desktop where you can quickly create and organize notes.

It's ideal for those who need to jot down quick reminders or to-do lists without interrupting their workflow.

Advanced and Customizable Apps

For users who require more advanced features and customization, apps like Obsidian and Notebooks stand out. Obsidian is highly customizable, using Markdown files that can be easily exported and synced.

It offers a vast library of plugins and a unique linking feature that turns your notes into a database. Notebooks, on the other hand, stores notes as HTML files, providing a beautiful interface and the flexibility to import notes from other apps. It also supports local storage and syncing with external services.

These different categories of note-taking apps ensure that there is something for everyone, whether you need simplicity, advanced features, or specialized tools for specific tasks.

AI and Notes Apps

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in modern note-taking applications has revolutionized the way we capture, organize, and utilize our notes. AI-powered note-taking apps have transformed from simple text editors into sophisticated tools that enhance productivity, streamline workflows, and provide valuable insights.

One of the most significant contributions of AI in note-taking apps is automated transcription. Apps like Otter.ai, Notta, and Reflect use AI to transcribe meetings, calls, and voice notes in real-time, eliminating the need for manual note-taking.

This feature is particularly useful in meeting environments, where participants can focus on the discussion rather than scribbling down every detail. These transcriptions often come with speaker identification, language support in multiple languages, and even translation services, making them highly versatile and accessible.

AI also enhances the organization and retrieval of notes. Apps such as Mem and Notion leverage AI to organize your notes intelligently.

Mem, for instance, uses AI to ensure that the right information is always at your fingertips, allowing you to query your notes using Mem Chat, which can dig up specific answers, summarize insights, and even draft content based on your existing notes. Notion, on the other hand, uses AI to generate text, change the tone and structure of your notes, and provide answers to questions based on your data, making it easier to build a comprehensive knowledge base.

The ability to generate summaries and action items is another powerful feature of AI-driven note-taking apps. Tools like Circleback and Krisp automatically summarize meeting notes, identify key points, and create follow-up tasks, ensuring that nothing gets overlooked. This automation saves time and ensures that meetings are more productive and actionable.

AI also improves the editing and writing process within note-taking apps. Evernote, for example, offers AI-powered editing tools that can fix typos, summarize text, and change the tone of your writing.

Microsoft OneNote, with its Copilot Pro add-on, provides a chat sidebar where you can generate responses, draft project plans, and get tips on improving your presentations.

In terms of security and privacy, AI note-taking apps often come with robust features to protect user data. Reflect, for instance, ensures that all notes are end-to-end encrypted, safeguarding user privacy and maintaining confidentiality. Similarly, Superpowered and other apps comply with industry standards such as SOC 2, GDPR, and HIPAA, providing users with peace of mind regarding their data security.

Overall, the integration of AI in note-taking applications has significantly enhanced their functionality and capability, making them indispensable tools for modern professionals, students, and anyone looking to streamline their note-taking process.

What kind of Notes App is best for you?

Choosing the right notes app is a deeply personal decision that hinges on your specific needs, lifestyle, and the nature of your work or activities. Below are some key considerations to guide you in selecting the most suitable notes app for your requirements.

If you're a student, you might look for an app that's user-friendly, facilitates quick capture and retrieval of notes, and supports essential formatting options like bullets, lists, and tags. Apps such as Apple Notes or Simplenote are outstanding choices for their simplicity and seamless device integration.

For professionals, particularly those in managerial positions, an app with advanced collaboration features may be critical. Notion shines in this regard, offering capabilities like task management, databases, and real-time collaboration, making it a prime choice for team projects and meetings.

Writers and content creators often seek an app that provides a distraction-free writing environment and advanced formatting support. Bear and Ulysses are favored among writers for their focus modes, rich previews, and integration with other writing tools.

If managing a vast amount of information is part of your routine, as it might be for researchers or knowledge workers, you'll need an app that scales efficiently to thousands of notes without performance degradation. Obsidian and Evernote are formidable options here, with powerful search capabilities, hierarchical organization, and support for various types of attachments.

To further refine your choices, consider these questions:

What is your primary use case for the notes app? (e.g., personal notes, work projects, study materials)

Do you require the app to be accessible across multiple devices, including mobile and web versions?

How vital is collaboration and real-time sharing to your workflow?

Do you prefer a simple, minimalistic interface or an app with advanced features and customization options?

Is local storage and offline access a must-have for you?

How important is the ability to handle images, videos, and other file types within your notes?

Do you need strong search and organizational features to manage a large volume of notes?

Are there specific integrations you require, such as with other productivity tools or services like Readwise?

What is your budget for the app? Are you looking for a free option, or are you willing to pay for premium features?

By pondering these questions, you can better align your needs with the features and functionalities offered by various notes apps, ensuring you find the ideal tool to boost your productivity and enhance your note-taking experience.

The Best Notes App for Mac in 2025

In the ever-evolving landscape of note-taking apps, Reflect stands out as the best notes app for Mac in 2025. This app seamlessly blends a minimalist design with high-performance features, making it a luxury note-taking experience that justifies its premium pricing.

Reflect retains the simplicity and ease of use that fans of Apple Notes appreciate, but it takes note-taking to the next level with its integrated AI capabilities. The app allows you to chat with your notes using AI, uncover new insights, and even customize AI prompts to quickly edit and enhance your notes.

This interactive AI feature sets Reflect apart from more basic note-taking apps, providing a more dynamic and insightful note-taking experience.

One of the standout features of Reflect is its networked note-taking approach. The app enables an intuitive linking system, allowing you to create associations between notes and visualize these connections through its map view. This feature is particularly useful for students and professionals who need to connect concepts across different subjects, projects, or tasks, fostering a holistic understanding of their work.

Reflect also integrates seamlessly with your calendar, allowing you to take notes during meetings and sync them with your Google or Microsoft accounts. This calendar integration ensures that your meetings are well-documented and easily accessible, making it easier to manage your time and tasks effectively.

In addition to its robust note-taking features, Reflect includes a dedicated task manager. The Tasks tab aggregates tasks from across your notes, enabling you to manage, add, and remove tasks efficiently. You can schedule tasks, convert them to checklists, and even archive completed tasks, all within a single, organized interface.

Despite its extensive feature set, Reflect remains a ferociously efficient and streamlined app. It offers offline access, end-to-end encryption for security, and advanced search functionality to ensure you can find what you need quickly.

These features, combined with its AI-driven capabilities, make Reflect a powerful tool that enhances your productivity and note-taking experience significantly.

The price of Reflect is $120 per year, which may seem steep compared to some free or lower-cost alternatives. However, the luxury note-taking experience and the wealth of functionality you receive make it well worth the investment. With Reflect, you are not just paying for an app; you are investing in a sophisticated tool that can significantly improve how you think, organize, and work with your notes.

Other great notes apps for Mac

Beyond Reflect, several other excellent note-taking apps for Mac cater to various needs and preferences. Here are a few notable mentions:

Apple Notes

Apple Notes is a versatile and widely used note-taking app that comes pre-installed on Macs. It's ideal for those who value simplicity and seamless integration with the Apple ecosystem.

Apple Notes enables you to jot down quick thoughts, record and transcribe audio sessions, and even perform basic arithmetic and complex expressions directly within the app. Features like Quick Notes, text recognition, and collapsible sections make it a great choice for students, casual note-takers, and anyone already invested in the Apple ecosystem.

Granola

Granola is a specialized meeting note-taker that leverages AI to enhance your meeting notes. It's perfect for professionals who spend a significant amount of time in back-to-back meetings. Granola transcribes meeting audio in real-time, connects to your calendar, and integrates with major meeting platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams.

It allows you to combine your own notes with AI-generated notes, making it easier to focus on the conversation rather than typing everything out. Granola's ability to turn raw notes into polished summaries and action items makes it an indispensable tool for those in high-meeting environments.

Bear

Bear is a note-taking app that is particularly appealing to writers and content creators. It offers a clean, distraction-free writing environment and supports Markdown formatting.

Bear also includes features like tagging, archiving, and exporting options, making it easy to organize and share your notes. Its focus mode and typewriter mode help you stay concentrated on your work, and the app's aesthetic design makes it a pleasure to use.

Bear is best for those who need a robust writing tool that also serves as a note-taking app.

Notion

Notion is a powerful all-in-one workspace that combines note-taking with task management, databases, and collaboration tools. It is ideal for individuals and teams who need a comprehensive tool to manage multiple projects and workflows.

Notion's flexibility allows you to create custom templates, databases, and pages, making it suitable for a wide range of users, from students to professionals. Its real-time collaboration features and extensive customization options make it a great choice for those who need a robust and adaptable note-taking solution.

Obsidian

Obsidian is a note-taking app that excels in networked note-taking, allowing you to create a web of interconnected notes. It is best for researchers, knowledge workers, and anyone who needs to manage a large volume of information. Obsidian supports Markdown files, offers a wide range of plugins, and includes features like backlinking and a graph view to visualize your notes.

Its local storage and offline access make it a reliable choice for those who value data privacy and control.

Each of these apps offers unique features and benefits, ensuring that there is a perfect fit for every type of user, whether you are a casual note-taker, a professional in high-meeting environments, a writer, or a knowledge worker.

Summary of Notes Apps for Mac

To help you make an informed decision, here is a summary of the note-taking apps for Mac discussed in this article, including their key features, costs, and the types of users they are best suited for.

App Name	Brief Description	Cost	Best For
Reflect	A minimalist yet high-performance note-taking app with integrated AI, calendar integration, and a dedicated task manager.	$120/year	Those seeking a luxury note-taking experience with advanced features and AI capabilities.
Apple Notes	A simple, intuitive app that integrates well with Apple devices, supports basic formatting, and includes features like Quick Notes and text recognition.	Free (with 5GB iCloud storage); paid plans starting at $0.99/month	Casual note-takers, students, and those deeply invested in the Apple ecosystem.
Granola	A meeting note-taker that uses AI for real-time transcription, integrates with calendars, and supports major meeting platforms.	Not specified	Professionals in high-meeting environments.
Bear	An app with a clean interface, advanced markup options, and a focus on writing. It requires a premium subscription for cross-device syncing.	Free; premium subscription $3/month or $30/year	Writers, content creators, and those who value a distraction-free writing environment.
Craft	A visually oriented app that uses a block-based interface, supports multimedia, and offers live collaboration and presentation features.	Free; premium features require subscription	Visual notetakers, those who need to present notes, and users who value aesthetics in their notes.
Notion	A powerful all-in-one workspace that includes note-taking, task management, databases, and collaboration tools.	Free for personal use; commercial plans starting from $50/year	Teams, professionals, and individuals who need a comprehensive productivity tool.
Obsidian	A robust knowledge base app that uses local text files, supports Markdown, and includes features like backlinking and a graph view.	Free; optional plugins and themes	Researchers, knowledge workers, and those who prefer a high degree of customization and control over their notes.
Simplenote	A minimalistic, cross-platform app that supports text notes and Markdown, with a focus on simplicity and ease of use.	Free	Users who prefer a simple, text-only note-taking experience across multiple platforms.
Upnote	An app that emphasizes organization through digital notebooks and tags, with a user-friendly editor and mobile app support.	Free; optional premium features	Users who need robust organization features and a clean interface.
OneNote	A traditional note-taking app with a paper notebook feel, supporting multiple formats and extensive collaboration features.	Free with 5GB OneDrive storage; Microsoft 365 starting at $9.99/month	Users who need powerful note-taking features and integration with Microsoft services.
Notebooks	An app that stores notes as HTML files, offering a beautiful interface, local storage, and easy import from other apps.	$33 one-time purchase	Users who value a beautiful interface and the flexibility of HTML files.
Joplin	A free and open-source app that stores notes locally, supports Markdown, and offers optional cloud syncing.	Free; Joplin Cloud service starts at 2.99€/month	Users who prioritize data privacy and control, and those looking for a free, open-source solution.
Anytype	A completely free app for personal use, offering a flexible and customizable note-taking experience with collaboration options.	Free for personal use; optional commercial plans	Users who need a flexible and customizable note-taking app with collaboration features.

This summary should help you quickly compare the features, costs, and suitability of each app, making it easier to choose the best note-taking app for your Mac.

Conclusion

In conclusion, selecting the best notes app for your Mac involves considering your specific needs, whether you are a student, professional, or writer. Reflect stands out as a top choice for its minimalist yet high-performance design, integrated AI, and robust features.

However, other apps like Apple Notes, Bear, Notion, and Obsidian also offer unique benefits that cater to different user preferences. When choosing a notes app, remember to evaluate its functionality, integration capabilities, and cost to ensure it aligns with your workflow and goals.

By doing so, you can enhance your productivity and streamline your note-taking process. Take the time to explore these options, and you will find the perfect tool to elevate your note-taking experience.

FAQ

Does Mac have a Notes app?

Yes, Mac is equipped with a Notes app known as Apple Notes, which comes preinstalled on all Apple devices, including Macs, and is free to use. If you just want to take basic notes, this is a great options for efficiency.

What do Mac users use instead of OneNote?

Mac users have several alternatives to OneNote, including:

Apple Notes: A built-in, free app for macOS and iOS with basic note-taking capabilities.

Reflect: A minimalist, luxury note-taking app that is highly performative.

Obsidian: A customizable, Markdown-based note-taking app.

Evernote: A feature-rich app with cross-platform compatibility.

Google Keep: A simple, synchronization note-taking app.

What is the best notepad for Mac?

The best notepad for Mac is often considered to be UPDF due to its smooth performance, affordability, and powerful features such as annotation, syncing, and the UPDF AI feature. It is highly rated and works seamlessly across all devices.

The Best Notes App for Mac in 2025