# Top Note-Taking Apps for 2026 - Channel: [Tool Finder](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYyaQsm2HyneP9CsIOdihBw) - Published: 2026-05-20 - Source video: [Watch on YouTube](https://youtube.com/watch?v=6qnOTjap1PQ) - Read on ReadTube: https://www.read.tube/p/videos/6qnOTjap1PQ - Language: Original (source language) ## Summary **Top Note-Taking Apps for 2026** The video argues that AI has transformed note-taking, making capture, organization, and retrieval far more automatic than in the past. It recommends a range of apps for different needs, from team collaboration and knowledge management to student study tools and visual planning. The creator says the note-taking market has shifted sharply for 2026: typing notes is now the minimum, and the best apps use AI to transcribe voice, understand screenshots, organize content automatically, and let users chat with their notes. The recommendations are framed around being more AI-proof and more useful for different workflows, rather than around simple text capture. The main picks include Notion for all-in-one teamwork and AI chat plus collaboration, Google NotebookLM for combining many sources into one notebook and turning them into interactive outputs, Tanner for power users who want a hybrid of traditional PKM structure and AI agents, and Capacities for object-based note-taking with built-in AI, back links, daily notes, and graph view. RemNote is highlighted as the best student option because it combines note-taking, PDFs, and flashcards for active learning, while XTiles is suggested for people who want a more visual, customizable canvas and dashboard approach. Recall is recommended for people who capture podcasts, videos, and saved items throughout the day and want automatic organization plus quizzes and question answering. The final recommendations are Obsidian and Craft. Obsidian is presented as the strongest local, on-device PKM tool, now made more powerful by AI integrations, while Craft is praised for its polished design, growing feature set, databases, and new AI agents. The video closes by saying note-takers now split into two camps: AI-driven tools aimed at productivity and more traditional tools that support a mindful, manual note-taking practice. ## Article ### How note-taking apps changed from simple typing to AI-powered systems The last time I did an overview of the best note-taking apps, everything was very different. There wasn't as much AI as we have today. And in the last 20 years, it was pretty much the case with the note-taker of what it did and how it works. But the tables have turned. And for 2026, typing notes in is pretty much the bare minimum you get with a note-taker. The best note-taking apps can now help organize your notes. They can summarize meetings and action items, and they can even let you chat with your notes like a teammate, too. The note-taking folder system is dead, and AI is coming for that. And in today's video, I wanted to summarize some of the best note-taking apps on the market today. Ones that are a little bit more AI proof, too, and ones that fit your needs as well. All the links will be below to all of these apps because I've secured some special rates for you guys. Today's video sponsored by Setup. More about them later on. Before we just jump in, I think it's important to look at how AI has changed note-taking. And there's a few different ways it has. The first is that capture is now a lot cheaper, meaning that being able to send in a voice note, it can be transcribed using AI. Screenshots can be understood like they've never been before. There's no more that passing of information so much easier. And the second is that organization got even more automatic. A lot of the top AI note-takers now organize your notes for you based on past notes and the context that's in the note itself. And finally, retrieval of notes got so much easier. Being able to ask the AI about what the note is that you need to find, be able to find it, is going to save you a vast amount of time, especially when notes come along with you. ### Notion: the all-in-one database with strong AI and collaboration First on our list is Notion. Now, Notion is the all-in-one database. It's mainly a tool for teams now. It's very much being packaged up like that. But I definitely think it's starting to lead in the AI note-taking space primarily because of the chat bots that are on the side. Now, pages, database, AI, it's all in the tool, but the sidebar can help you to use the regular agent to be able to correspond with your notes and start doing actions for you. For example, the other day I was trying to get started with just bringing together a way to track something and I just typed it in and it was automatically able to bring that to life which I really liked. It also has more capabilities with AI meeting note takers and there are new abilities with custom agents which you could play around with which can help do things for you. But I think what the extra layer is is the collaboration element of this. Notion does collaboration really well if you wanted to share your notes around. Now, don't get me wrong, Notion used to be a lot slower and now it's a lot faster with offline mode. It's definitely come quite high in the rankings as an AI note-taker. ### Google Notebook LM: connect sources and turn them into useful outputs Next up is one that I thought I wouldn't mention is one called Google Notebook LM. For many people, being able to create notes is very helpful, but many people do it in a very fragmented way. They create a notebook, they add all the stuff, and maybe that notebook doesn't go anywhere. But with Google Notebook LM, you can add a lot of different sources to one notebook in a range of different formats and then be able to converse with it and turn it into quite useful outputs like a presentation or a podcast that you can actually interact with. I definitely think that this is the future of notetaking. Being able to converse with your ideas and then turn them into things is definitely a thing of the future. Now, Notebook LM is free, but they have some optional plans that you can upgrade to, and they do give you further capabilities. I believe it's part of Google 1 setup, which is their pricing plan. So, I'll include that below, too. ### Tanner: structure plus AI agents for power users Number three is a combination between a PKM old style tool and an AI universe tool. So, this one's called Tanner, and it's an AI first power user notetaking application. And I think it does a great job of putting together that old structure and also the AI abilities. It has these things called memos where you can send in these memos and the AI will pass the information and turn it into relevant items using super tags and it will start doing automations as well. So it's just like a weird combination between an outlier, an AI tool and a traditional PKM tool. This one's available through Mac, Windows, web, iOS, and Android. And it does come, I believe, at just over $10 per month. But I think that combination of structure combined with AI agents is something that makes Tanner quite unique. Now, I don't say I understand it, but I think it's a very powerful tool that if you go deep in, it can give you a lot of rewards back. ### Capacities: object-based note-taking with reusable building blocks Next up is Capacities. Now, Capacities has impressed me a lot over the years, and it's primarily because of something called object-based note-taking. Everything you add inside of Capacities can be turned into an object, and that object can be reused. Like a studio of your objects. You can bring all different types of things into your world and it's very much a representation of how you would view a note-taking app if it was in the physical world. Everything has its role and responsibility. Obviously, that comes with a lot of micromanagement of your own system. But at the same time, I think that Capacities is playground for helping you set up how your brain actually thinks. They have a built-in AI system which allows you to bring your API key as well and allows you to help summarize, draft, and bring together knowledge and even have Q&A with your notes. It has daily notes, backlinks, and it even has a graph view which make it a strong option as a PKM tool. Now, it's really fast, it's really reliable, and it's not crazy in price. The free plan is good, but the premium plans also not completely out of reach. You can get started for an extended 30 days with Capacities as part of Toolfinder. You'll find that linked below. ### RemNote: the student note-taking app built around notes and flashcards So, next up is a student-based note-taking app and it's called RemNote. Now, this one is super fantastic if you're a student that wants to go to the next level. The main reason behind this is there's loads of different of these flashcard apps, but RemNote combines the ability to take notes in lessons with things like PDFs that your lecturer might send you or maybe even slide deck or any attachment that you need. And it combines it with the power of flashcards allowing you to learn at the same time as you're developing your knowledge on that topic. I think that because it's got an outliner setup as well, it means that you can use these flashcards once you've got going as well. It also has image flashcards in the premium plan, which means that you can turn your images into flashcards as well. So, if you're studying biology and you want to work out what bone is in a skeleton, you can have that as well, which is a great feature. It comes at a really reasonable pricing plan. I think it's free with $8 a month to get started. And I believe they have an even more premium pricing that you can pay for if you're doing say a PhD or a master's degree that is over a certain amount of years. This one is probably the best inclass student note taker out there. I've reviewed other tools as well like Cocoonote, which is an iOS app which can help you to take notes during your lectures as well. But I personally think the way these guys have done flashcards and note-taking, it is much better for students. Again, I think you can get a discount with us. I believe we have a good rate. So, find it linked below. ### Setup: a smarter way to manage Mac apps and subscriptions Quick question. How many individual subscriptions are you paying for right now on your Mac device? Because there is actually a smarter way. Setup is a marketplace with hundreds of handpicked Mac apps. You can buy just the ones you need or you can get a membership with access to all of them. Clean My Mac keeps your system fast. Bartender declutters your menu bar. Alente Pro protects your battery. And it's total budget control. You can pick what works for your workflow without overpaying for apps you don't use. Setup is offering an extended 30-day trial. Links right in the top of description. Check it out there. ### XTiles: customizable visual note-taking, planning, and mood boarding So, the next one is XTiles. Now, many people like Notion, but they want to sort of make it a little bit more customizable. And that's where XTiles comes in. These guys are like tile-based canvas where you can actually bring together all of your notes, plans, and even your calendar. And there's loads of different premium templates which can help you to bring that to life. There's a free form canvas and a dashboard tool which helps you to plan the structure of them. To be honest, this one is probably most like a room. It helps you to organize how you want your room to look and go from there. There's a free plan. They do Mac, iOS, Android, and on Windows as well. And the pro pricing starts at $8 per month. This one is really great for combining that visual note-taking with mood boarding too. ### Other visual note-takers worth checking out Now, some quick mentions of other apps as well here. Heepase, Scrintle, Milan notes are all great visual note takers. I've actually done an article about visual note takers if you're looking for something that's going to help you to moodboard out your ideas. Well worth checking out in the link in description. ### Recall: auto-organizing captured media, bookmarks, and learning materials Next up is one called Recall. I mentioned Google Notebook LM earlier, but if you're somebody that captures podcast, YouTube, and you just capture stuff across the day, like bookmarks or whatever, then Recall is a great option for you. The reason I like Recall is because it auto organizes all of the different notes you take, whether that's a podcast or a sports show that you watch, whatever it may be, it brings it and organizes it for you. You can turn all of them into an output, you could turn it into a quiz, or even just be able to ask questions on it. This one's great when it comes to space repetition as well because it's great for learning at the same time as deepening that knowledge by capturing more stuff as you go. They recently had a fairly big update as well and that added a lot more capabilities. This one has a free trial but I believe is a premium pricing. So do check the link out in description. Believe we got a pretty healthy discount for free and is part of Toolfinder premium users. ### Obsidian: local, secure PKM with graph and canvas views Now my last two options are really good tools. The first one is Obsidian. The second one is one called Craft. Now, Obsidian is the ultimate PKM tool, but more recently, it's become even more powerful. Some people have been connecting Obsidian's PKM abilities, like being able to connect notes together, create a graph view, and even a canvas view for expressing ideas, but combining it with something called Clawed Code in order to get the power of AI inside of their note-taking app. The difference with Obsidian is it's local and on device which means that the storage of your information is part of your computer which makes it safer and more secure. Now Obsidian does have a pricing plan but it's more for those who want to secure their notes and be able to use them across devices. ### Craft: a beautiful note app growing fast with databases and AI agents And finally, Craft has really grown in the last few years has been adding features left, right, and center. Capabilities like databases, tables are now much more accessible, but primarily they've got more AI abilities with Craft agents that they also released on the side as a separate project. The AI abilities are getting much better and I believe they've got a really impressive team that's going to help them get there really, really fast. It's a very beautiful app on iOS, Mac, and it's also more recently come to web, I believe, as well from my memory. So well worth checking out and I believe we got a really hefty discount of about 40% linked below too. ### The two camps of note-taking: AI productivity versus mindfulness So those were a lot of different note takers and to be honest the world is changing with our notes and I think they're two different camps of people. I think that's a very traditional system the AI system of sort of going after the productivity goal. Whereas the other one the nonAI is very much more of a mindfulness task. It's the act of taking notes for the sake of it and not some different goal or output that they want. So do bear that in mind as you look at these note-taking apps. AI is obviously going to be a big factor in your choices. So thank you for so much for stopping by. I do want to mention that I include some notable recommendations in the link in description. Ones like Logyote and many more will be found there. So check them out too. Thanks very much for subscribing. A huge thanks to Setup for sponsoring this video. And I will see you in a separate video. Cheerio folks. Do subscribe. See you soon.