How do you take notes and remember all those important meetings, birthday parties, your kids’ soccer games, etc.? Do you still use and carry a notepad? Or do you utilize one of the note-taking apps that are available? There are merits of using a pen and notepad, but then you need to carry them around with you. With note-taking apps, all you need is your cell phone, which you’re already carrying around.
What is the best note-taking app that you can use? It depends on what you need it for. For example, are you looking for a note-taking app for personal use only? Or do you want an app that can serve you for both personal and business use, so that you don’t need to utilize multiple apps?
In this blog, we’ll be comparing two of the best note-taking apps; OneNote and Evernote. These two apps are both full-featured apps with multiple options that help you stay organized, track your thoughts, and collaborate with others (if needed).
| Features | Best for | Price | Supports | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OneNote |
|
Personal and business together (collaboration is a strong advantage) | Free; from $69/year for full Office 365 suite | iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Web |
| Evernote |
|
Personal use | Free; from $35/year Plus plan | iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Web |
1. OneNote
So, what exactly is OneNote? Simply put, OneNote is a versatile digital note-taking application that can be used for both personal and business use at the same time.
Handwritten or typed notes, screenshots or pictures, audio comments, and drawings – OneNote’s Cloud-based notetaking platform puts you in control of your notetaking process, providing you with a collaborative way to track your thoughts.
- For both personal and business use
Every notebook you start is automatically organized into various sections that contain pages – just like a physical notebook would be. You can have personal notebook and a separate notebook for your business use. Your personal notebook is only visible to you while the business notebook(s) can be shared with your entire team or selected individuals in your team.
- Collaboration is a strong advantage of OneNote
When using OneNote for business use, you can invite colleagues or clients to view and edit their notebooks, making collaboration easier and more efficient. Plus, OneNote doesn’t just track which changes have been made to the notes, but it will also keep track of who made those changes or edits. Evernote only shows you what changes have been made, but doesn’t keep track of who made them.
- Keep Sensitive Information Secure
OneNote allows you and your team the opportunity to password-protect their notebooks (or just individual sections of notebooks), so that you can keep your organization’s sensitive information secure. - Easily organize your notes and find the notes you need
You can add keywords to your notes and files, making it easier to search for them later on. Want to track and check off your progress as you work on a project? Add To-Do tags and lists to your notes.
2. Evernote
Evernote can capture quite notes if you’re on the go, can help you organize your digital life, and has the Evernote Web Clipper add-on, that makes it easy to clip anything from your browser and add it to your notebook.
- Mainly for personal use
Evernote does provide a business option with their service (called Evernote Business), however, most people using Evernote are doing so from a more personal perspective. - Clip Notes from the Web
While not unique to Evernote, as OneNote does have the capabilities of clipping notes from the Web, Evernote does provide a much more in-depth Web Clipping capability. If you’re browsing the Web and you want to remember something, you can click the browser extension and save highlights (or the entire page) to your notebook, as well as any notes that you might have taken about the page.
- Keep Sensitive Information Secure on the Go
Aside from keeping your account secure with a password, Evernote allows you the ability to lock your mobile app with a passcode, keeping it secure while you’re on the go. Evernote, however, does not allow for individual Notes or Pages to be locked/secured.
- Easily organize your notes and find the notes you need
With Evernote, you can add keywords to your notes and files, making it easier to search for them later on. Want to track and check off your progress as you work on a project? The paid Plus version allows you to add To-Do tags and lists to your notes (including any handwritten ones you’ve taken).
Which Note-Taking App Do You Choose?
Choosing between OneNote and Evernote depends on what you want and need from your note-taking app. Want something that’s more for personal use? Evernote’s a good bet. Want something that can take both personal and business notes? OneNote may be your better option.
Interested in OneNote? We can help you get started! Contact us today and take advantage of this incredible note-taking app, part of the Office 365 suite of products.
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