Google Keep

Sticky notes that sync everywhere and never get in the way.

By Google · since 2013 · keep.google.com

7.1

B · out of 10

Keep is a wall of coloured cards: short notes, checklists, photos and voice memos that transcribe themselves. There are no folders, only labels and pins, which keeps it fast and hard limits how far it scales. It is the fastest capture tool on Android and one of the weakest places to write anything long.

How it scores

  • Features25% of score

    5.4

    Depth and breadth of what the app can do.

  • Ease of use20% of score

    8.6

    Speed, polish and how long it takes to feel at home.

  • AI15% of score

    4.4

    Quality and usefulness of the built-in AI, not just its presence.

  • Sync & reliability15% of score

    8.8

    How dependably notes move between devices.

  • Value15% of score

    9.4

    What you get for what you pay.

  • Platform coverage10% of score

    6.4

    How many places you can actually use it.

Pricing

No paid plan

Free tier: Everything, free. Attachments use your Google account storage.

Bundled with Google Workspace, but there is no paid Keep tier to buy.

Platforms

  • Windows
  • macOS
  • iOS
  • Android
  • Linux
  • Web

23 tracked features supported

What it does well

  • Voice memos transcribe themselves the moment you stop talking
  • Image text search works better than it should for a free tool
  • Shared notes update live, which makes it a great shopping list
  • Widgets and Android integration are genuinely fast

Where it falls short

  • No folders, so a few hundred notes becomes a mess
  • Formatting is minimal and there is no markdown
  • Export means Google Takeout, which is a chore
  • Google has a history of retiring products like this one

Our take

Perfect as a scratchpad, wrong as a home for anything you care about keeping organised.

Best for: Quick capture, lists and reminders rather than a knowledge base.

Genuinely freeMinimal & fast

Feature by feature

YesPartlyVia pluginNo

Capture & input

How notes get into the app in the first place.

  • Voice recording
  • Audio transcription
  • Speaker identification
  • Meeting recording
  • Handwriting / stylusPartly
  • Drawing canvas
  • OCR / handwriting search
  • Web clipper
  • Share extension
  • Quick capture
  • Images
  • PDF & documents
  • Document scanning

Organization

How notes are structured, linked and found again.

  • Tags
  • Folders / notebooks
  • Multi-level folders
  • Internal links
  • Backlinks
  • Graph view
  • Databases / boards
  • Daily notes / journal
  • Note templates
  • Saved searches
  • Pins / favorites
  • Merge notes

AI

Assistants, generators and meaning-based search.

  • AI chat / writing assistantPartly
  • AI agent with tools
  • Custom AI agents
  • Semantic search
  • AI web search
  • Connected apps for AI
  • Prompt templates
  • Custom AI instructions
  • AI memory
  • Scheduled AI tasks
  • Flashcard generator
  • Spaced repetition
  • Quiz generator
  • Fill in the blank
  • Mind maps
  • AI image generation
  • Infographic generator
  • Slide deck generator
  • AI mini apps
  • Brainrot video generator
  • AI audio overview
  • Bring your own model
  • AI job notifications

Writing & editing

What the editor itself can actually do.

  • Markdown
  • Rich textPartly
  • Code blocks
  • Math / LaTeX
  • Tables
  • Find and replace
  • Version history
  • Note infoPartly

Sync & data ownership

Where your notes live and how easily they leave.

  • Cloud sync
  • Sync through your own cloud
  • Offline support
  • Offline-first / own your data
  • Self-hosting
  • End-to-end encryption
  • Locked notes
  • Daily backup
  • Import
  • ExportPartly
  • Public APIPartly
  • Command line tool
  • Remote MCP server
  • Plugins / extensions

Sharing & collaboration

Working with other people inside your notes.

  • Share with people
  • Real-time collaboration
  • Comments
  • Public sharing

Experience

The everyday polish around the writing surface.

  • Dark mode
  • Custom themesPartly
  • Multi-language
  • Command palette
  • Split view
  • Focus mode
  • Home screen widgets
  • Apple Shortcuts

Compare with

All Google Keep alternatives

Google Keep vs Grape

Adds: AI agent with tools, AI memory

9.0

Google Keep vs Obsidian

Plain markdown files on your disk, with a plugin ecosystem bolted on top.

8.4

Google Keep vs Apple Notes

Already on your phone, and better than it has any right to be.

8.1

Google Keep vs Craft

Documents that look designed before you touch anything.

8.1