B · out of 10
UpNote is an unfashionable, well-built notes app: nested notebooks, tags, links between notes, a clean editor with tables and maths, and sync that just works. The reason people move to it is the pricing. There is a lifetime purchase, which almost nobody else in this list still offers.
How it scores
Features25% of score
6.8Depth and breadth of what the app can do.
Ease of use20% of score
8.4Speed, polish and how long it takes to feel at home.
AI15% of score
3.6Quality and usefulness of the built-in AI, not just its presence.
Sync & reliability15% of score
8.0How dependably notes move between devices.
Value15% of score
9.2What you get for what you pay.
Platform coverage10% of score
7.6How many places you can actually use it.
Pricing
$2.99/month · $29.99/year · $39.99 one-time
Free tier: A monthly cap on new notes, with the full editor unlocked.
The lifetime unlock is around $39.99 and is the reason most people switch.
Platforms
- Windows
- macOS
- iOS
- Android
- Linux
- Web
33 tracked features supported
What it does well
- A lifetime price in a subscription-only category
- Nested notebooks plus tags plus note links covers most filing needs
- Fast, light and pleasant to type in
- Focus mode and typewriter scrolling for long writing
Where it falls short
- No AI worth counting
- No Linux or web client
- Small team, so features arrive slowly
- No end-to-end encryption
Our take
Boring in the best way, and the cheapest serious notes app on this list over five years.
Best for: Evernote refugees who refuse to pay monthly.
Feature by feature
Capture & input
How notes get into the app in the first place.
- Voice recording
- Audio transcription
- Speaker identification
- Meeting recording
- Handwriting / stylus
- Drawing canvas
- OCR / handwriting search
- Web clipperPartly
- Share extension
- Quick capture
- Images
- PDF & documentsPartly
- 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 assistant
- 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 text
- Code blocks
- Math / LaTeX
- Tables
- Find and replace
- Version historyPartly
- Note info
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 notesPartly
- Daily backup
- Import
- Export
- Public API
- 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 themes
- Multi-language
- Command palette
- Split viewPartly
- Focus mode
- Home screen widgets
- Apple Shortcuts
Compare with
All UpNote alternatives
UpNote vs Grape
Adds: AI agent with tools, AI memory
UpNote vs Notion
The all-in-one workspace that swallowed the note app category.
UpNote vs Obsidian
Plain markdown files on your disk, with a plugin ecosystem bolted on top.
UpNote vs Apple Notes
Already on your phone, and better than it has any right to be.