NERDY PICKS · NOTES & PRODUCTIVITY
Best Notes & Productivity tools
Organize notes, tasks and documents with AI help.
Prices checked Oct 26, 2026
Which notes & productivity tool should I start with?
If you want free, start with Obsidian, Mem, ClickUp. Organize notes, tasks and documents with AI help. Below you'll find 31 tools with what each one does, the free plan and the cheapest solo plan in US dollars, checked Oct 26, 2026.
| Tool | What it does | Free plan | Paid from | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Obsidian | Free note-taking app that keeps your notes as files on your own device, with optional paid sync. | Yes | Sync: US$5/month, or US$4/month on a yearly plan (US$48/year) | Oct 26, 2026 |
| Mem | AI notes app that organizes what you write and pulls out tasks and projects automatically. | Yes | Mem Plus: US$9/month | Oct 26, 2026 |
| ClickUp | All-in-one workspace for tasks, docs, goals and projects, with AI built in. | Yes | Unlimited: US$10/month, or US$7/month on a yearly plan (US$84/year) | Oct 26, 2026 |
| Reclaim.ai | AI calendar assistant that schedules focus time, tasks and habits around your meetings. | Yes | Starter: US$12/month, or US$10/month on a yearly plan (US$120/year) | Nov 1, 2026 |
| Sunsama | Daily planner that pulls in tasks from your apps and helps you plan a realistic day. | No | Pro: US$22/month, or US$17/month on a yearly plan (US$204/year) | Oct 26, 2026 |
| Akiflow | Collects tasks from your apps into one inbox and lets you time-block them on your calendar. | No | Pro: US$34/month, or US$19/month on a yearly plan (US$228/year) | Oct 26, 2026 |
| Craft | Notes and documents app with polished pages and an AI assistant. | Yes | Plus: US$8/month, or US$6.40/month on a yearly plan | Oct 25, 2026 |
| mymind | Private place to save notes, links, images and ideas that sorts them for you automatically. | Unclear | Student of Life: US$7.99/month, or US$6.58/month on a yearly plan (US$79/year) | Oct 26, 2026 |
| Tana | Notes and outliner that also records meetings and turns them into organized notes and tasks. | Yes | Pro: US$25/month (promo), or US$20/month on a yearly plan (US$240/year) (promo) | Nov 1, 2026 |
| Capacities | Notes app that organizes your notes as linked objects like people, books and ideas. | Yes | Capacities Pro: US$11.99/month, or US$9.99/month on a yearly plan | Oct 30, 2026 |
| TickTick | To-do list and calendar app with reminders, habits and a focus timer. | Yes | Premium: US$4.17/month | Oct 26, 2026 |
| Heptabase | Visual note-taking app for mapping ideas on whiteboards and building a knowledge base. | Unclear | Pro: US$11.99/month, or US$8.99/month on a yearly plan | Oct 26, 2026 |
| Goodnotes | Digital notebook for handwriting and typing notes and marking up PDFs, with AI help. | Yes | Essential: US$1/month | Oct 26, 2026 |
| Evernote | Long-running notes app for capturing, clipping and searching notes across devices. | Yes | Starter: US$14.99/month, or US$8.25/month on a yearly plan (US$99/year) | Oct 25, 2026 |
| Todoist | Simple to-do list app for organizing personal and team tasks. | Yes | Pro: US$7/month, or US$5/month on a yearly plan (US$60/year) | Oct 26, 2026 |
| Motion | AI planner that builds your daily schedule from your tasks, meetings and deadlines. | No | Pro AI: US$49/month, or US$29/month on a yearly plan (US$348/year) | Oct 26, 2026 |
| Taskade | Workspace for tasks and notes with AI agents and automations, and apps built from a prompt. | Yes | Pro: US$20/month, or US$10/month on a yearly plan (US$120/year) | Oct 26, 2026 |
| Bear | Clean, simple notes app for Apple devices using easy formatting. | Yes | Bear Pro: US$2.99/month, or US$2.50/month on a yearly plan (US$29.99/year) | Oct 26, 2026 |
| Asana | Task and project tracker for individuals and teams. | Yes | Starter: US$13.49/month, or US$10.99/month on a yearly plan | Oct 26, 2026 |
| Trello | Simple boards and cards to organize tasks and projects. | Yes | Standard: US$6/month, or US$5/month on a yearly plan (US$60/year) | Oct 26, 2026 |
| Miro | Online whiteboard for brainstorming, diagrams and planning together. | Yes | Starter: US$10/month, or US$8/month on a yearly plan (US$96/year) | Oct 26, 2026 |
| Whimsical | Quick flowcharts, mind maps and docs in one workspace. | Yes | Pro: US$12/month, or US$10/month on a yearly plan (US$120/year) | Oct 26, 2026 |
| Grammarly | Checks grammar and clarity and helps rewrite text wherever you type. | Yes | Pro: US$30/month, or US$12/month on a yearly plan (US$144/year) | Oct 26, 2026 |
| Google Gemini | Google's AI assistant, built into Gmail, Docs and other Google apps. | Yes | Google AI Plus: US$4.99/month | Nov 1, 2026 |
| Microsoft Copilot | Microsoft's AI assistant, free on its own and built into Microsoft 365 apps. | Yes | Microsoft 365 Personal: US$9.99/month, or US$8.33/month on a yearly plan (US$99.99/year) | Oct 30, 2026 |
| Read AI | Summarizes meetings, email and chats and lets you search across them. | Yes | Pro: US$19.75/month, or US$15/month on a yearly plan (US$180/year) | Oct 26, 2026 |
| Granola | Takes notes from your computer's audio during meetings, without a bot joining the call. | Yes | Business: US$14/month | Oct 30, 2026 |
| Notion | Workspace for notes, docs, wikis and simple databases, with built-in AI. | Yes | Plus: US$12/month, or US$10/month on a yearly plan (US$120/year) | Oct 26, 2026 |
| Smartsheet | Spreadsheet-style work management for tracking projects, tasks and workflows. | Unclear | Pro: US$12/month, or US$9/month on a yearly plan (US$108/year) | Oct 26, 2026 |
| Excalidraw | Hand-drawn style whiteboard for quick diagrams, free to use. | Yes | Excalidraw+: US$7/month, or US$6/month on a yearly plan (US$72/year) | Oct 26, 2026 |
| Wispr Flow | Voice dictation that turns your speech into clean, formatted text in any app on Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android. | Yes | Pro: US$15/month, or US$12/month on a yearly plan (US$144/year) | Oct 30, 2026 |
All 31 tools
Obsidian
Free note-taking app that keeps your notes as files on your own device, with optional paid sync.
Free plan: Yes: App is free without limits; no sign-up required.
Paid from: Sync: US$5/month, or US$4/month on a yearly plan (US$48/year)
Cheaper or similar: Capacities, Heptabase
Checked Oct 26, 2026
Mem
AI notes app that organizes what you write and pulls out tasks and projects automatically.
Free plan: Yes: Free plan: 25 new notes per month.
Paid from: Mem Plus: US$9/month
Cheaper or similar: Capacities, Notion
Checked Oct 26, 2026
ClickUp
All-in-one workspace for tasks, docs, goals and projects, with AI built in.
Free plan: Yes: Free Forever plan with unlimited members.
Paid from: Unlimited: US$10/month, or US$7/month on a yearly plan (US$84/year)
Discounts: Save up to 33% with yearly billing.
Cheaper or similar: Notion, Taskade
Checked Oct 26, 2026
Reclaim.ai
AI calendar assistant that schedules focus time, tasks and habits around your meetings.
Free plan: Yes: Free Lite plan.
Paid from: Starter: US$12/month, or US$10/month on a yearly plan (US$120/year)
Discounts: Yearly billing saves 20%; a 'today-only' 30% new-user offer was bannered on Oct 25, 2026.
Cheaper or similar: Motion, Akiflow
Checked Nov 1, 2026
Sunsama
Daily planner that pulls in tasks from your apps and helps you plan a realistic day.
Free plan: No
Paid from: Pro: US$22/month, or US$17/month on a yearly plan (US$204/year)
Cheaper or similar: Akiflow, Motion
Checked Oct 26, 2026
Akiflow
Collects tasks from your apps into one inbox and lets you time-block them on your calendar.
Free plan: No
Paid from: Pro: US$34/month, or US$19/month on a yearly plan (US$228/year)
Discounts: Save 44% with yearly billing.
Cheaper or similar: Sunsama, Reclaim.ai
Checked Oct 26, 2026
Craft
Notes and documents app with polished pages and an AI assistant.
Free plan: Yes: Free plan: 1 GB storage, 15 AI credits.
Paid from: Plus: US$8/month, or US$6.40/month on a yearly plan
Cheaper or similar: Notion, Capacities
Checked Oct 25, 2026
mymind
Private place to save notes, links, images and ideas that sorts them for you automatically.
Free plan: Unclear: Not stated on the pricing page as read.
Paid from: Student of Life: US$7.99/month, or US$6.58/month on a yearly plan (US$79/year)
Discounts: Yearly billing shown as saving about 20%.
Cheaper or similar: Capacities, Notion
Checked Oct 26, 2026
Tana
Notes and outliner that also records meetings and turns them into organized notes and tasks.
Free plan: Yes: Free plan: 5 meetings a month with AI transcripts, 50 AI queries.
Paid from: Pro: US$25/month (promo), or US$20/month on a yearly plan (US$240/year) (promo)
Discounts: Early-bird pricing on Pro (regular $30 yearly / $35 monthly).
Cheaper or similar: Notion, Mem
Checked Nov 1, 2026
Capacities
Notes app that organizes your notes as linked objects like people, books and ideas.
Free plan: Yes: Basic plan free forever.
Paid from: Capacities Pro: US$11.99/month, or US$9.99/month on a yearly plan
Discounts: Yearly billing saves 16%; students 40% off annual Pro.
Cheaper or similar: Obsidian, Heptabase
Checked Oct 30, 2026
TickTick
To-do list and calendar app with reminders, habits and a focus timer.
Free plan: Yes: Free plan with cross-platform sync.
Paid from: Premium: US$4.17/month
Cheaper or similar: Todoist, ClickUp
Checked Oct 26, 2026
Heptabase
Visual note-taking app for mapping ideas on whiteboards and building a knowledge base.
Free plan: Unclear: Not shown on the pricing page.
Paid from: Pro: US$11.99/month, or US$8.99/month on a yearly plan
Discounts: Yearly billing saves 25%.
Cheaper or similar: Obsidian, Capacities
Checked Oct 26, 2026
Goodnotes
Digital notebook for handwriting and typing notes and marking up PDFs, with AI help.
Free plan: Yes: Free forever: up to 3 files, 20 minutes of audio recording.
Paid from: Essential: US$1/month
Discounts: 7-day free trial on paid plans.
Cheaper or similar: Notion, Mem
Checked Oct 26, 2026
Evernote
Long-running notes app for capturing, clipping and searching notes across devices.
Free plan: Yes: Free plan available.
Paid from: Starter: US$14.99/month, or US$8.25/month on a yearly plan (US$99/year)
Discounts: 7-day free trial on paid plans.
Cheaper or similar: Notion, Obsidian
Checked Oct 25, 2026
Todoist
Simple to-do list app for organizing personal and team tasks.
Free plan: Yes: Free plan available.
Paid from: Pro: US$7/month, or US$5/month on a yearly plan (US$60/year)
Discounts: Lower per-month price with yearly billing.
Cheaper or similar: TickTick, ClickUp
Checked Oct 26, 2026
Motion
AI planner that builds your daily schedule from your tasks, meetings and deadlines.
Free plan: No
Paid from: Pro AI: US$49/month, or US$29/month on a yearly plan (US$348/year)
Discounts: Pay annually saves 33%.
Cheaper or similar: Reclaim.ai, Sunsama
Checked Oct 26, 2026
Taskade
Workspace for tasks and notes with AI agents and automations, and apps built from a prompt.
Free plan: Yes: Free plan: 10 automation runs a month.
Paid from: Pro: US$20/month, or US$10/month on a yearly plan (US$120/year)
Discounts: Yearly billing saves $120 a year on Pro.
Cheaper or similar: ClickUp, Notion
Checked Oct 26, 2026
Bear
Clean, simple notes app for Apple devices using easy formatting.
Free plan: Yes: Free with basic features.
Paid from: Bear Pro: US$2.99/month, or US$2.50/month on a yearly plan (US$29.99/year)
Discounts: Yearly saves 15% (may vary by country).
Cheaper or similar: Obsidian, Craft
Checked Oct 26, 2026
Asana
Task and project tracker for individuals and teams.
Free plan: Yes: Free forever.
Paid from: Starter: US$13.49/month, or US$10.99/month on a yearly plan
Cheaper or similar: ClickUp, Trello
Some details on this one weren't confirmed on the official pricing page, so we left them blank.
Checked Oct 26, 2026
Trello
Simple boards and cards to organize tasks and projects.
Free plan: Yes: Free plan.
Paid from: Standard: US$6/month, or US$5/month on a yearly plan (US$60/year)
Discounts: Lower per-user price with annual billing.
Cheaper or similar: Asana, ClickUp
Checked Oct 26, 2026
Miro
Online whiteboard for brainstorming, diagrams and planning together.
Free plan: Yes: Free plan.
Paid from: Starter: US$10/month, or US$8/month on a yearly plan (US$96/year)
Discounts: Lower per-member price with yearly billing.
Cheaper or similar: Excalidraw, Whimsical
Checked Oct 26, 2026
Whimsical
Quick flowcharts, mind maps and docs in one workspace.
Free plan: Yes: Free: up to 50 board objects and 50 doc blocks per month.
Paid from: Pro: US$12/month, or US$10/month on a yearly plan (US$120/year)
Discounts: Annual billing saves 17%.
Cheaper or similar: Miro, Excalidraw
Checked Oct 26, 2026
Grammarly
Checks grammar and clarity and helps rewrite text wherever you type.
Free plan: Yes: Basic corrections plus 100 AI prompts/month.
Paid from: Pro: US$30/month, or US$12/month on a yearly plan (US$144/year)
Discounts: Annual billing cuts the monthly cost by more than half; quarterly option $60; free trial; education and institution plans.
Cheaper or similar: QuillBot, Rytr
Checked Oct 26, 2026
Google Gemini
Google's AI assistant, built into Gmail, Docs and other Google apps.
Free plan: Yes: Free Gemini app with basic model access.
Paid from: Google AI Plus: US$4.99/month
Discounts: Family sharing included. Google AI Pro billed yearly is US$199.99/year (about US$16.67/month) on Google One's official US plans page; the yearly price of Google AI Plus (US$4.99/month, 400 GB) is still not published. US college students: 12 months of Google AI Pro free (redeem by Dec 31, 2026; student verification and a payment method required; renews at US$19.99/month).
Cheaper or similar: Microsoft Copilot, DeepSeek
Some details on this one weren't confirmed on the official pricing page, so we left them blank.
Checked Nov 1, 2026
Microsoft Copilot
Microsoft's AI assistant, free on its own and built into Microsoft 365 apps.
Free plan: Yes: Free Copilot app and web chat.
Paid from: Microsoft 365 Personal: US$9.99/month, or US$8.33/month on a yearly plan (US$99.99/year)
Discounts: Save up to 17% yearly; 1-month free trial; Workplace Discount Program; student offers. Business: Copilot add-on promo US$18 (was US$21) per user/month paid yearly, Jul 1-Dec 31, 2026, first year.
Cheaper or similar: Google Gemini
Checked Oct 30, 2026
Read AI
Summarizes meetings, email and chats and lets you search across them.
Free plan: Yes: 5 meeting transcripts per month.
Paid from: Pro: US$19.75/month, or US$15/month on a yearly plan (US$180/year)
Discounts: 25% off with annual billing.
Cheaper or similar: Otter.ai, Fireflies.ai
Checked Oct 26, 2026
Granola
Takes notes from your computer's audio during meetings, without a bot joining the call.
Free plan: Yes: Basic plan at $0 per user per month with limited meeting history; voice typing (dictation into any app) included.
Paid from: Business: US$14/month
Cheaper or similar: Tactiq, Bluedot
Checked Oct 30, 2026
Notion
Workspace for notes, docs, wikis and simple databases, with built-in AI.
Free plan: Yes: Free plan.
Paid from: Plus: US$12/month, or US$10/month on a yearly plan (US$120/year)
Cheaper or similar: Airtable
Some details on this one weren't confirmed on the official pricing page, so we left them blank.
Checked Oct 26, 2026
Smartsheet
Spreadsheet-style work management for tracking projects, tasks and workflows.
Free plan: Unclear: Free trial offered; free plan not confirmed.
Paid from: Pro: US$12/month, or US$9/month on a yearly plan (US$108/year)
Discounts: Lower per-member price with yearly billing.
Cheaper or similar: Airtable, Grist
Checked Oct 26, 2026
Excalidraw
Hand-drawn style whiteboard for quick diagrams, free to use.
Free plan: Yes: Free forever: full editor, 1 scene, unlimited collaborators.
Paid from: Excalidraw+: US$7/month, or US$6/month on a yearly plan (US$72/year)
Discounts: Save 14% with annual billing.
Cheaper or similar: Miro, Whimsical
Checked Oct 26, 2026
Wispr Flow
Voice dictation that turns your speech into clean, formatted text in any app on Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android.
Free plan: Yes: Free plan: dictation in any app, 100+ languages; 2,000 words a week on desktop and limited weekly use on mobile; limited Notetaker access.
Paid from: Pro: US$15/month, or US$12/month on a yearly plan (US$144/year)
Discounts: 20% off with annual billing.
Cheaper or similar: Otter.ai, Tactiq
Checked Oct 30, 2026
Other jobs
FAQ
What's the best free notes & productivity tool?
25 of the 31 notes & productivity tools here have a free plan, including Obsidian, Mem, ClickUp, Reclaim.ai. Start with the one whose job description matches yours, and check the free-plan limits in each card before you commit.
What's the cheapest paid notes & productivity tool?
Of the prices we could confirm, Goodnotes is cheapest: its Essential plan is US$1/month. Next is Bear: its Bear Pro plan is US$2.99/month, or US$2.50/month on a yearly plan (US$29.99/year). Prices are in US dollars before tax, checked Oct 26, 2026.
How do you check these prices?
We read each tool's official pricing page (or the maker's own help pages) in US dollars before tax, and note the date. If a price isn't shown clearly, we leave it blank rather than guess.
Want to spend less? Tick the tools you pay for in the Nerdy Savings calculator.