Best note taking apps for Mac in 2026: 10 apps compared on price, storage and export

What is the best note taking app for Mac?

It depends on what you need. The short version:

• Free and already installed: Apple Notes.
• Markdown writing on Apple devices: Bear.
• Markdown files you own, on any platform: Obsidian.
• Databases and team wikis: Notion.
• Polished documents you share: Craft.
• Free notebooks on a Mac and a Windows PC: OneNote.
• Web clipping and capture, at a price: Evernote.
• A one-time purchase: UpNote.
• Open source on every device: Joplin.
• Private, offline notes on your own computers: Koru.

Mac note taking apps compared: price, platforms and where your notes live

Prices are US list prices checked in October 2026. "Where notes live" means the main copy of your notes, not a local cache.

The free tiers of Evernote (50 notes), UpNote (50 notes) and Craft (1,500 blocks) are trials in practice, while Apple Notes, Obsidian, Joplin and Koru have no note limits. Check the last column before you commit years of notes to anything.

1. Apple Notes: the best free note taking app for Mac

Apple Notes is already on your Mac, it's free, and it syncs to your iPhone and iPad through iCloud, which includes 5 GB of free storage (Apple Support). It does more than people expect: drawings, audio transcripts, tables, tags, smart folders and locked notes.

It also got much easier to leave. On current macOS, Notes exports a note as PDF or Markdown, can copy a selection as Markdown, and imports Markdown, TXT, RTF, HTML and Evernote ENEX files (Apple Support). If you'd rather keep notes off iCloud entirely, you can turn on the On My Mac account; those notes stay on that Mac and don't sync to your other devices (Apple Support).

Pick it if you live on Apple devices and want notes that just work. Skip it if you need a real Windows or Android app, or want your notes as plain files in a folder.

2. Bear: the best Markdown writing app for Mac and iPhone

Bear is where many people go when Apple Notes feels plain: a Markdown editor with tags, wiki links and backlinks, and a calm interface that has won an Apple Design Award. It runs on Mac, iPhone and iPad only.

The free version has no sync. Bear Pro adds iCloud sync, encrypted notes, OCR search inside images and PDFs, and more export formats, for $2.99 a month or $29.99 a year, with a 7-day trial (Bear Help). Your notes sit in a SQLite database on your device, not as files (Bear Help), but the free version can still export to Markdown, TextBundle, TXT and RTF (Bear Help). Bear for Mac also ships a command-line tool and an MCP server, so AI tools like Claude can read and edit your notes (Bear Help).

Pick it if you write a lot and only use Apple devices. Skip it if you need Windows or Android, or plugins.

3. Obsidian: the best for Markdown files you own

Obsidian keeps your notes as Markdown files in a folder on your disk, which it calls a vault (Obsidian Help). Any other editor can open them, and nothing needs exporting if you leave. It's free for personal and work use with no sign-up, and it runs on Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android.

The reason people stay is the ecosystem: Obsidian's directory lists 9,419 community plugins and 936 themes (Obsidian). Sync is either free and yours to set up (iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Git) or Obsidian Sync, end-to-end encrypted, from $4 a month billed yearly or $5 monthly for one vault and 1 GB (Obsidian Sync).

Pick it if you want a long-term knowledge base and like setting up your tools. Skip it if you want something polished on day one without choosing plugins. More in Koru as an Obsidian alternative.

4. Notion: the best for databases and team wikis

Notion is less a notes app than a workspace of pages and databases, and it's very good at project trackers, wikis and shared docs. The Free plan costs nothing; Plus is $10 per member a month billed yearly, or $12 billed monthly (Notion Pricing).

The trade-off is that your notes live in Notion's cloud. Offline works only in the desktop and mobile apps, for pages you download one by one; paid plans also download recent and favorite pages automatically (Notion Help). Export covers Markdown and CSV, HTML and PDF.

Pick it if you share notes with a team or need databases. Skip it if offline access or keeping notes on your own Mac matters most. See Koru as a Notion alternative.

5. Craft: the best for polished documents you share

Craft started on the Mac and still feels like it: block-based documents that look designed rather than typed, with easy sharing by link. It now runs on Mac, iPhone, iPad, Windows, Android and the web, and on macOS it works offline out of the box (Craft Help).

The free plan stops at 1,500 blocks and 1 GB; Plus removes the limits for $8 a month, or $6.40 a month billed yearly (Craft Pricing). Documents are stored in Craft's cloud on AWS, encrypted at rest and in transit (Craft Help). On Mac and iOS you can keep a space in a local folder instead, but Craft warns it is not meant for multi-device use and turns off sharing there (Craft Help).

Pick it if you make documents other people read. Skip it if you need a large free tier. See Koru as a Craft alternative.

6. OneNote: the best free notebook if you also use Windows

OneNote is free on the Mac, with the familiar notebook, section and page tabs, and the same notebooks open on Windows, iPhone, Android and the web.

On a Mac, though, OneNote needs a Microsoft account and keeps notebooks in OneDrive; you can work offline from a cached copy that syncs when you reconnect (Microsoft Support). Local notebooks are a Windows-only feature, and the Mac app exports only to PDF, one page at a time (Microsoft Support).

Pick it if you switch between a Mac and a Windows PC and want something free. Skip it if you want notes stored on your Mac or an easy way out. Koru imports OneNote notebooks, including .onepkg files on a Mac; see Koru as a OneNote alternative.

7. Evernote: still strong at capture, if you will pay

Evernote still has one of the best web clippers, search inside documents, tasks and a calendar, with apps for Mac, Windows, iOS, Android and the web. But the free plan is now 50 notes, one notebook and one device (Evernote). Starter costs $14.99 a month or $99 a year, and Advanced $24.99 a month or $249.99 a year (Evernote Help).

Pick it if you clip a lot from the web and want notes and tasks together. Skip it if price is why you're looking. Background in Evernote's 2026 price increase and Koru as an Evernote alternative.

8. UpNote: the best cheap lifetime option

UpNote is a clean, Evernote-style app with notebooks, tags, a web clipper and offline access, on Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android. The free version stops at 50 notes. Premium is $1.99 a month or $39.99 once for a lifetime license, and exports to text, PDF, HTML and Markdown (UpNote).

Pick it if you want Evernote's shape without a subscription. Skip it if you want your notes stored as files or on your own devices only.

9. Joplin: the best open-source app on every device

Joplin is free and open source, runs on Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android, and syncs through the service you choose: Joplin Cloud, Dropbox, OneDrive and others. Joplin Cloud Basic is 2.99 EUR a month, or 2.40 EUR a month billed yearly (Joplin). It has plugins and a web clipper, though it feels less at home on a Mac than the native apps here.

Pick it if open source and phone apps both matter. Skip it if a native Mac feel is the point.

10. Koru: private, offline notes across Mac and Windows

Koru is the app I build. It's an offline-first notes workspace written in Rust: native, not Electron, and open source under MPL-2.0. Notes live in a local database on your Mac, and everything works with no connection.

Sync between your own computers is peer to peer, built on iroh, free and end-to-end encrypted. Optional cloud sync is $9.99 a month for 100 GB; end-to-end encryption covers device-to-device sync only. Free self-hosted sync is coming soon. It imports Evernote, Notion, OneNote (including .onepkg files on a Mac), Google Docs, Markdown and TextBundle, which Bear and Craft export, and exports Markdown and TextBundle. A built-in MCP server lets MCP clients like Claude work with your notes with no plugin or API key, and you can run Claude Code in a terminal tab next to your notes.

Skip it if you need an iPhone or iPad app, handwriting or shared team spaces. Koru runs on Mac and Windows today, mobile and Linux are coming soon, and the Mac app needs macOS 12 Monterey or later on Apple silicon (M1 or newer). Pick it if you want your notes on your own computers, Mac and PC alike. Download Koru for Mac.

Which Mac note apps keep your notes on your Mac?

Obsidian, Joplin and Koru keep the main copy of your notes on your device and work fully offline. Bear keeps its database on your Mac too, with iCloud only as the sync layer if you pay for Pro, and Apple Notes keeps notes in the On My Mac account on that Mac alone. OneNote, Evernote, Notion and Craft keep the main copy in their cloud and give you offline access to a local copy, with Notion the most limited.

If privacy is the reason you're choosing, look at sync, not just storage. Obsidian Sync and Koru's device-to-device sync are end-to-end encrypted. Bear syncs through Apple's CloudKit, which is end-to-end encrypted only if you turn on Advanced Data Protection, and even then note titles and tag names stay unencrypted (Bear Help). Our page on peer-to-peer sync explains how Koru's works.

How to switch note taking apps on a Mac without losing notes

1. Export from your old app before you cancel anything: Markdown or TextBundle from Bear, Markdown from Apple Notes, ENEX from the Evernote desktop app, Markdown and CSV from Notion.
2. Check what the new app imports. Koru imports Evernote, Notion, OneNote, Google Docs, Markdown and TextBundle; see what each importer keeps.
3. Import one test notebook first, and check images, attachments, tables and links between notes.
4. Keep the old app read-only for a few weeks until you're sure nothing is missing.

If you also have a Windows PC, the best note taking apps for Windows covers that side, and notes apps that sync between devices covers getting the two in step.

Frequently asked questions