Choosing among OneNote, Evernote, Bear, and Simplenote

This article was first published on August 20, 2018, on the LIZHI.SHOP blog (lizhi.io, now offline). It is being republished with appropriate adjustments.

Recently, Yinxiang broke away from Evernote and began developing independently in China. The new Yinxiang will add Markdown and other features to meet the needs of users in China. However, more features does not mean better; the one that suits you is more worth pursuing.

LIZHI.SHOP selected 4 note apps, each with its own strengths, hoping to help everyone choose the one that suits them best. If you are looking for note app recommendations, you can also start by considering your own note-taking habits, platform needs, and organization methods.

OneNote

OneNote is part of Microsoft's Office suite. Although it is not the best known among them, it is very powerful. It supports Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android, making it suitable for users who need cross-platform note-taking and complex knowledge organization.

Pros

• OneNote notes use a "Notebook > Section Group > Section > Page" framework, which can break down complex, in-depth knowledge layer by layer;

• Canvas-style pages allow free text editing and make it easy to draw shapes, without being constrained by "lines";

• The "Dock to Desktop" feature makes it easy to take notes while referencing web pages or other apps (Windows only);

• Can link with Word, PowerPoint, and other Office apps for document annotations.

Cons

• Note syncing is slow;

• Note pages do not support "tag" management, making note content difficult to organize horizontally.

How to use: OneNote can be installed and used on its own. It is suitable for users who want to organize notes within an Office workflow.

Yinxiang

Yinxiang has always been very popular. It has many features and fast syncing, and with third-party apps it can easily gather information. It supports Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android, making it suitable for users who need to centrally organize web content and daily information.

Pros

• Uses a "notebook + tags" approach to manage notes from multiple dimensions,

• Easily save content from many third-party platforms to notebooks;

• Set note reminders so important to-dos are not missed;

• The browser extension "Yinxiang Web Clipper" extracts the essentials and saves only important web page content to a notebook.

Cons

• Only supports a two-level "notebook stack > notebook" structure, which makes it inconvenient to break note content into finer categories;

• Notebooks cannot be exported in multiple formats, making it difficult to share notes with others.

Usage advice: If you value gathering information and fast syncing, Yinxiang is a relatively reliable choice. If you need to learn about genuine software and licensing channels, you can also refer to the product information provided by LIZHI.SHOP.

Bear

Bear is a note app based on Markdown syntax. Compared with feature-rich OneNote and Yinxiang, it places more emphasis on efficient, focused, and elegant writing. Bear supports Mac and iOS, making it suitable for users who want to use a Markdown note app for focused writing.

Pros

• Combines text and Markdown markup just right for more polished formatting;

• Add multi-level tags to categorize and manage documents, offering greater flexibility;

• Multiple color schemes are available to highlight key content;

• Collects notes marked with "To-do" so all tasks can be viewed with one click.

Cons

• Not available on all platforms;

• Notebooks can only be exported in Bear's proprietary format.

Usage advice: Bear is better suited for users who value writing experience and formatting and mainly use Apple devices.

Simplenote

Simplenote is a plain-text-only note app with extremely simple features, allowing us to focus on "writing."

It is not well known, but it has serious pedigree: it belongs to Automattic, the same company as WordPress. Simplenote supports Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android, making it suitable for users who prefer lightweight note-taking.

Pros

• Supports restoring previous versions of notes;

• Add another person's email as a note tag to co-edit a document;

• Publish a note as a web page with one click.

Cons

• Only supports plain text input;

• Cannot import notes, and many common formats are not supported when exporting notes.

Usage advice: If you only need a simple plain-text note app, Simplenote can meet your daily note-taking and lightweight collaboration needs.

Among the 4 note apps above, some have more features and some fewer, and some are lightweight while others are heavy. None of them can be "the best," but one is sure to be the best fit for you.

When choosing a note app, focus on platform support, syncing experience, organization method, and whether it is easy to export and use over the long term. Which one do you like best? Feel free to share in the comments.